Our decisions have a response...
Our decisions have a response...
It cost them 70 years!
Are you familiar with Jeremiah 29:11? We quote it quite often.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
God knows the plans HE has for us.
God thinks highly of us… even when we don’t (the decisions we make reflect our internal perspective of self).
God is our future and hope.
We have to remind ourselves daily of God’s word—or we will forget. The children of Isreal are an example. The entire bible is an example of imperfect humans in need of a perfect God. Jeremiah 29 is an example.
Did you read the verse before 11? 👀
Jeremiah 29:10 reads...
“This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.”
Alright, so boom… They were in exile.
Defenition of Exile: the state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons (google.com)
Whew, they were in exile for their disobedience.
Our decisions have a response…
And in their disobedience, because God is a covenant-keeping God (insert praise break), who loves us. Without Christ we fail, rebel, go astray, every time. God reassured the exiles in Babylon through His prophet Jeremiah while they were in exile.
This was during a time false prophets prophesized a quick and speedy end to this season of disobedience… and the Lord sent Jeremiah to remind them of their sins. BUT GOD still had a plan of redemption. He offered hope and a future on the other side of their disobedience but they were still gonna serve them 70 years.
Our decisions have a response…
Our disobedience breaks God’s heart. I imagine God saying:
I love you! I love you so much, in the midst of your disobedience because you choose to be lovers of yourself, seek personal gain at the expense of others’ well-being because you choose to worship false gods….I must allow your decisions to reap the consequence it requires. The wages of sin are death. Even though you must serve these 70 years, I have plans for you. May you know me better because of the consequences of your disobedience.
Just a reminder, Christ had yet to come. God sent His son because He knew without His help and the perfect sacrifice it required to redeem us, we couldn’t. Again, the bible is an example of imperfect humans in need of a perfect God. It’s through the Holy Spirit who transforms us, after we accept Jesus Christ through salvation, sanctification begins. We, under the new covenant, have the Holy Spirit within us. During the old covenant, they did not have access to Holy Spirit as we do. We have access to grace and redemption through repentence.
They still served those 70 years, with the word of the Lord reassuring them of His plans for them.
My challenge to you is tor reflect upon the decisions made, offer repentance (turning away from) to the Lord, read the word—remidning yourself of God’s truth, character, thoughts about you, and apply them to your life, daily, moving forward.
Out of love, God gave us choice.
We choose the deicsions that bring life… or death. The wages of sin are death. AND people perish from the lack of knowledge (relationship, application) of Christ and his word.
We can quote scripture all-day… but do we know the proper context? What it requires? Because Jeremiah 29:11 did not exuse them from their 70 years. They served them 70 years, but it came with a promise of hope, a reminder of who God is and His plans for them despite their disobedience.
Our decisions have a response…
I declare: our decisions will bring peace, joy, and provision in this season. We will not return to the ways of old. We will repent, turning away from what displeases GOd, to turn towards His truth, His protection, and will for our life.
Comment below with your declaration for this season.
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I will win in this season