Study of Jeremiah
Chapter 17

We see here the very heart of God. Do we ever stop to think of how God must feel when He gives us so much and we give Him so little honor and praise. Judah had it all at one time. God chose Abraham from the land of Ur which was in modern day Iraq near the Persian Gulf. I don't know why God chose Abraham but he was a man of faith and believed in God. The majority of the world at that time served other gods or idols. Abraham was chosen by God and the land of Canaan was promised to him and his descendants. God even made a place for the children of Hagar who beget Ishmael. There is really no reason the two descendants cannot get along to this day but they do not.

God had a plan to bring into the world the supreme sacrifice for sins. He planned to send part of Himself; His only Son to become the perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish. Animal sacrifices could not give cleansing from sin, they only pointed the way and were imposed on Israel until the perfect way came. That sacrifice was none other than Jesus Christ.

God game Abraham wealth and then Isaac and Jacob received the same. At came the time of Joseph who was sold into slavery and became a ruler in Egypt.  Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and isn't it ironic that the descendents of those same brothers became slaves in Egypt. We certainly reap what we sow.

God by the leadership of Moses brought them out of Egypt with many signs and miracles, even feeding them in the wilderness. He parted the Red Sea so they could cross and when Pharaoh's army tried to cross, the sea came back again.

How God must have felt when Moses, Joshua and the Judges died and Israel soon desired to follow after the evil nations around them instead of after God who gave them this good land. Then later they rejected the Son of God, Jesus Christ who had come to show the the true way to God. Through their rejection the gospel of salvation and eternal life was preached to the Gentile nations.

Our children follow after our ways eventually. Unless a generation repents and turns to God, each follow generation gets further and further away from God.

Our conscience acts in the same manner. If we talk ourselves into doing something that we once thought was wrong, at first we feel guilty. The second time we sin, it is easier. After a while the guilt goes away. We can then sin without any guilt feelings. That doesn't make the thing good. We are still living in sin, we just have become hardened to it. This is a very dangerous place to be in.

I pray that my conscience will always be sensitive to wrongdoing.

Years ago the sin of sodomy was not open like it is today. People that lived that way kept it hidden. Why? Because it wasn't acceptable. People thought it was a sin. Through the years as God was considered unconstitutional, this sin has become open and more acceptable. Does that make it right? No. We are in danger of accepting the very thing that is abomination in God's sight. This is not the way God created us to be. We are going against nature and against the law of God. As a result more disease and incurable diseases will be among us. Our minds get worse and worse. If there is no repentance you can see people start to do things that are very evil and will hurt innocent children. In fact that is already happening. Once the mind goes and we loose our conscience, nothing but the merciful hand of God can stop it.

This is speaking of Judah here but it really reminds me of my own country, the United States of America. Its strange that the nation to whom God gives the most are the ones that reject Him the greatest. 

This is why Judah lost its nation at that time. Will it happen to us? I pray that every believer in the United States would begin to pray for this country that we turn from sin and turn back to God. There are some that do not even want the name of God on our coins. Stupid people are objecting to the 10 commandments on the courthouse walls. I call them stupid because that is exactly what that are. It is crazy to reject God like that. Its stupid. Without His protecting hand, our nation is history. Is that what they want? All we have to do is read what happened to Israel in the Old Testament to see that no one gets away with ignoring God. He allowed His Son to pay a high price to save us from sin and offer us the gift of eternal life. If we continue in sin and ignore this gift, we will have no other way out. It is stupid. Throw God out of schools and you have children killing other children. Allow mothers to abort their babies and you will have them also kill babies after they are born. The ACLU and those that are fighting to keep God out of the public arena are blind, ignorant and stupid. They don't realize what they are doing.

I read in the paper not long ago when a mother allowed her baby to starve to death because she was tired of it throwing up all the time. This is a result of the lack of moral values that this country once had. We listened to the feminist voices instead of God's voice. Like I said before, I am a woman and I can say things a man may not get away with saying. I do not identify anyway with the modern feminist movement in the United States. It is deadly, it is ungodly and it is evil to allow a mother to abort (kill) her unborn child. If we study the Old Testament we see the results when a nation stops following God. They even got to the place where they sacrificed their own children to idols. Are we any different if we kill our children because it will inconvenience us to have to take care of them. We have become a nation of  idleness, laziness, irresponsibility. Our god is fun, pleasure, entertainment, sports, and money. A little baby interferes with that.

This is a curse indeed when a nation trusts in what man says instead of what God says. Israel's sin was listening to the voices of the heathen countries that surrounded them. They turned from God and began doing as the evil nations were doing.

We have listened to Hollywood, Rock stars, liberal politicians, feminists, Planned Parenthood, and evolutionary scientists to deceive us instead of listening to God. If we sit in front of the television and watch their adultery, fornication and violence. Sooner or later we will be doing the same things. If we don't, our children might.  Do you want to take that chance?

You want to escape. You want love, joy, peace, contentment and eternal life. Trust in the Lord. Blessed means happy. Happy are those who trust in the Lord. The Lord is our hope and deliverer. He is our shepherd, our savior, our helper. These words are not written in vain. Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord. Blessed is the man whose hope the Lord is.

A tree planted by the water is continually fed and watered. Heat does not affect it. It brings forth fruit and even survives drought.

This is a comparison to those who trust the Lord. Psalm 1 says this:

What a comfort to know that the Lord knows us and our ways if we are walking righteously. What a comfort to know that we shall never perish.

This is why we need a savior. Our hearts are wicked from the time we are born into the world. All have sinned.

Since we will one day be judged according to our ways, we better get rid of our evil ways and that is only possible by faith In Jesus Christ.

We cannot keep the law and keep from sinning apart from Jesus Christ. That is why God had to send Him to us. To save us from our sins.

This is a good verse. Along with idolatry and departing from God, God hates cheating. It grieves God to see us take from others to make ourselves rich. To cheat someone and deceive them is evil. If we charge them more than a product is worth, if we con them out of money, it is stealing. Our riches will profit nothing if we get rich the wrong way.

God's constant care is for those who trust in Him.

That is what happens when we forsake the Lord. We forsake living water.

Jesus wants to do this to all who would receive Him even now. He will give you that living water.

Sounds like they were mocking Jeremiah and asking him where the Lord's word is if it was to come. Even today, some are saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?"

Surely all will perish who lift up their hands against the ones who are trying to warn about God's coming judgment. The bible says touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm. I believe he means physical harm and very hurtful slander here. I don't believe it means we can't criticize a person who brings false doctrine or that falls into sin. If a preacher is warning, and preaching the truth of God's word, then we better not lift a hand against him. Its okay to ask him sincere questions if we doubt anything. Just make sure its in the right spirit and not in a mean vengeful attacking sort of spirit.

Honoring the sabbath was really a blessing to people. It gave people a day in which they could be refreshed and rest. It gave servants a rest, mothers, priests and everyone. You would think that they would enjoy that. God gave that day for their good and the good of servants. It is also a good day to worship God and renew ourselves to Him. Spiritual refreshing is a mainstay. I believe that to ignore this is hurtful to the ones that have to do the work like a servant. I also believe that when need times to pray and seek God by setting apart everything else we have to do.

Even if this made no sense even though it did, if God said something, we should listen to it.

To obey meant that they would have God's presence with them, they would rule over the whole earth.

This all boils down to ignoring God. For them to work on the Sabbath day was to be too busy to worship and observe the word of God.

Although some of us worship on a Sunday, isn't it nice to have that special day of seeking God and resting from usual activity. Going to church is nice because it brings us together with others who believe and we can worship God together. We should thank God for a day set aside for Him.  We need Him more and more and the evil days approach us. 

Study of Jeremiah 18

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