Meditating on Jer 11-15 (Aug 16)

Seek the Lord While He Is Near

God instructs Jeremiah to take
a linen girdle (a tight-fitting belt)
and bury it by the Euphrates River.
Later he is told to dig it up again.
The result is predictable: one ruined
girdle, unfit to wear any longer.
And the parallel is painfully clear.
Selected by God for a place of
intimate fellowship (just like the
girdle), Judah would now be cast
away in judgment for her corruption.

There is a time to pray, to repent,
to come to God on our knees.
But there is coming a day when it
will be too late to pray for anyone.
Today we have the freedom to seek
God or to avoid Him,to acknowledge
our need or to sidestep the issue.
So, let’s Seek the Lord while He
may be found. And when we obey
that charge, we will find the reward
as promised waiting for you. Lord,
We Ask for Your Justice;
We Ask for Your Assistance; &
We Ask for Your Sustenance. Amen.

Lord, we Ask for Your Justice:
You are always righteous O Lord,
when I bring a case before You.
Yet I would speak with You about
Your justice: Why does the way
of the wicked prosper? Why do
all the faithless live at ease? But
You O Lord know me; You have
seen me, and You have tested
my heart toward You (Jer 12:1-3).
Lord, You are always good and just
and I don’t question Your ways.
But I confess that sometimes
I wonder why certain people seem
to get away with “murder” while
others, who are Your servants –
and seem to have done nothing
wrong – have so much suffering.
Help me to see these things from
Your perspective so that I might
help others do the same. Amen.

Lord, we Ask for Your Assistance:
The people say: Our wickedness
has caught up with us Lord, but
help us for the sake of Your own
reputation. We have turned away
from You and sinned against You
again and again… We are known
as Your people. Please don’t
abandon us now (Jer 14:7-9).
Lord, we ask for Your help, but not
because we have done anything
to deserve it. We ask for Your help
because we know You love to save.
You are a God who rains down grace
on people who don’t deserve it.
So, send the rains of Your grace
into our lives. Soak us in Your
undeserved favour for Your glory
whose mighty name we pray, Amen.

Lord, we Ask for Your Sustenance:
O Lord… remember me and visit
me… Know that for Your sake
I have suffered rebuke. Your Words
are what sustain me. They bring
me great joy and are my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name
O Lord God Almighty (Jer 15:15-16)
Lord, Thank You for Your holy Word.
Build in me a deeper hunger for
it and reliance on it each day.
Lead me Lord as I consume Your
instructions, promises as well as testimonies. Sustain me thro them and they will be my joy and my heart’s delight. In His name, Amen.