Scripture: Jeremiah 26.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Jeremiah 26:12-14 (NLT)

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his own defense. “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city,” he said. “The LORD gave me every word that I have spoken.

13 But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the LORD your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.

14 As for me, I am in your hands—do with me as you think best.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Jeremiah had laid a lot on the leaders/officials, and he realized that their patience was probably growing thin with his bad and challenging news. One thing that really challenged me with this passage is in verse 14. I believe that Jeremiah was so convinced that he had to share what God had laid on his heart that I could only imagine in verse 14 he was saying something like this: Now you have heard the facts straight from God, if this results in you ultimately deciding to shut me down/destroy me, then so be it. In other words, I am willing to go to my grave knowing that I have been obedient to the Lord and told the people everything that God wanted me to say. Friends, so often today we place our pastors and church leaders under so much pressure about cutting off their lifeline if they don’t tickle our ears with good stuff, and lifting us up above the rest, that we force them into a corner of compromise. To my pastor friends, let me encourage you to tell it like it is, share exactly what God has laid on your heart. Share the unadulterated Word of God and know that you will be blessed exceeding more than any church member could ever bless you. In Jeremiah 22:15 we are reminded that Josiah was blessed because of his righteous and just dealings. When we are truly servants of the King, we should expect to be blessed when we are truly obedient to Him. When we waffle and wander because of what others may think about what God wants us to share, we are serving God with too much influence by folk who oppose what He really wants us to share with them. Let’s pray for our pastors and ministers of the Gospel that they will speak the Word of God in confidence and without any influence from those looking for their fancies for the day.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father God, You have blessed us with Your church – Your bride. As part of that gathering, You have blessed us with Your messengers to lead Your flock and to expound Your Word to us. Please help us to pray for those who lead us, and pray that You can use them as vessels to share Your Word so openly and truthfully and without influence from anyone else, that each time we leave our worship services we could honestly say that it was good to have been together with Your people and to have been directed by Your Word as spoken through Your messenger. I believe that time here on earth is getting short – much too short to waste our time beating around the bush and tickling the ears of our congregations. Lord, may You work diligently in the lives of our pastors and ministers of the Gospel so that they may share Jesus freely and often with our lost world, and with their very own congregations.

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
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