Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay
Open Your Bible
Jeremiah 42:1-22, Jeremiah 43:1-13, Psalm 104:1-4, Romans 8:31
BY Kaitie Stoddard
Everyone in the whole city wanted to know God’s will for them, or so they said. But when the Lord’s instructions didn’t match up with what the people of Judah wanted to hear, they quickly made up excuses to dismiss the message and the messenger.
God spoke through Jeremiah and told the people to stay put, but they trusted their own plans over His. “Surely Egypt will be better,” they arrogantly thought. Much like when Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, the people placed themselves on the throne to judge what was best for their lives. In doing so, they failed to trust God. It’s a mistake that humankind has made repeatedly since the beginning of time. But just as God was trying to protect Adam and Eve when He warned them not to eat the fruit in the garden, He was trying to protect the people of Judah. It’s important to realize that God wasn’t being controlling or trying to ruin their fun, rather, He knew that if they followed their own path it would lead straight to death (Jeremiah 42:22).
I’m sure we’ve all asked God for wisdom and direction in big and small decisions. But can you think of a time when you weren’t really open to hearing the Father’s answer? Maybe you already had your mind made up about what you wanted to do or what you thought was best. But when God started to speak to you, were you willing to hear what He had to say? Was your heart ready to obey?
Like Adam and Eve, and the people Jeremiah prophesied to, most of the time we are not setting out to purposely rebel against God. The problem is actually more deeply rooted in our hearts than that. The reason we struggle to obey God is because we struggle to trust God. While we profess with our lips that God is a good and wise King, our actions sometimes show that we put more stock in our own judgment and abilities to run the show. But just as it was for the first man and woman, and the stubborn people of Judah, our own steps unguided by the light of the Holy Spirit always lead to the dead end of death.
We must trust God more and trust ourselves less; He must increase, and we must decrease (John 3:30). None of us are perfect in this area. Not one. But we don’t need to figure this out alone. God knows this fault in us, and it’s exactly why He came to save us from ourselves. We have a rescuer who will go after us no matter how far we’ve wandered from the path. Like a good Shepherd, our God will chase down the lost sheep and bring us back into the fold (Luke 15:4). And bit by bit, as we learn to trust God to lead our lives, we will experience life, abundant life.Through communion with God, we will be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
65 thoughts on "Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay"
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Churchmouse, Preach it!
And I respond with an Amen!
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Thank you my Lord for another day in our life.
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CHURCHMOUSE, WOW!!! I love ❤️ it!!
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Did someone tell you the church is closed? That’s fake news. The church is not closed at this time. The church has just left the building. We believers are the church. The church is not its building. The building is not the church. Buildings are closed, not out of fear, but out of love for our neighbors, preferring them over ourselves. Not out of fear but out of consideration. Perhaps one of the outcomes of this season is that believers rely less on a weekly corporate worship service to ‘count’ as evidence of their faith, and instead realize their personal lack and the need and opportunity to step into their faith a little deeper. Perhaps they spend more time on their own, reading their Bibles. Perhaps more moms and dads model being the spiritual head and teacher of the Word in their homes, instead of abdicating that role to Sunday school teachers and youth leaders. Perhaps believers reach out to the neighbors they barely know and they drop off groceries or slip them an encouraging note. Maybe, just maybe, the church will discover that it is most like the church when it isn’t in the building. Sure it will be wonderful to meet together as one local family of God in a building but maybe, just maybe, Sunday worship will become like running to first base. You run and you touch it, but the goal is to keep on moving, keep on going, all the way home. Sunday service is just one of the bases, tap and go. No, the church is not closed. It’s on a prolonged mission trip.
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I love this so much!! “The Church is on a prolonged mission trip.” What a beautiful way to think about it.
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Love this! I’ve been a member of two churches that did not have their own buildings, and honestly I love it. The church is not a building, it’s people coming together. Thanks to technology, we’re able to do that in real time. We’ve all been texting one another and though it hurts to not be physically with my fellow church members, I still feel spiritually together. And (a bonus of not having a building to pay for) our church has been able to financially bless people in our community who need help. It’s amazing to see what we can do in our area of Tucson that is impoverished.
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Beautifully said, thank you for the encouragement ❤️
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Amen!
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Your words went straight to my heart ❤️ Thank you
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Thank you, that is beautifully said!
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Yes!! Hit the nail on the head.
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Pam, I totally agree with you. The people of Judah had a hidden agenda. They wanted Jeremiah to tell them what they wanted to hear. They rejected Jeremiah even though they recently lived through the truth that Jeremiah had just delivered to them. My heart sank when I read the scriptures today. They made me reflect on the times when I’ve gone to God for guidance while concealing my own agenda. But nothing is hidden from God. He knows my thoughts before I even think them. Keeping my journal helps me to remember every situation that God has brought me through and how He is able to do it again. My daily prayer is, “God order my steps in Your word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me”. Praying for everyone ❤️
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Wow, Amen, and I fully agree Tina, Churchmouse, Rebekah C, Heidi, Kara, Maura, Angie, Megan Ruth
You made me think Sue
Praying for Monie Mag, Tricia Cavanaugh and all the other nurses and healthcare workers and others on the front lines. Praying for your sister Cindy Angie. Praying for you Rachel. -
Oh, my, the remnant ask for intercession by Jeremiah, who waits 10 days until he hears from the Lord, Who say, “Stay put!” I’m sure in the delay, they began figuring out what else they could do. Evidently, they wanted confirmation of their plan to move to Egypt. The wisdom of man is not the wisdom of God. And the memory of man is very short, as they forgot their promise to obey. We always think we must be moving and doing things to “handle” our challenges. But we really need to just “Say put” and wait for the deliverance of the Lord. This is my natural tendency–to be a “do-er” instead of a “be-er”.
Lord, You’ve been teaching me this over the past three years: how to take Sabbath rest in the midst of the many difficult circumstances of my life. This is a hard lesson for a “figure-out-er”. You’ve put our whole world in quarantine. As we wait, we must seek Your face and pray and wait for deliverance.
When I was in labor with my 3rd of 6 children (I usually had very long labors, even through #6, my labor stopped after a couple of hours. I was quite distressed, complaining, knowing I would have to once again go through the night. My husband went to get a cup of coffee. I began crying and saying, “It’s not fair!” I heard this voice say, “Well, you stupid little girl, I’m giving you a chance to rest!” I knew exactly Who was speaking, as that was the farthest thing from my mind. I immediately responded positively to this Sabbath rest. We must all right now look to Jesus and thank Him for that rest. May we see more of Him in these stressful times. Secrets of the Secret Place: there is no Plan B, only God. -
Thank you Kaitie Stoddard, I have now found my new motto, “We must trust God more and trust ourselves less;…”. I will reword it to fit me, I must trust God more and trust myself less, but I needed this. I am in a way a lucky one right now I still am working because I’m a nurse but I’m not a nurse in what they are calling “the front lines”. I do private duty. I thank God through out my day that I have a job and since I’m over 60 that I’m not on the front lines of the nursing industry. I used to work in a long term care facility but after trying travel nursing I started private duty. At first I wondered if I had made the right choice but throughout the last year and a half I have realized this is where God has meant for me to be.
Lord, God I must trust You more and myself less. I ask you watch over those who are hurting, who need your help in many ways, whether with food, a job, a place to stay or love. I thank You for all You for all have done for me, my family, my SRT sisters, and my friends. Help the world get through this crisis we are in and draw us closer to You. Amen.
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