In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:6-8 NKJV)
Jesus was going to bring His people back from captivity. They could count on it.
The history of this scripture is Jeremiah telling the people of God that they would be going into captivity. In fact they should go, and make a home of it. They were going to be there for seventy years. Those who would go willingly would not suffer destruction. However those who would run, and try to avoid the discipline of The Lord would be destroyed. This is a truth that still applies today. The Father in heaven loves us as a good father. Good fathers discipline their children out of love. This is true of our Father in heaven as well.
However, this is not the direction of my journal today. That one was for free!
What leaped off of the page for me today is, “they shall no longer say.”
Why? Because it a reference to them not having a personal relationship with The Lord. They are attempting to follow God on their parents and grandparents relationship. They shall no longer talks about what happened in the past, and how God rescued them. It would now be how God rescued me! That is a different testimony. This is a different kind of relationship. Let me tell you stories about what God did in 1977 in Russia is good, and it is powerful. Let me tell you what God did for me today will carry a different kind of authority.
Jesus wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. It is what separates us from every other religion in the world. We have a living and active relationship with Jesus Christ. He walks and talks with us. We don’t have to tangibly make him out of wood or stone. He actually wants to be in a relationship with us. We don’t have to go to a specific spot, and hope he shows up. We are His friend! It changes everything.
God is declaring through Jeremiah that they would no longer talk about God in the past tense, but rather it would be in the hear and now.
What is your story? What is your relationship with Jesus like? Are you telling stories from twenty years ago or twenty minutes ago? I understand if you have an amazing testimony of God’s goodness, and He healed you twenty years ago. You need to continue to share that testimony. We overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony. But if you are sharing the same revelation from His word from twenty years ago, I want to hear what He told you today. He is still alive and active. He is still speaking to us. He wants to talk with you today. He does not want you trying to live on yesterday’s mercy. His mercies are new everyday!
What has God showed me today? Besides this journal, I will be preaching at Grace Community Church in Southlake, Texas about how we have a real enemy. Some of the enemies real strategies are found in 1 John 2:15-17. We will look at how the enemy plans to defeat us with these strategies, and how we can build strategies against these specific attacks. I would love for you to join me in person or online at www.gracecommunitychurch.com.
Daily Devotional 