EMMDEV 2010-11-30 [Jeremiah's Journey] Revisionist?

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, `We will not walk in it.' Jeremiah6:16

Some of you will probably cheekily suggest that I am showing my age here, but I think today's topic is well worth considering and I think there are fine-balances and plenty of baby-and-bathwater issues around this subject!

A wise person once told me: "Tradition is a stream we walk beside and not a stagnant pool. Sometimes the stream is shaped by the countryside and sometimes the stream shapes the countryside."

I see a lot of unhealthy revisionism going on today where it is a case of "out with the old and in with the new" simply because people think that "new is better."

Jeremiah had to challenge the people to go back to the ancient paths. Why? Not because they were ancient, but because they were *good*. There are old ways that are not good and we should learn from the mistakes of others.

Isaac Newton said "we have come this far because we have stood on the shoulders of giants." Unfortunately today we are so determined to "do it _our_ way" that we don't want to stand on the shoulders of the wisdom others have already gained in the school of hard knocks.

Proverbs 22:28 offers a similar sentiment: "Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers."

Here are some ancient good paths that are sadly neglected today:
- Loving but firm discipline of children by parents
- Teaching our children to wait and work for what they want instead of just giving them what they want.
- The value of reading
- The importance of marriage, and waiting for marriage
- The importance of living simply and within one's means
- Respect for privacy for loud in-your-face sensuality in our tv shows, newspaper headlines and tabloids.

Most importantly we seem to have forgotten the centrality of the "old old story of Jesus and His love." We seem to have forgotten the value of regular church attendance, Bible reading, prayer and service.

As a nation we are at a cross-road - may it be that we will look for the good ancient paths.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-25 [Jeremiah's Journey] Looking in the wrong places

"If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? Jeremiah12:5

Jeremiah had to repeatedly call an unrepentant Israel to "shoev" (repent): it was a tough call and a tough congregation.

In ch.11 he experiences resistance from his own people who plot against him to end his life and silence him permanently. They confront him and threaten him: "Be silent - or else!"

This shakes Jeremiah to the core and he's ready to give up on them. His attitude is "Drag them off like sheep to be slaughtered!"

Surprisingly God does not comfort Jeremiah, but confronts him. Jeremiah had his eyes too closely on the audience. Jeremiah had pinned his hopes on the people's positive response and their readiness to accept his message.

God warns him: "Do you think it's going to get any easier?"

The point of God's question is that Jeremiah can't compete with horses. No man can. And no-one's skin is thick enough for the thorny thickets of Jordan. He will need help.

The only way to survive is to enter the battle with God's help. The only way to manage is to realise that I can't depend on people or my charisma or even my expectations. There will come a time that I have to admit that I need help

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-23 [Jeremiah's Journey] Ignoring what is right before them

22 Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD.
"Should you not tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
they have turned aside and gone away.

24 They do not say to themselves,
`Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains in season,
who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'
Jeremiah5:22-24

One of the first signs of spiritual decline is that we lose our sense of wonder.

God's people had lost a sense of His divine presence in the world around them.
- Sunsets didn't wow them.
- The ocean's restrained power didn't impress them any more.
- They weren't taken with the wonder of the seasons
- And they weren't deeply grateful for the miracle of harvest.

This loss of wonder meant a loss of perspective.
Their lack of observation led to a loss of spiritual perception.
They were caught up in themselves and what they wanted.
They "turned aside and went away."

We can learn a lot from their mistake....
(So let's be sure not to repeat it!)

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-19 [Jeremiah's Journey] Doing things differently

"Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts" Jeremiah4:3-4

Einstein defined folly as "doing the same things over and over, but expecting different results." Sometimes this is exactly what we do in our spiritual lives. We don't want anything to change, but we want different results.

Jeremiah challenged God's people to do things differently:
They were trusting the temple (like a talisman or lucky charm) and they put great faith in their circumcision (culture and tradition) but it was getting nowhere.

They were sowing in soil that was full of weeds, they were circumcising their bodies but not their hearts.

Sometimes we have to break new ground for seed to grow.
This might be:
- Joining a Bible Study Group
- Signing up to serve somewhere
- Getting a daily devotional habit up and running
- Letting go of a long-standing grudge
- Breaking an addiction

If you've been planting seeds in the same old way and they keep being choked by the same old weeds, then break new ground.

But remember that it's not change for the sake of change: it's the heart that matters and not the outward ritual.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-18 [Jeremiah's Journey] Repentance: Using God's name truthfully

1 "If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, `As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory." Jeremiah4:1-2

What does true repentance look like?

Jeremiah gives us some thoughts:

1. Don't procrastinate. Many of us know that we need to come back to God, but we keep putting it off. "If you're going to come back then don't just say it - _do_ it" says the Lord.

2. Get rid of the idols and stop going astray. Take concrete actions to get distance between you and the things that dragged you away from God.

3. Learn to use God's name properly.

Let's look a little more closely at the third one...

In Old Testament times "as surely as the Lord lives" was a commonly used phrase that people used to lend weight to their promises and to look like an upright kind of person. It could be used insincerely and in a manipulative way.

When we get to a place where we only use God's name when we are sure that we are being _truthful_, _just_ and _righteous_ then that is a sign that our repentance has been real...

It boils down to an understanding that honouring God is not something we can do with empty words if our lives don't match up. When we love God and His name so much that it affects our behaviour, then our repentance is real.

When the tongue, which is a tough thing to tame, is backed up by the way we live, then we have true repentance. And true repentance brings blessing - even to nations.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-17 [Jeremiah's Journey] Shoev

`Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD,
`I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,' declares the LORD,
`I will not be angry forever.
3 Only acknowledge your guilt--
you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
you have scattered your favours to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,' "
declares the LORD. Jeremiah3:12-13

There is a word that is repeated again and again and again in Jeremiah. In Hebrew the word is "Shoev" - it means "return", "come back" and "do-the-prodigal-son-thing."

It is a visceral cry from the heart of the prophet and the heart of God. God longs for us to return to Him. He longs for us to come back from our wilderness wanderings. He is the Father who _runs_ toward the Prodigal Son even while he is still a long way off.

When we come to the place of knowing our need for Him and we have realised the futility of our sin, He will take us back no matter where we have been, no matter what we have done.

But let's not be fooled. Our confessions need to be honest and heart-felt. There is no sense of "cheap grace" here. The Father longs for us, but He longs for relationship that is real.

When we come to Him in sincere repentance we discover that He is merciful, that His righteous anger has been carried by Jesus on the cross and that there is no frown for we are adopted as His children.

"Shoev" - say it out loud (long "shoe" + heavy V sound)
Hear the longing and the passion!
It is repeated again and again in Jeremiah - it is the heartbeat and longing of God:
"Come back"
"Return"
"do-the-prodigal-son-thing."

Because He loves us with a love that is higher, deeper, wider and longer than we can even begin to grasp.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-16 [Jeremiah's Journey] Double Whammy

"My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah2:13

A cistern was a hole dug in the ground which was plastered with clay to make it waterproof and able to contain water. Rainwater would collect in it and would act as a reservoir for dry spells.

But cistern water was not fresh, and often got contaminated. In the case of this passage, the cisterns were cracked and not even reliable storage.

This is the double whammy:
Israel had access to fresh bubbling spring water (a close dynamic relationship with their God), but rejected this for their own crude imitations of the real thing (idolatry and traditionalism). But not only were their cisterns a shadow of the real thing, but their cisterns were broken and contained no living water at all.

This is the story of humankind again and again.
Israel exchanged the glory of God for idols.
Today we exchange God's glory for materialism, alcohol or self-worship.

The end-result is the same:
The water, if there is any, is stale and contaminated, but most of the time there is no living water at all...

Living water can only be found in one place:
"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37)

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-12 [Jeremiah's Journey] Divine Sadness

A longer one today... but there's a special treat at the end... :-)
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1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
Jeremiah2:1-2

I don't think we think enough about how much God loves us, and how it hurts Him when we wander away from Him. Jeremiah ch.2 is eloquent in this regard. Here are a few selected verses:

5 This is what the LORD says:
"What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.

6 They did not ask, `Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
a land of drought and darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?'

7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.

8 The priests did not ask,
`Where is the LORD?'
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.

11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their Glory
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, O heavens,
and shudder with great horror,"
declares the LORD.
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When we wander away from God it is an affront to His holiness, a denial of His Glory and a rejection of His incredible love.

Keith Green put it very well in his amazing song:
I don't want to fall away from You

After all the things that you have shown me
I'd be a fool to let them slip away
In doing things I know I shouldn't do
But I don't want to fall away from you
From you

After all
I've only grieved Your spirit
And then I don't know why You stay with me
But every time I fall Your love comes through
And I don't want to fall away from You

When the light is gone
And good times are getting old
There's no one left to count on
And all my friends are cold
When I thirst for love oh Lord
You're a fountain to my soul
My soul
My soul

In a way my life is full of burdens
But in a way You carry them for me
Jesus
Cause no one understands the way You do
And you know Lord
I don't want to fall away from You

Well every day I pray to start anew
Cause I don't want to fall away from You

No Lord
I don't wanna fall away from You
No Lord
I don't wanna fall away from You

From You...Lord

(You can listen to a cover version of this song by Petra, a gospel rock band from the 80s and 90s here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ-BnCIfWD0 )

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-11 [Jeremiah's Journey] Gear up!

17 "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land--against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. Jeremiah1:17-19

Sometimes God makes the Road easy and sometimes he makes the Traveller tough!

Jeremiah is not promised an easy road.

We know that his story unfolded in ridicule, being thrown into a pit, being locked up in stocks, dark nights of the soul, being disregarded, dragged off into Egypt and many other disappointments and struggles.

There are three things that Jeremiah must do:
1. Prepare: Loins girded (Long flowing robes hitched up)
2. Speak: God's word, not his own.
3. Don't be fearful: If he runs, he will have men and God to contend with

God didn't promise him an easy road, but offered him two other things instead:
- He would make Jeremiah tough.
- He would be with Jeremiah and would rescue him when it got too hard.

Notice the descriptions of Jeremiah's defences: (Fortified city, Iron pillar, Bronze wall) These are the strongest things people of that age knew. And God promises that Jeremiah will be able to "go the distance!"

When the road isn't easy God offers Resilience and Rescue.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

EMMDEV 2010-11-10 [Jeremiah's Journey] Two thirds destructive

10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. Jeremiah1:10

Building requires level ground and a good foundation.
Planting requires getting rid of "enemy" plants.

Jeremiah's call involves 6 verbs. Four of them are unpleasant: uproot, tear down, destroy and overthrow. Two are productive: build and plant.

The reality is that sometimes this is how we have to proceed. Before we can begin to build and plant we have to deal with the rubble and weeds in our own lives, in our own environments and in our ministry area.

When one paints a house, the surface prep is almost more important than the painting. When one builds a wall the foundation is almost more important than the wall itself. The weeds may be small now, but when your plants have grown, the weeds will also be bigger...

Good work requires good preparation.

In our own spiritual lives the same is true.
We need to clear the junk:
- otherwise the wall may wobble
- or the plants will be choked by the weeds

Prep and junk-clearing isn't glamorous or stimulating. It requires sweat and determination. One often encounters resistance. But it is the pathway to solid buildings and healthy plants.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/