Jonadab was the nephew of David, rode in the chariot with King Jehu, and said to be the founder of the Recabites. Who were the Recabites? Simply put: they were a people of obedience. The section title for the scripture reading about this people group describes them as faithful.
Jonadab was the son Recab, also referred to Jehonadab. Nearly 300 years prior to Jeremiah's day, Jonadab issued several charges to his people.
-Not to drink wine
-Not to included in lustful delights
-Not settle down in one are-to live a nomadic life
Fast forward to Jeremiah's day. The word of Jonadab stuck. His descendents did what they were charged to do. From one generation to the next, they got the message. Amazing! The message was never compromised, lost in translation, or was watered down and now God was holding them in high-esteem. He was honoring them for their obedience. He wanted to use them as an example to the unfaithful Isralites.
I pray my descendents get the message the Lord has given to me. From one generation to the next, I trust the message will not become compromised, get lost in translation or watered down. And if called upon by the Lord, my descendents would be counted worthy of being held in high-esteem and honored for their obedience.
I had to ask myself, What is my message?" Quickly I knew:
-"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Matthew 6:33
-"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5
-Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
John 14:15
What is your message or charge to those who will come behind you? Dear Lord, find us faithful.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
8 Comments:
Guten Morgan Wendy,
I too found the part about the Recabites to be refreshing! How encouraging to find a faithful people who have not deviated from the instructions of their ancestor for all of these generations!
The other verses that spoke to me today were from Jeremiah 17:
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”
Trusting in the Lord and making Him our hope is our sure foundation. He continues to pour out His promises to us if we abide in Him, if we make Him our dwelling, if we repent and turn to Him. He knows our heart. He knows our intention. He will treat us accordingly.
Psalm 91:9-16 (replacing "him" with "her")
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because she loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue her;
I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name.
15 She will call upon me, and I will answer her;
I will be with her in trouble,
I will deliver her and honor her.
16 With long life will I satisfy her
and show her my salvation."
Oh, and yes Diane... GOOD Chocolate!
Be blessed today,
Karen, Basel CH
Wendy, as I was reading your post Steve Green's song was playing in my head...then I scrolled down and saw it! My sister has always said she wants that song played at her funeral.
Wonderful, thought-provoking question...What is my message? Oh how I pray I don't just say it with words, but that my life gives testimony to all I believe.
Karen, "Guten Morgan"! :) Oh, how I wish I could see Switzerland. I think I told you earlier, it is my dream vacation. Karen, I wrote about Jeremiah 17:7 today. My trust is being tested and I need to continue to make the Lord my hope and confidence.
In the last couple of days we've found out my husband could be without a job in the next week to ten days; my brother-in-law is exhibiting the same physical signs that originally sent my dad to the hospital for day surgery; a complete MRI on my dad has shown 'spots' that are causing all his discomfort and at best probably all Dr's can do is help to manage the pain and we've been asked if we are "prepared"; and finally my nephew, (he's just 5 years younger than me - we're more like brother and sister), has suddenly left his wife. He has 2 young children as well. Although each one of these things has me in a place of prayer, calling me to see God as my "hope and confidence", it's this last news that has completely broken my heart.
Thank you to those who sent me comments/messages. I know I'm not the only one walking a path with hardships. Circumstances arise for each of us where we must continually decide to keep trusting God. When our human nature wants to argue, complain, throw up our hands in defeat and have a pity party, the Lord calls us to trust. It's not easy.
Lord, if I could only see You. Father if You would just show me how things will work out then I could hold on with hope and confidence. Blind trust is difficult. However, only the outcome of these difficulties is unknown to me, my God is not. It's because I know Him that I can trust Him.
The hope and confidence I can claim are not feelings I have to conjure up in my spirit. The Lord IS my hope and confidence. They are names of God, aspects of His character that cannot be separated from His presence.
It's not easy and there is a choice involved. The verse says, "...blessed are those who...have made..." It's work! The word "made" implies effort. To make anything requires work. What is that work? To keep trusting!
Standing on Christ, my Solid Rock today,
Joy
Good Morning Everyone~ Wendy, I too pray that my descendants get the message that I have been so mercifully given! My message: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I have 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 door frames of you houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Today, I loved a word that was written in the NIV, but left out in our NLT: Jeremiah 35:17 "Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel says: 'Listen!'"
Can God be any more clearer? Back then He said it, and it remains the same today. We have a decision about what we will put into our minds. We can "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5) or we can allow the enemy to pour thoughts into our minds. I want to listen to Christ. I want to hear His voice speaking to my heart. I don't want it drowned out by thoughts that the devil places in me.
Godly Thoughts~
meaningful & rewarding
clear-minded
peaceful
blessed
Thoughts from the enemy-
feeling empty
confused
anxious
fearful
Lord, Help me recognize the thoughts immediately that are not obedient to you. May I refuse them and resist them so that the enemy has to flee from me and find someone else! Thank you for your Word. Thank you for whispering to me. Thank you for living inside me. Amen.
Karen-Loved your comments this morning! Eat some chocolate for me!
Blessings dear friends, Lori - AZ
Oh my dear Joy, we were typing at the same time...I'm so sorry. "The Lord stood near him and said, 'Keep up your courage!" Acts 23:11
I pray today that your faith is unwavering. I trust Got to help you through this impossible time of trials that seems too much for one family to bare. I pray that you lift up every single worry and anxious thought to God. Let me carry you through the day.
You are in my prayers, Lori -AZ
Good Morning Ladies!
Karen...still unbelivable to me that you and your family have moved to Switzerland! Amazing. I've only had three moves in my life and they have been less than a half an hour from where I was raised! Is it as beautiful as I think it is? Did you say CHOCOLATE? Sounds so yummy! Sounds like the move went smoothly and you are beginning to adjust to your new home and surroundings.
Wow, Joy, when it rains it pours doesn't it?! I judge you care so very deeply for your family as well as others in your life.
When there is so much going on I try to remember the saying,
"When the Lord sends rain, then rains my choice." It helps me to think can I control or change any of these things in my life?
There was a time in my life when my sister was facing a divorce with a young child and the emergence of a mental illness. I could feel her pain so much that I wished I could life her life for her and fix things...but I couldn't. Things just kept getting worse for her and I didn't know what to do to help her.
I have learned so much since that time and now I try to turn things that are out of my control over to God.
I have experienced first hand that "God makes good of all things for those who love Him and are called to His purpose." Romans 8:28 All things does not mean only happy endings or how I would like them to turn out, but that I can now try and search for the positives that come out of even the pain in our lives.
I judge this is one passage (Romans 8:28) I would like my decendents to carry on. That God has the total picture to the puzzle as we get pieces at a time. It's actually freeing to know that. I still need to continue putting the pieces together...but knowing God has the whole picture in any circumstance in my life I can know that I am not alone. Somehow these times will be used to "mold" me and shape me as the "Potter" does with His clay."
Praying for you Joy this day. May you be free as you continue to realize that God has the whole picture in whatever circumstance you are faced with today.
I would also like to pass on the Scripture in Psalms, "Be still and know that I am God." I loved Wendy's definitions of the word still she found in the Greek translation of the word (I believe it was) To abandon, let go... This says to me, to focus on God we need to totally let go of everything we are holding. Peel away all the layers life has added and simply come before Him as "me", just "me".
I would also want to pass on John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son, so that all who believe in Him shall have eternal life." To understand that yes, God gives His son to all. That grace is free...but as in any gift that has been given us...we need to accept that gift for ourselves. It cannot be done for us. I still know lots of people of the church who feel His grace is a blanket for all.
Praying that we all feel some freedom in this day knowing that God is in control!
Love, from Debbie in Illinois
Good Morning all.
Thank you Wendy I really loved your question about what will my generation message be? My grandmother was a strong woman of faith - and her legacy is that many (but not all) in our family are following the Lord. Her favorite song was "Power in the blood"which she sang spontaneously and the thing I remember her sayin the most is "don't worry - the Lord is looking after us". No matter the situation. What will my message be?
O Joy - my heart goes out to you. This seems like so much for one family. My husband and I have faced many times of job loss and financial uncertainty over the years as well as ilness(I had back surgery in Dec) and the death of both of my husband's parents as well as my dad. One thing that sticks with me is something a friend said during one of our bad times, she said the God must really have something big in mind for you. She meant that because of all the testing we faced that we must be in the furnace to see if we would come out the other side purified like gold. I don't know that I'm there yet.
I know that in each one of these bad times my faith has grown and strengthened. I also know that each time my husband has found a better job than the one he'd lost and that we have come to a more secure financial situation than we had before. In fact we were facing a just such a situation in May 2008 when a local business owner came and offered my husband a job. He didn't even have to go out looking, and this is a better job,Monday to Friday 9 - 6 and no weekends!We thank the Lord everyday for his provision and care.
Please don't listen to the enemy of our souls and don't ever let your feelings convince you the the Lord doesn't hear you - because he does! He holds our tears in His hands and our prayers in a bowl.
I will be praying for you and your family that everyday you will know His grace and mercy. That you will feel His loving arms surrounding you and that you will know for certain that you will come through this stronger and better than you were before.
Take care,
Patty
Patty, your post reminded me of my Grandma's influence as well. My memories are of her sitting in a rocking chair with a Bible upon her lap.
She would often quote this verse to us:
"Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!" Passing this memory down in my God moment journal...praying it will be passed down for generations.
Debbie in Illinois
Thanks for the blessings today ~ all of you! Amazing reflections by all~SO touching!
God is certainly on the move through each of you...flowing from your hearts through your fingertips!
Today my gem was Jeremiah 18:4
But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
We are, as the song states, clay in the potter's hands. Works in progress, errant children in need of correction, willing servants who stumble.
I give praise and thanks to our God who has the patience to continually reshape and mold us into his image...who allows us daily to be reborn and recommitted...to begin anew!
Amen Amen Amen!
Liz
AK
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