"I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be there God and they will be my people."
Jeremiah 31:33b
Jeremiah 31:33b
In yesterday's reading the Lord said through Jeremiah, "Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins." (30:18) Isn't that beautiful? He will make something beautiful right on top of the ruins. After the rebuilding He will be there God.
Did ever stop being there God? No. He extended grace, forgiveness, and compassion since the exodus from Egypt. The children of Israel chose to turn their backs on Him by choosing other gods. The new covenant the Lord speaks of says He (The Lord) will choose them and they will choose Him. Also in this new covenant, God will handle instructions to them differently than before.
In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord instructs His children:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Do you notice the telling, impressing, talking, and tying of the commandments are left up to individuals? He gave them instructions and expected them to follow them.
In today's key verse, God assumes responsibility. He says,"I will put my instructions deep within (I love the word picture of God tucking His Word deep. inside their hearts.) and I will write them on their hearts. Oh how precious these words are. They express the Lord's great love for His children. Even though they had disappointed Him time and time again He showed compassion. Even though He had turned them over to their enemies, disciplined them, and allowed them to be taken into captivity, He demonstrated mercy. If rebuilding Jerusalem was not enough, He wanted to be their personal God. He wanted to personally inscribe His instructions deep within their heart to a place they would never forget them.
Though our captivity made lead to destruction around us, He can make something beautiful on the heap of our ruins. He wants to inscribe His Word deep within our hearts to a place where we will never forget them.
14 Comments:
And He is inscribing them; each and every day we read His word together! Thank you dear LORD for Your faithfulness!
Additional verses that I highlighted are the ones about God never rejecting His people:
35 It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day
and the moon and stars to light the night,
and who stirs the sea into roaring waves.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
and this is what he says:
36 “I am as likely to reject my people Israel
as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as the heavens cannot be measured
and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored,
so I will not consider casting them away
for the evil they have done.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
How eassuring that though we may, like sheep, go astray, and though we may do evil in th sight of the Lord, He will never even consider casting us away. He is as likely to do that as He is to abolish the laws of nature! Repent and return; that is what He asks. And He will restore.
Amen
Karen, Basel CH
Wendy, You selected the verse that warmed my heart! Can you imagine Jeremiah receiving this revelation?
"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (31:33)
I love this verse!
Jeremiah 50:1-3, Judgment was announced against Babylon...and in verses 4&5 the foretelling of the Israelites---they will repent and accept Jesus. "They will bind themselves to the LORD with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten."
The devil is watching and waiting with each one of us. He does not want us to believe in God. He does not want us reading God's Word and he does not want us to put our faith in God. God is not being glorified when we show fearfulness. We have to resist the enemy and focus on the promises of God. They have never failed.
Ladies, have a wonderful day! Thank you for blessing me with your comments! Love you!
Hugs, Lori - AZ
PS I have to share a God Moment with you guys...remember how I was talking about wanting to find that book about the 'names of God,' well a class opened up, titled "Lord, I Want to Know You, by Kay Arthur! (It is a class about knowing all of the names of God.) When I was reading about the class...the ending sentence said, "and your walk with God will be changed." :) This class was brought to my attention a couple of hours after I had posted that comment about wanting to get the book! God is so good. I look forward to taking this class, my first Kay Arthur one!
Wendy that verse hit me too, what love and tender mercy show by our Sweet Savior.
I loved how He took the burden of anger from us in
50: 11:13
"Because of the Lord's anger, Babyon will become a desserted wastland."
50: 21:25
"The LORD has opened his armory and brought out weapons to vent His fury."
51:14:7
"It is the Lord's time for vengeance; he will repay the bill."
He took all care of any selfish need I have to seek revenge, judgement, fury or wrong doing.
These verses say, it is Mine to take care of not Yours.
I don't know about you but that is a lot of weight off my shoulders.
Then to tie in the key verse today, he tells us to keep loving with all our heart. Picking back up on what Wendy shared with the concentration of the depths we should go with our children.
Near the end I love what it is said in verse
51:14:12
"for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon".
Oh, ladies what a promise He gives us!
Blessings,
Diane
Wendy, God has used you so much today to speak to my heart. The insights here are powerful. I am so thankful you included the verse from yesterday's reading as well, about being "rebuilt on its ruins". God can make anything beautiful.
I also love how you compared and contrasted Jeremiah 31 with Deut.6. Our responsibility vs. God's responsibility. My heart has been so blessed by your thoughts here today.
I focused on Jeremiah 31:25, "For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing."
No short supply here.
Weary and sorrowing are in abundance. It’s the rest and joy whose commodity are lacking. Like His commitment to goodness and mercy, He promises rest and joy. These gifts were delivered to me this week and I found great pleasure in their unwrapping.
Throughout these days of chaos, concern, uncertainty and challenge, God is delivering His calm.
This week “rest” and “joy” were delivered through the mail. ‘Rest’ came through the peaceful lyrics of a Cheri Keaggy CD. Music that soothed and blessed.
‘Joy’ came through a “She Speaks” tote bag. Oh the happiness and excitement of receiving such an unexpected treasure.
Wrapped in a floral bouquet of delight, God gave tangible evidence of His love for me.
Yes, my heart is weary and sorrowing, but His giving knows perfect timing. He knows when my weary is in want and when my season of sorrowing is sufficient.
The Lord provided a breath of fresh air through refreshing gifts from a friend, sending reminders of peace, hope and love.
His presence continues to be my dearest present.
Rested and rejoicing,
Joy
PS. If you want to see pics of my gifts, they are on my blog.
"I will never again remember their sins." Jeremiah 31:34
We are so blessed to live "in those days"...that day has come!
Echoing the thoughts of all today, Wendy. Your teaching reveals yet another crucial turning point in our history with our Father. Although I highlighted and meditated over the same text, I had not lined it up against Deut 6. What an eye and heart and soul opener!
Who is like the LORD our God,
the one who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
Psalm 113:5-8
Amen to this grace-full message today!
I just thank God again for Wendy's obedient teachings and for all of you who faithfully follow this path and share your hearts every day. What a journey it is!
Amazed by grace,
Liz
AK
I love that God desired to rebuild the temple right on it' ruins. He does the same thing with us. Right where we are in the heap of rubble of our lives. His desire is to rebuild (sanctify) us. So then we will be His people and He will be our God.
Hi ladies,
A prayer request please - I had a sign that our baby might be making it's way a little early (I am week 37). I have an appt with OB this aft...please say a prayer that if labour is on it's way soon, that all goes well. Will keep you posted if we aren't running off to the hospital anytime :)
Thanks for all your love, support and prayers,
Jodie
Good Morning!
Joy your writing style is refreshing as breathing crisp clear morning air. There is even "poetry" in the writing of your sorrows and struggles. What a gift God has given you! Another gift for you to unwrap today. :)
I read in a devotional by Oswald Chambers this morning: "The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze-so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazing ways." May we all find the time to be at one with our Lord and hear that still small voice within amidst the chaos in our lives. I so want to be refreshed by his Spirit this day and every day!
The verses above the one that you quoted Wendy spoke to me as well.
29 "The people will no longer quote this proverb:
'The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children's mouths pucker at the taste.'
This reminds me of the sins of the father shall be passed down to the children and future generations.
30 "All people will die for their own sins-says the Lord,those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker."
31 "The day is coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. this covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves is wife," says the Lord."
JESUS as the new covenant God is referring to here? Thoughts? Insights?
Then followed up with...
33"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord. "I will put my instructions deep within them , and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the Lord.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the Lord. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."
Are these Heaven-ly words?.... where "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." Hmmmm
Thinking of you all...
Love from Illinois Debbie
Lori, if you have never taken one of Kay Arthur's studies...just you wait...you are in for some really digging and studying like you've never done before. I love her studies.
If any of you sweet sisters ever get a chance to do one of her studies, don't let anything keep you from doing it...your socks will be blessed right off your feet.
How I have enjoyed reading the commentaries that you have written all year, Wendy, and all the comments that rest of you ladies have made. I keep asking the Lord to speak to me the way He speaks to all of you...why can't I glean from the readings what all of you seem to get without any effort? I am learning so much from all of you.
Wendy I especially appreciate the prayer that you ended with yesterday...yesterday was a really hard!!! day for me, and your prayer really helped. I even copied it into my prayer journal for later use.
Keep writing sweet sisters...you have no idea how many lives you are touching!
Jan TN
Jan
I want to encourage you to look for a nugget. We all see and hear differently through the scriptures. His Word is alive and active, and may I add individual.
I am so thankful the prayer was an encouragement to you. It was totally Lord lead and heart felt.
Jan,
I agree with Wendy it is so individual and Lord led. I come back during the day and read the posts. Sometimes I think that what I wrote is totally off base from where we started, however it is what I felt led to write.
When it is spirit led it can't be wrong. Keep reading and digging into His word.
Jodie, how exciting. Lifting you up sister.
Joy I am holding you close. If I don't get on tomorrow. Happy birthday. :[)
Blessings,
Diane
Quick update re baby - Cervix is still closed but doc says "don't leave town." So it could be any day or it could be a few weeks. Guess I'll just have to leave it in God's hands. But oh it's hard once you get in your head baby is on the way :)
Jodie
Wendy and Diane thanks for your encouragement...I keep asking the Lord to speak to me through His Word, for I know it is alive and powerful. I just feel like I am in a vacuum and nothing is getting through. I keep telling myself that when I can't see His hand working I can still trust His heart.
All of you ladies really bless me every day. I hate for the end of the year to come, and the study is over.
Jan TN
Jan,
Just stay with in the day. The end of the year is a long way off. :[)
Hugs
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