Once, I was in church singing worship songs with the rest of the congregation. Next to me was a woman whose demeanor was all closed up. In other words, she was standing with her head down and her arms crossed. She was so unhappy. The word of God came to me to tell this woman that He loves her. When it became time to greet each other, the words “God wants you to know that He truly loves you,” spilled from my lips. I sat down looking towards the front of the church, avoiding eye contact with the woman. Later during the service I took a sneak peek in her direction. Her demeanor has changed, her arms open and she had a soft smile on her lips.
On another occasion I sat in church and the voice of God told me, “the house needs cleaning.” I thought to myself that I know that I haven’t cleaned the house that week, but I’m sure it won’t cause the end of the world – hopefully. It happened two more times as I entered the church building. I then knew this was the voice of God sending a warning. When one of the junior pastors came to see me, I found the courage to tell her this message. My hands were sweaty, my heart was racing and I think my lungs nearly exploded. Whether the church listened to the voice, or not I do not know. It is up to the people receiving the message to react on it. But sometimes the word given is something people do not want to hear. The person giving the message becomes a naysayer or a real stuck in the mud. This we see in the next piece of the book of Jeremiah.
Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Jeremiah 38:4 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jer.38.4.KJV
Jeremiah was thrown into the dungeon again and the bible said there was no water, but mire. Mire is “a stretch of swampy or boggy ground,” or can be seen as “a complicated or unpleasant situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself.” Israel could not believe that they weren’t in favor with God. The attitude of any child who finds themselves more favored than the rest, is that of arrogance. They believed that God would save them out of the hands of the Babylonians. Hearing just the opposite, than their own views, angered them to the point that they wanted to kill Jeremiah.
We find today, whenever we speak out against the voice of the many, we become labeled. But God ask obedience from us. In verse 20 Jeremiah pleads with the king, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.” But the king didn’t listen to the advice and at the end of this piece we learn that the thing Jeremiah warned them about, came to pass. Paul teaches us why the world are so against the word of God. In Romans 8:7 (KJV) it says, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
Now, more than ever before, we need to hold fast to the word of God. Each time the prophet was sent to prison, he was delivered, for he was in favor of God. We can read in Acts 16 about Paul and Silas who was also thrown in jail for freeing a woman from an evil spirit. They have done right in the sight of God, helping this woman. Although they became unpopular with the crowd for she was used to gain money. God caused an earthquake, so that the jail doors flew open. The jailer wanted to kill himself, for he thought all the prisoners have escaped. Instead, he found salvation and was saved by Paul, through the message of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the bible we found people who had to stand against the popular view of the day. Do you have the courage to stand against these views?
My prayer for you today is that you will find courage to stand for God. That He will fill you with His Holy Spirit to guide you in His ways. #GodCanDoThis
Lightbearer's Quest 