A Thorough God

{Jeremiah 51 & 52}

Last chapters. Last words. At first, I'm not entirely impressed. 

I mean, the ending is usually supposed to be the most climatic, the most powerful…

But then I see it… A thread of thoroughness.

My God is thorough. He leaves nothing uncompleted.

With painstaking thoroughness He eradicates sin. He completes His judgments. 

Those found with sin are consumed with the sin itself, yet in the end, He is always fair, always just.

And if we are willing to be separated from the sin, thoroughness works in our favor.

Because my God will be just as thorough in perfecting my character as He is in eradicating sin. (Isn't it really the same thing?)

He is a thorough God. Thorough to save. Thorough to restore. Thorough to cleanse.

Thorough to redeem.

His Scars, My Shame

{Jeremiah 50}

The search is on with fury. A frantic company seeks to uncover the unpleasant record, yet it has vanished.

The company of fallen angels with their commander are disgusted. 

They have been vanquished once again by One greater than themselves.

My Savior pardons those He reserves. He pleads for His remnant. 

As He stands before the Father’s throne, He presents His hands, scarred so long ago, etched with my name.

And He pleads for me…

Not because I am worthy, but because He has reserved me to become worthy.

Because His scars cover my shame…

Faces of the Rejected

{Jeremiah 49}

Precious people abandoned in the ruins of cities and rubble of villages. Faces haunting the desolated landscape. Faces lined with pain, traced with fear. Faces of the rejected.

These are the orphans, the widows, the maimed, the sick. These are the ones to whom favor is shown.

They are some of His most precious children of all. They have nothing, yet they have all.

“Leave the fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.”

And these next six weeks I get to interact with these very ones… 

Orphanage. Honduras. Here I come!

Misplaced Trust

{Jeremiah 48}

Treasures and trophies. Accomplishments and accolades.

All blow away on the winds of adversity when you’ve placed your trust in the wrong places.

Sanctuary is promised in surrender. Safety is secured in sacrifice. 

Everything else is chaff…

Not a Full End

{Jeremiah 45-47}

Prophecy after prophecy. All nations seem to be the recipients of divine displeasure. 

There is one phrase, however, that grabs my attention in the seemingly endless catalog of calamity.

“I will not make a full end of thee.”*

What? Not a full end? This nation has utterly violated every tittle of His law. 

The human viewpoint stands amazed.

Punishment was surely necessary and they would receive it, yet only for the purpose of correction. 

God was still with His chosen people. He still longed to save them.

“…and none shall make him afraid.”

How could you be afraid anyway? Not with a God like that…

* Jeremiah 46:28

To Be the Revolution…

I lie on my bed, tears trickling down my cheeks, my mind reeling with questions. I feel so ashamed. Ashamed of every fiber of my existence, of what I claim to own. 

I cry. I pray. I ponder. My life, my actions must be in harmony… And I'm finding they don’t go deep enough… I feel ashamed and rightly so. 

Have I been living a lie all this time? 

My flesh denies the thought. Yet I believe it to be partially accurate, for if I was truly living, breathing, absorbing the words I speak, my life would be reflecting Christ more fully than it is today. I need a reset, a hard reset. And that, by God’s grace, I’m going to have. 

Away with a life of mediocrity. In with a life of revolution.

These are the things I want. These are the things I need. These are the things I crave. 

To be the revolution I want to see.

Qualifications for Mercy

{Jeremiah 44}

It’s a scary thing to have God set His face against you. More than scary… It’s absolutely frightening.

Utter destruction, utter desolation was to be their just reward. Not a cheery prospect.

Yet one small glimmer of hope was still offered.

To those who escaped the sword and returned to Judah would be extended mercy. 

Mercy again? Yes… My God delights to show mercy. There are qualifications though.

“Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”*

My mind instantly jumps to Revelation. It’s a similar expression.

“Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”**

Two simple things. In essence they sum up the entire plan of salvation. They are an indicator of our spiritual vitality.

When final destruction imperils the world, I want to be found eligible for mercy.

* Exodus 20:6

** Revelation 14:12