“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”
Memory verse: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.” I Samuel 15:22
I believe it’s clear enough that the word of God is consistent. Many will argue but why does God do this for A and not for B? We begin to analyse God and try to reason out why He makes certain decisions and due to our lack of understanding we find ourselves lamenting continuously. We definitely wanted it this way, but it turned out the other way and that’s God for us. If we can just take a minute to look into the word of God, we may be able to answer our own questions of why and why nots.
The mercy of God is truly unlimited and in today reading we see God’s conversation with Jeremiah. God is so flexible that He is always giving us room for repentance and because He loves us so much, He says “if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it”. It’s the simple reason why we cannot understand why despite the fact that we may have seen someone do something really terrible, yet still find mercy with God because the individual has genuinely turned away from evil.
On the other hand, we see some who are appear righteous and perfect in the eyes of God and man and receive enormous blessings from God, enjoying His mercies but then while they may still look perfect to men, they derail from God’s presence then God says in His word “then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”
We see this consistently happen in the lives of various people in the bible for example Adam and Eve being the first human created. They also got punished based on their reaction to God’s word. They took His word for granted and magnified the word of the serpent hence they had privileges withdrawn from them and then were banished from the beautiful heaven of Eden.
How do you react to Gods words and instruction? Many times we magnify the things of this world and completely ignore God; having done that, we then expect Him to still keep His part of the bargain. Your promises are as active as you want them therefore it’s important to understand the part you play in its fulfilment.
The bible tells us in Deuteronomy 28:1 certain criteria for benefiting from His promises “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”
God is not man and though His ways are unfathomable, He has given us His word as guide to understanding His patterns, so our reaction to His word will continually drive how much we benefit from Him as our father and Lord.
PRAYERS
- Father I thank you for your word which gives life and understanding to us your chosen ones
- Thank You for the era and season you created me into and for the uncertainties surrounding me in which you are in control of
- I am grateful for your generosity and my given ability to live a purpose driven life
- Father remold me where necessary Lord, make me into that which pleases you, I surrender all to you.
- Let your word continually be a light to my feet and a lamp to my path
- Help me Lord to take your word positively, rid me of every element of doubt and help me not to waver in my faith.
- I receive the grace to live my life completely reliant on you and not to rely on man
- Father help me to rely on you, trust in you totally, not see the hurdles, but see the victories ahead and attain them
- Father do not be silent on my case Lord; I receive the zeal to carry you along every moment in my life
- Forgive me Lord of all my iniquities, bless me abundantly and make me a blessing unto others, in Jesus mighty name I pray, Amen.
