Voyage to The Heart and Mind of God

Jeremiah 3 Pt 1

The only thing that cannot be forgiven is to not ask for forgiveness. The only sin from which you cannot repent is refusal to repent. We continue our study of Jeremiah's ministry calling his Jewish brethren to repentance or face the accumulated and long withheld consequences of their rebellion, exile and enslavement.

Jeremiah 2 Pt 8

BUSTED! Like a thief when he (or she) is caught.

Jeremiah 2 Pt 4

The Bible is full of promises and demonstrations of the power of a life fueled by God's word. On the other hand, there are myriad warnings and examples of the decay and destruction that attends those who do not read or heed God’s word.There are two critical elements to begin and grow an increasingly intimate relationship with God, the Bible and prayer. Through the Bible, God reveals Himself, His Love, His plan, His ways, His Mind, His Heart. Prayer is our response to God's word. A life that is not bathed in these is at best weak, impoverished and adrift. Consider this, that God had commanded that the kings of Israel were to make a personal copy of the law: “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countryment and that he may not turn aside to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20) )If you read through I & II Kings and I & II Chronicles, you will probably be able to pick out the kings who did this. However, at some point the law was lost! When we read the Bible, we learn who God is, what He is like, how accessible He is. God reveals Himself to us. We learn His ways. We learn His acts. There is no issue of life that is not addressed in the Bible.Prayer is our response to God. In fact, it is supposed to be conversation with God, but at the very least it is our response to God after reading or hearing His word. If you do not feel the urgent need to pray after time in His Word, then you are not reading it with your heart. You are smoking without inhaling. Reading God's Word with a hearing heart will produce an internal compulsive need to commune with Him, to inquire of Him, to repent, to experience His presence personally. He wants to have regular, open, sincere discourse with us. He wants it, because we need it! It adds nothing to Him, but it is existential to us!

Jeremiah 2 Pt 3

Apparently Josiah, without the scroll knew enough of God to live virtuously. How did he learn this? Let's look at other examples of times when people who did not have the Word of God somehow sought and discovered the heart and mind of God. Job “The Lord said to Satan, ’Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’” (Job 1:8) The Patriarchs Genesis 26:4-5 “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” What commandments, statutes and laws? Is it that as a result of Abraham's relationship with God, he learned what was right in His eyes. I am reminded that the Lord promised that “For thus says the Lord, ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 29:13) “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.heir voice is not heard.There is no speech, nor are there words; Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world." (Psalms 19:1-4a) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”(Romans 1:18-20) God has made Himself discoverable to any who will seek Him. “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:9-11) “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:14-16) “So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” (Romans 2:26) It becomes abundantly clear that If we want to discover God, we need only look up and around, and see His handiwork. And while the promise in Jeremiah 29 was immediately made to the Jewish Diaspora of the day, God is well known for showing great favor to those who seek to know Him, regardless of their ascendancy.

Jeremiah 2 Pt 2

When we read more about the reign of Josiah (II Kings 22 & II Chronicles 34), we are shocked to learn that they found the book of the law! How were they living until this happened!?! Looking at their history (Judges – II Chronicles), not very well. This is the result of a casual to dismissive posture towards God's Word. There is much promise for our lives when we prioritize God's Word in our lives (all passages are from NASB (1995), unless otherwise noted): “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night… He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatsoever he does, he prospers.” (Psalms 1:1-3) “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart.” (Psalms 119:1-2) “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgements of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:7-11) “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought you; do not let me wander from Your commandments.” (Psalms 119:9-10) “Those who love your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.” Psalms 119:165 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11) “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them , may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. …It did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25) “’If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’”(John 8:31-32) “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.” (I Peter 2:2). “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3) Apparently Josiah, without the Scroll knew enough of God to live virtuously. How did he learn this?