“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” – Jeremiah 23:5

Just when things were getting darkest, God promised He would one day send the Light of the World! The kingdom of Judah was nearing its end. It was corrupt, idolatrous, and sinful from top to bottom. God had declared His coming judgment through warfare, conquest, fire, and exile. Jerusalem would soon be destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. Some would be forcibly taken to Babylon for 70 years of servitude. They were the ones with a future. Most others would die. Israel would soon cease to exist as a nation. And yet, God wasn’t finished with Israel!

Amidst the Lord’s declaration of a dark and painful near-term future, He promised a glorious future beyond that. Once the destruction and exile brought a small faithful remnant into deeper relationship and obedience to Him… Once He made empires rise and fall… In the fullness of time… God would send the Branch of David. His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, would step into this world, born of a virgin, descended from King David in an earthly sense, but also fully, completely, eternally God.

The true, eternal, just, righteous, merciful King of Kings and Lord of Lords would come! He would be anointed king not by a priest or military conquest but by His own blood shed on a cross for the forgiveness of sins and a glorious resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the Branch of David. Jesus is the eternal, righteous King of the Universe. The promise made in the darkest time will shine brightest forever. His Kingdom will never end. His justice and righteousness are perfect. His authority is absolute. He is the only King worthy of your undivided loyalty and submission. Praise God for the promise and the reality of Jesus! #FollowJesus

“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’” – Jeremiah 18:4-6

We are all like clay in the hands of God. Like a potter, He can fix our flaws, reshape us into something better, or totally rework us as our lives progress. Likewise for all the nations and powers on earth. God is perfect in His knowledge and wisdom and His power is absolute. As our Creator and the Lord of the Universe, He has total authority to do these things as He deems best. He is the master Potter. We are clay in His hands. Our nation is clay in His hands. Our world is clay in His hands.

This truth can certainly chafe against our inflated sense of independence, self-reliance, self-control, and self-determination. Too bad! Clay doesn’t really have a basis to complain against the design and work of its potter. Recognize that if God is correcting you, reshaping you, or reworking your life, He is doing it for eternal good. He is doing it for His glory. He is also doing it with greater knowledge, wisdom, and understanding than you’ll ever have.

Embrace God’s correcting and transforming work. Pray for Him to rework those parts of your life that need correction, healing, and transformation. Cooperate with His work rather than trying to stubbornly resist it. Trust the Potter! #FollowJesus

“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
– Jeremiah 17:10

Here God explains what Jesus emphasized so heavily in all His preaching…. The Lord always knows exactly what we’re thinking. He understands our motives in doing everything we do better than we do. While we should certainly do the right things in terms of religious observance and obedience, God is much more concerned that we do these things for the right reasons and with a transformed heart and mind.

In other words, the externals of religion accomplish nothing if they’re coming from an unregenerate heart and mind. If they’re just fueling pride, self-satisfaction, or hard-heartedness toward others. If they’re about promoting ourselves in God’s eyes and earning elite status with Him. If they’re putting a church-y face on hypocrisy and sin.

For followers of Jesus, the why of what we do is critical. Is it driven by genuine love for God and neighbor? Does it flow from gratitude for the grace received through faith in Jesus Christ? Is it rooted in humble repentance for sin?

If you’re doing all the “right things” but just checking boxes of self-righteousness, you’re doing the wrong things. If you’re doing all the “right things” but to gain status and attention in the word, you’re doing the wrong things. If you’re doing the “right things” but your inner dialog is nothing like what Jesus would say or think, you’re doing the wrong things. Following Jesus isn’t just about actions. It is about letting God’s Spirit take every thought captive and sanctify the thoughts and feelings that move you to action. #FollowJesus

“Righteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.”
– Jeremiah 12:1-2

This is an age-old struggle for sincere followers of the Lord…. Why does there seem to be such success for people who loudly profess their faith while living ungodly, self-centered, sinful lives that make a mockery of that faith. It was a problem in Jeremiah’s time and it continues to be a challenge to sincere faith. In our world today, Spirit-filled efforts to share the gospel are often terribly undermined by the words, actions, and legacy of un-Christlike Christians. It can be terribly frustrating.

Ultimately, this is God’s issue to deal with, and He will. God knows the truth. He sees through those who talk a lot about Him while living far from Him. Jesus spoke of their fate in the Sermon on the Mount (“I never knew you…”). While the frustration is understandable and it’s appropriate to lament their spiritual condition and the damage they’ve done, don’t let it discourage you. Stay faithful and never let these words be true of you.

Do not be a bumper sticker Christians quick to talk about Jesus while failing to speaking, act, think, or feel like Jesus. Devote yourself to growing more and more like Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Love the Lord whole-heartedly and love your neighbor as yourself. Steep yourself in the Scriptures and frequently re-visit the teachings and actions of Jesus found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Let the life and words of Jesus convict and challenge your heart. Don’t excuse away areas of your life that fall short of Jesus but work in Christ to change them. #FollowJesus

“For my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
– Jeremiah 2:13

The two evils the Lord speaks of here sounds awfully familiar…. They turned away from the Lord, Who offers the perfect, pure, ever-flowing water of life to His people. And they chose to utterly rely on themselves, preferring to (metaphorically) build their own, deeply-flawed water storage system. In other words, they chose radical self-reliance over dependence on God. That’s pretty much what our modern Western culture has done as well.

These evils are two sides of the same, very foolish, coin. In our arrogance, we first reject the Lord and His ways. We imagine that we’re smarter, better, and more civilized than the ancient teachings of God and His Word. We reject God’s authority over our lives and decry His standards and expectations as hateful and cruel. In doing this, we turn away from the source of life. We turn down the blessings of peace and reconciliation in the Lord.

Instead, we pursue our own gods of health, wealth, ambition, comfort, and pleasure. We insist on doing everything our way. We define ourselves by our appetites and desires rather than by our Creator. We proudly build elaborate sand castles, imagining they will last forever. And yet, we find no lasting satisfaction in any of these things. We are anxious, despondent, miserable, and afraid. The more we have, the worse off we can become. Because, like a broken cistern, we can’t actually hold onto anything we desperately cling to. We recognize something is missing, but often refuse to turn back to God.

It is good to work hard to provide for ourselves and others. But it is foolish to make our ambitions, accomplishments, possessions, or predilictions the foundation of our lives. Such things cannot sustain us in crisis or satisfy us for the long term. Only a relationship with God can do that. Work hard, but depend on the Lord. Enjoy your blessings, but recognize they come from the Lord. Don’t worship yourself, or anything produced by people. Worship and #FollowJesus