02172013
Shut Up In My Bones
Jeremiah 20:7-13
This section of Scriptures tells of Jeremiahs travails, when he has brought God's Word to God's People.
Not everyone who says “I am a Christian” really is a Christian. There are many out in the world that claim to be something they are not in order to draw people who are looking for the Savior away from the truth. Some people just want to hear the fluff and not the stuff. We cannot follow God halfway.
To follow in Jesus' footsteps I must be willing to follow Him everywhere.
Jeremiah was young and inexperienced when God called him to preach. He had difficulty speaking clearly, and had to choose his words carefully in order to speak at all. But God told Jeremiah that it was for this purpose He created Jeremiah; God knew him before He formed him. Jeremiah was sanctified within his mother's womb and ordained by God to be a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5).
It is Jeremiah's job, as God's chosen servant, to preach repentance and deliverance to the nations to whom God has sent him (Jer. 3:22). But the people said chose not to fear The Lord and went about their own ways, continuing in their sins against God. They prefer to believe the lies coming out of the mouths of those who lead them by their own understanding and not by God's Word (Jer. 5:31; 6:8).
As it was in the days of Joshua, the command was given to choose whom they would obey and serve. Joshua 24:14, 15 “Now therefore fear The Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye The Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve The Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. And the people answered and said, 'God forbid that we should forsake The Lord, to serve other gods.' “
There are times in the Bible where the people say “we will serve The Lord” and times where their response is “we will not”. This, in Jeremiah, is of the second. God tells Jeremiah that the people will not listen and their hearts will only become harder. As Jeremiah continues to preach regardless of their attitudes towards God and God's Word, he feels weak and alone and begins to have another conversation with God, here in chapter 20 verses 7-13.
He acknowledges that God is stronger than he is. He feels he has been deceived. He states that he is held in derision and mocked by every one. When he speaks, when he cries out, when he tells of the violence and the spoil that is to come because of their unwillingness to repent of their wickedness, he is made a reproach and a derision, on a daily basis. Now, remember, this is Jeremiah being honest with God when he is praying, speaking to God.
Jeremiah says, 'I will not speak of Him, nor speak any more in His Name.' BUT God's Word was shut up in Jeremiah's bones. Though he tried not to speak The Word, The Holy Spirit of God was upon him to speak It and when he opened his mouth, God's Word came out of it. He heard the Word of God defamed, and felt fear on every side; not for the Word of God but because of The Word that was spoken. And still they did not repent. Those who had heard the message many times had hopes that now they could turn Jeremiah to their ways and then take him down.
BUT The Lord is with Jeremiah. For now that Jeremiah has again spoken The Word of God and been made known clearly that God is with him and that The Spirit of God is with him, he is not afraid of the ones who have mocked him or held The Word of God in such low regard. “But The Lord is with me as a MIGHTY TERRIBLE ONE”. Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Those who have come against the preaching of The Word will not prevail. They will stumble, they will be greatly ashamed and they will not prosper; they will have everlasting confusion. God will have His vengeance on them.
And now we are called to worship The Lord, to praise The Lord. Why? Because He has delivered our souls from the hands of the evildoers. Those who would do evil against God and God's people.
So I say to you who preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, continue in your work. Let no one say that you do not have the right to speak thus. For when God calls a person to preach The Word, to evangelize, to teach, to proclaim, to pastor, to sing, to help, to build churches, God also anoints and equips people whom He has called. He will not leave us nor forsake us; God is ever with the people who choose to remain in His service.
God hears the prayers of the righteous, the 'once-I-was-a-sinner-but-now-I'm-saved-by-grace saint. He cannot hear the prayers of those who refuse to obey His Word. Do you want God to hear the prayers of your heart? Then you need to repent of your disobedient ways and receive the forgiveness which God has in store for you. I can pray for you, but only you can repent on your own behalf. You need to humble yourself before God and ask Him to forgive you. Tell Jesus you want Him to be Lord of your life; no longer do you want to do things your way, but now you want to do things God's way. Tell Him in your own words, from your heart. Because God knows your heart. If the words in your mouth are not matching the thoughts of your heart, then you are a liar, and God knows the truth is not really in you, that you are not ready to repent and turn away from your sins.
Now is the time to repent of your sins. Turn your back on sin and turn your heart to God. There is no other way to please God and have Him hear your prayers. This is the truth of God's Word, of God's heart. For it is God's desire that all mankind be saved. But it must be done on an individual basis. I can't do it for you, but I can pray that you make this decision.
