Breaking Away from the Bondage in Our Lives

Jeremiah 31:25
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

What a tremendous promise we have from the Lord. The promise was first spoken to draw the Jews out of bondage back to their homelands and back to Himself. Through His prophet, Jeremiah, Almighty God was assuring the Jews that they would find a rest and joy in their new settlement if they set aside their idols and returned to Him.

The promise still holds true for all of us today as the Lord encourages us with His extraordinary promise to give us the strength that we need to break away from all the bondage in our lives. The promise includes drawing us back to Himself when we have separated ourselves from Him by living in the world and taking on personal idols that we have set ahead of the Lord. The promise includes giving us the spiritual inspiration that we need to renew our devotion to Him when it is lagging.

Through His incredible promise, He calls us to live in a higher place, a place where His presence brings us complete comfort, peace and satisfaction. He calls us to a place where the weary find rest and the sorrowful find joy. There is no other place except in Jesus Christ that we can find such a promise.

Let us take our weary souls before Our Father in heaven. Let us languish there and be replenished in body, mind and spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself. We bless the name of Jesus who provides all that we need to be one with You and one with Your Son. We pray that You raise up in us the desire to bring to You the fullness of love and devotion that You seek from us. Lift us up, Lord, to a higher place – a place that we cannot reach without You. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to leave behind the things of the world that we place ahead of our devotion to You. We ask all these things in the name of our Most High Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wisdom and Understanding Concerning All Matters

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.

The Word of God is very specific. He spoke the words in today’s passage directly to Jeremiah, but His promises are relevant for all men. Wisdom and understanding concerning all matters of life are available to us. All we have to do is ask Our Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can imagine.

Did you notice the little detail in the passage that He will give us answers to things that we do not know? Did you consider this works for things big and small? Need to know how to make a certain household repair that you find challenging, ask Him. Need to know what direction to take your business or your career, ask Him. Need some help in unravelling a complicated family issue, ask Him. He promises to provide answers that have been hidden from us. He will deliver answers for all these things at the time that He knows is perfect for us.

Did you notice that He requires us to call on Him to receive the promised blessing. Our responsibility in receiving this awesome blessing is being persistent in asking for wisdom. If we wait to call on Him when everything comes crashing down on us, we may not be able to handle all that God has ready for us. It is a building process. The Lord knows that we are not able to digest too much information at one time. He will feed us slowly as a baby is fed liquids until it is ready to move on to more solid foods. He will feed us in accordance to His will and plan for our lives. His “new knowledge” for us will be dispensed at the perfect time.

Let us be bold and persistent in asking for “great and hidden things.” Relying on what has been promised to us by Almighty God, in faith, let us give thanks for what is set aside for us before we receive it.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for providing the Holy Spirit to teach us all things, including secret things and inaccessible things. We humbly ask You to provide us the wisdom that we need to get through each day. We ask that each day You will build our understanding of who You are and what Your plan is for our lives. We rejoice in knowing that all things are possible through Your Son, Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the One who determines our steps, Jesus Christ.

Discovering Our Divine Appointment

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

As it was with Jeremiah, so it is with each of us. God created us and has a plan for our lives. He has set us apart to serve Him in a way that only we can do because of the unique nature and capabilities that He has given to each of us. God draws each of us into a relationship with Him so that we can understand what He has prepared us to do. We do the things that we are called to do in response to the outpouring of love and forgiveness that we receive from Our Creator.

As we seek our place in God’s kingdom, we must be careful not to think too highly or too lowly of ourselves. We should maintain a keen sense of our weaknesses and our insufficiencies, but we should not let our weaknesses keep us back from our calling. We should fear no man and go about our work humbly as we grow in our relationship with Our Heavenly Father. Our primary focus needs to be on seeking God’s will for our lives and discovering the appointment that Our Creator has set aside for us. Once we confirm our appointment, we need to respond accordingly.

The good news is that we do not have to discover our appointment or respond to it on our own. Our Heavenly Father has given us a Helper to guide us through the process of finding and accepting the calling that He has placed on our lives. As long as we set aside time to be in the presence of Almighty God and surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, we will discover our appointed role in the kingdom and rejoice in our opportunity to serve Our King.

Let us first seek an intimate relationship with Our Savior. Then let us earnestly seek the aid of the Holy Spirit to reveal the calling that Our Lord has set aside for us. Under the guidance of Our Counselor, let us move in faith one step at a time toward our appointment.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us to fill a specific need on this earth and in Your eternal kingdom. We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to help us separate our own carnal desires from the will and plan that You have for our lives. We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will help us to dig deep into our relationship with You. We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit teach us how to be vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness. We ask all these things in the name of the One who makes it possible for us to become Your good and faithful servants, Your Most Faithful Son, Jesus Christ.

Getting to a Place Where We Fear No Man

Jeremiah 1:8
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you”, declares the LORD.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah to give him confidence. He assured Jeremiah that he would not be asked to do anything for which the Lord had not equipped him. The Lord also confirmed with Jeremiah that He would be protected from anything or anyone that tried to come against him. This was all necessary to boost up Jeremiah. Jeremiah was being asked to deliver messages that were not pleasant to the ears of his audience. Jeremiah, one of God’s greatest prophets, needed the divine inspiration of God to be able to carry out His assignment.

Our heavenly Father knows that often we fear what others will think about us. God knows that we are weak and have a sense of inadequacy about carrying out the work that He calls us to do. In His Word, He gives us the story of Jeremiah to strengthen and encourage us. He wants us in a place where we fear no man.

Surely, getting to this place where we fear no man is one of the most difficult lessons that we as believers ever learn. It requires that we learn to trust completely in the Lord in all matters concerning our lives. Even though the Lord has promised His perfect provision and protection in our lives, we still struggle to live in the fullness of what He has declared. Sadly, it is a lesson that is probably not fully internalized even up to our death beds. How much more joy would we have in life if we just simply put our complete trust in Him?

Let us boldly follow our calling to be messengers of the way, the truth and the life that is Jesus Christ. Let us confidently shed all fear of those who might speak against us or in any way persecute us. Let us rejoice in knowing that the Lord will be faithful in delivering us through all circumstances.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the protection and provision that You promise us. We rejoice in Your unbreakable commitment to Your Word. We praise You for allowing us to live in Your grace. We pray, Lord, that You give us the courage to see past our circumstances and the wisdom to know that Your hand will be sufficient for all that we need. We ask, Father, that Your Holy Spirit build us up and strengthen us so that we fear no man. May we carry out the work that You give to us with the boldness and confidence of Your prophets. We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.