-August 4, 2020-
Good morning, happy Tuesday,
-Call To The Lord And He Will Answer You-
“Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): ‘ Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’”
(Jeremiah 33:2-3).
Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison because of His prophecies against Judah who had disobeyed and rejected the Lord. They refused His Word and Jeremiah His prophet. Jeremiah is called “the weeping prophet,” for he wept over God’s people. He not only wrote the book of Jeremiah, but also the book of Lamentations, which follows it in the Canon of Scripture.
In the OT, God used prophets, formerly called seers, to speak to His people Israel. They spoke on God’s behalf and were severely persecuted for their message. The old expression was certainly appropriate for them, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” Israel often did shoot the messenger. Many prophets were rejected, despised, in prisoned, and even killed. They represented God to His people.
In Jeremiah 33:1, we read, “Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the prison, saying.” This expression “a second time,” is found four times in Scripture: God spoke to Abraham, Solomon, Elijah, and Jeremiah a second time. When God speaks a second time it is usually to give additional truth and encouragement to His servants. Does God have something to say to you a second time today? Are you in need of hearing His voice in some particular thing?
Jeremiah, like his fellow prophet Elijah, needed encouragement, and God provided it at just the right time. The Lord first introduces Himself as, “the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name):” If God had business cards this would be a wonderful statement to put on them! For He is Lord of all, He created all things, holds all things together, rules the universe from His throne in heaven, and has all power. He formed Israel as a nation and isn’t finished with them yet.
God invites Jeremiah to call upon Him and promises to answer him. Not only to answer him but to show him great and mighty things which he does not know. Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”
The amazing thing is that God wants to converse with us, and for us to ask Him for great things; in fact He promises to even go beyond what we ask and give us great and mighty things which we do not know. No matter how many times we read the Bible, God always has something new to show us, to teach us. We may have read a verse or passage dozens of times, but we glean something new and fresh each time. We are are so blessed!
Let us thank God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ that we can pray to a God who hears and answers prayer. We must always remember to pray in Jesus’ name and according to God’s will. Just wait and see what great and mighty things He will show us! As our beloved brother Paul wrote, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Have a blessed day in prayer in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. Stay safe and healthy.
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 