Bible In One Year-Day 142 (Tuesday, May 22, 2013)
Commentary: Jer13-15. I just learnt from Jeremiah how to be a prophet of God. The heart must be as that of Jeremiah, an obedient heart which sees God as a Master that cannot make a mistake. God gave Jeremiah a step-by-step instruction towards a goal and Jeremiah never asked what He wanted to achieve. Each stage never made any sense, but the totality of it made serious sense and that is God for you. He takes you through different stages in life (which might have no meaning as it goes), but if you obey Him, the end is always amazingly unimaginable;
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
On the other hand, if you obey the first two instructions and refuse to do the third one, He will not give the forth instruction. In God’s plan, there is no shortcut and in God’s school, there is no double promotion, you will go through each stage He had laid down. The only thing is that the reward for a stage well done might be multiplied, but the training will never be cut short; you need the experience of each stage of God’s training for the next level. People who get frustrated are those who always try to skip stages. It is at stage one that you get the anointing for stage two; you don’t get the anointing for stage two in stage two. Jeremiah was given some instructions to carry out a prophetic action. Linen was a piece of cloth with high prestige in the days of Jeremiah. The wrapping round his waist signifies Judah and Israel round the waist of God. It was God who gave them the glory which they took pride in, but unfortunately, they abandoned God. A cloth locked up in the wardrobe is not appreciated until it is worn by somebody. Jeremiah was told to bury it and after sometime, he exhumed it but the glory was gone;
Jeremiah 13:7 “Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing”.
This was what the Israelites were in the spirit as far as God was concerned. The spiritual definition of pride is attributing the glory of God to oneself; it is saying that you have seen the whole of God without remaining anything. The devil had equal access to the presence of God as Jesus had and he thought he had seen all of God. He therefore demanded for the rotation of chairmanship with God. It is better for God to be proud of you than for you taking undue pride in yourself. Whatever He gives you should be humbly used to bless people. Three times Jesus warned about pride;
Luke 18:14 “… for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Nothing one does in pride is accepted by God, Jer14:11-12.
Jeremiah 14:11-12 “Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
James 4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.”
A person of pride is a prey to false prophets. It is pride that makes people to go from prophet to prophet seeking for the God of tomorrow when they have not obeyed the God of today (Jer14:13-14). The situation of the Israelites and Judeans was so bad that God reject even any plea from Moses and Samuel on their behalf, Jeremiah 15:1 “Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.”
As far as heaven was concerned, judgment had been distributed accordingly in four different forms, Jer15:2-4, just because of what one person did.
Jeremiah 15:2-3 “And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.”
God hates pride with perfect hatred. Many did saw the visions of heaven and Jesus Christ in the past, but due to pride, they have lost that grace. The greatest havoc pride does is that it disconnects one from God faster than any other thing, just as Lucifer was cast out from God’s presence. For you to be an oracle of God or make heaven, you need to get the garment of humility by all means. That garment of pride must be burnt and let God be glorified.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
Let us ask for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. May the fire of God destroy the wings of pride in our lives and His grace hide pride from us in the name of Jesus. Reading for today is Jer16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive.
Isaiah 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Pastor Supo Abayode
+1-302-230-6792
MFM, Delaware, USA