Jeremiah 28:15 “Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.’”
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HE CAN’T SEE ME
Jeremiah 23:24 “‘Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares the Lord.”
HIDING FROM GOD
Have you ever wondered why all the nightclubs and bars are dimly lit? You are probably asking yourself, “Now Carl, how do you know that?” Well, I have been told. LOL. Seriously, we have all seen pictures or movies with bar or nightclub scenes. They are ALL ALWAYS dimly lit. I guess people feel less intimidated when the lights aren’t on.
God is asking us in today’s verse if we think we can hide from him. Look what He says in the last part of that verse. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” In other words, God knows every crevice and hole in the universe. He can see everywhere. You can’t hide from God.
TEACHING MOMENT
Has your little Gertrude or Elrod ever hid from you? They do something wrong, so they go hide in their closet or somewhere. You find them pretty quickly, but they still do again the next time. Oh listen, Mom and Dad. Teach them to come to you quickly when they have done wrong. Teach them to come to you quickly when you call them. Why? You are modeling God’s call to them. They need to respond quickly.
Does God get upset (like you do) when we don’t respond to Him quickly. Of course not! He’s God. He is eternal. We may wait a year to respond to His call, but to Him, that’s milliseconds. But we should still teach our children to listen and obey the first time. We are setting a pattern in them to respond.
But let me ask you something. How do you respond? Do you keep your ears tuned in to God? Do you eagerly wait to respond? I know I try to, but there are times when I get so busy or I have my own agenda. Those are the times when I either don’t hear God or I ignore His voice.
O Lord, Maker of the universe, I know there is no hole deep enough or place dark enough to hide from You. Bring me out in the light. Let me hear Your voice clearly and distinctly. I want to follow.
NOW YOU WANT MY HELP
Jeremiah 21:1-2 “1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 ‘Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.’”
TOO LATE NOW
FISHERMEN AND HUNTERS
Jeremiah 16:16 “‘Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.’”
NOW WE’RE TALKING
NOT ALONE
Jeremiah 10:23 “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
I CAN’T DO IT BY MYSELF
Try as I might, I can’t fix me. Believe me I’ve tried. Today’s verse says that. It is not in us to keep ourselves straight. We wander off the path because of our sin nature. We can try to be good on our own, but sooner or later our true self comes out – our sin self.
Thanks be to God we don’t have to do it alone. Our loving Father sent His Son Who sent His Spirit to dwell within us. The moment we ask Christ to save us, the moment we recognize Him as Lord, His Spirit indwells us. And because He lives in us, we can do anything He asks us, not through our own power, but through His. Hallelujah!
TEACHING MOMENT
Have you ever heard your child say, “I just can’t do it!” I heard that recently from a boy at our church. We were playing a game, and he kept getting put out of the game when he missed the ball. He threw up his little hands and said, “I just don’t have the strength.” I laughed (because the game requires very little strength) and told him to keep trying.
When your child “gives up” that is the best time to talk to them about allowing the Lord to control their life. They really do have to “give up” and let Jesus reign. If they keep trying on their own they will never succeed. Man truly can’t direct his steps.
Are you still busy trying to make it on your own? Sure, you’ve asked Christ into your life, but have you really surrendered to Him? You have to give Him complete control. He will not drag you down the path He has chosen for you. He will nudge you and direct you, but He won’t force you. Yield to Him now.
Forgive me, Father, for not allowing You to lead. I know I can’t direct my steps. I need You to lead. Take my hand!
BIRD BRAINS
Jeremiah 8:7 “‘Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons; and the turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration; but My people do not know the ordinance of the Lord.’”
WHY ARE THEY SMARTER?
STAIN REMOVER
Jeremiah 4:14 “‘Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?’”
WASH IT AWAY
I don’t know about you, but I am awful about staining clothes. I have always wanted a white suit. I have never owned one for the reason that I would ruin it the first time I wore it. I just know it. Fortunately, we have products today that can get out most stains.
But the stain of your heart can only be cleansed by the blood of Christ. In today’s verse, God is practically begging Judah to repent and be cleansed. He asks us today to do the same. He has given us the ultimate stain remover – His Son Jesus Christ. But we must apply Him to our lives. We have to allow Him to remove all the stain. Nothing else will do it.
TEACHING MOMENT
Children are notorious for getting stains on their clothes. Grass stains on pants are awful. Grape juice on their Sunday best is horrible. The next time you are removing a stain from some of their clothes, bring them in the laundry room and talk about this verse. Explain that, just like you, God wants to get the stain out of their life. And, just like you, God has the best stain remover.
Your child may already know Christ as their Savior, but they will always need to come back to Him for confession and “stain removal.” Sure, all their sins are forgiven at salvation, but we have to keep ourselves unstained by the world to be effective witnesses for God.
What stain are you trying remove on your own right now? How long has that stain been on you? Aren’t you tired of it? Then come to Jesus. Let Him cleanse you today. He wants to. He is waiting.
O Lord, You have cleansed my heart and my soul. Help me spread Your cleanser to others. Let me be a messenger of hope to a sin stained world.
GOING HOME
Jeremiah 3:22 “‘Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.’ ‘Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.’”
HE ALWAYS WELCOMES
THAT’LL SHOW THEM
Isaiah 64:1-2 “1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence- 2 As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil- to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!”
FEARSOME
IS GOD DEAF?
Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
A Moment In Time 