Read Jeremiah 31:31-39
How did you come to know the Lord, the God of Israel? Did you grow up in a home where these things were taught? If you did, then you are among some of the most blessed people on the earth.
Unbeknown to you, the Lord was working in your life long before you realised. God made a covenant with you long before you knew, to put His word in your heart and to bring you to trust in Jesus for your salvation. It was a covenant that is permanent. It will last forever. It is a covenant will only cease when the sun no longer shines by day and the moon and the stars shine by night. These things are held in place and sustained by the Lord.
This covenant involves the Lord, who says:
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, because they will know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
It is the Lord who makes us desire to follow after Jesus and to walk in God’s ways. It is our joy to “know the Lord”, have His forgiveness, and to talk to others about our God who loves us and gives us freedom to live as He desires of us. The same Lord who called Israel to be God’s people and promised to be their God, is the same Lord who calls us to be His people today and who promises to be our God forever. He gave His Holy Spirit to live within us and to lead us to live lives that are pleasing to God. By His power we are made into new creations with the mark of God’s nature within us.
When the Apostle Paul wrote about this to the Galatian church he wrote:
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. ... The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.”
Consider how your life has changed since you became a Christian? How has your life evidently changed since God’s Spirit brought you to know God and to write His law on your heart?
Prayer:
Using today’s passage and the reading notes spend time in prayer.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
· Ask the Lord to bring a growing sense of righteousness and holiness to everyone in your congregation. Pray that God would grow each person in your congregation in holiness.
· Pray that your city would see growing unity and oneness among the churches and that they would all be working together in the gospel to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
· Pray for your preacher that they will speak God’s Word with boldness and clarity this coming Lord’s Day.
1. What responsibility do you have in telling unbelievers about Jesus? Where does God’s Spirit come into that relationship?
2. How can we be sure the fruit of the Spirit is growing in us?
3. What would you say to a fellow Christian who struggles with outbursts of anger, self-centred living, and immoral sexual thoughts, for example?
One on One
Life Is No Bed of Roses
Poet: John Mc Leod , © 2003
Life is no bed of roses
For roses have thorns, you see, But handling with care and balance
Will protect from injury.
All gardens have seasons of beauty Where the flowers of our living grow With colours and shapes aplenty Sweet fragrance to bestow.
Life's flowers need careful tending For all life needs sun and rain, And Love and Faith unending
For Hope to flower again!
In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Apostle Paul describes three essential ingredients in life: faith, hope and love. These are not abstract qualities or emotions, but for the Christian are tied to Christ Jesus. They are eternal, lasting way past our immediate circumstances.
Personal Questions
1. How’s your prayer life?
2. Describe your current thought life?
3. How’s your relationship with your spouse or your parents?
4. Discuss how and if you’ve struggled with sin/ temptation this week.
5. How are you worshipping God through work, family and social networks?
When do you feel most hopeful? When do you feel least hopeful?
Place yourself amongst the people living in Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day. Jeremiah 32:32-33 describes the attitudes of people living at that time. How would you hold onto hope in such a community? When it comes to living close to the Lord are we different in our community today? How?
Personal reflection
Read Jeremiah 33:1-11
Pray
Spend time praising God for His promises to save and forgive sins.
Pray for the Lord to fill you with hope even when things look bleak.
Pray that the Lord will give you an opportunity to share the hope you have in Christ during this week.
Reflection:
1. If someone says they have no hope for the future, how would you speak to them to give them hope?
2. How does hope change the way you live each day?
3. How can you give lasting hope to your children and grandchildren?
4. Why do so many Christians live as if they have no hope?
5. What can your church do for people to know hope in their daily lives?
There is an undeniable comfort in knowing that God our Creator is always close by to help us. The Psalmists are constantly referring to the Lord watching over them and keeping them. Psalm 23 talks about the Lord walking through the valley of the shadow of death with him. Psalm 121 speaks of the believer lifting up their eyes to the mountains and asking — “where does my help come from?” He then answers: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
God’s presence with the believer is emphasised in the New Testament with God’s Spirit being with us. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17)
The assurance of God’s presence in the present lets us face each and every daily situation with hope. The certainty of God’s promises for the future lets us live with hope and certainty for all time. This hope has its foundations in faith—trusting that God’s Word is reliable and true. If we doubt God’s Word, or are non-committal about God’s Word then hope cannot live. Hope only lives when faith in God’s Word and love for God live.
This means that God’s Word needs to be constantly before us. In our minds and in our hearts we need to engage with it, depending upon God’s Holy Spirit to give us understanding, acceptance, and trust of that Word. The Lord our God is our rock, the rock of life—building us upon a sure foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment