WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT JEREMIAH?
Jeremiah: Endurance, The Test of Faith
The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; [12] if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; [13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
Endure in God’s Love Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
Endure in Repentance
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)
Endure in Holy Living I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face. (Jeremiah 17:16)
- And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away…. (Mark 4:17-19)
Endure in Physical Suffering Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. (Jeremiah 20:2)
Endure in Mental SufferingSo they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. (Jeremiah 38:6)
Endure in Relational SufferingWoe is me.. a man of strife and contention to the whole land! … all of them curse me. … I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. (Jeremiah 15:10, 17)
- the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand” (Jer 11:21)
- The word of the LORD came to me: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.” (Jeremiah 16:1-2)
Endure in Financial SufferingNot that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11)
Endure in Ministry SufferingFor twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. (Jeremiah 25:3)
- always be sober-minded, endure suffering … fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5)
Endure in Persecution-SufferingConsider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3)
Endure in FaithTherefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
- to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory (Jude 1:24-25)
Fruitful Hearts
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. [7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8] He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” [9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? [10] “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 17:5-10)
“let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
Am I depressed? Am I anxious?
“out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45)
Who Am I listening to? v.5 “Thus says the Lord…”
Are you cursed by your decisions?
Root Problem: Human Focus v.5 “…Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”
Symptoms: v.6 “He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.”
Do you desire to be blessed by God? Be Responsible.
Root Solution:
GOD-TRUST vs. SELF-TRUST
v.7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”
NEAR GOD not NEAR DESERT v.8 “He is like a tree planted by water,”
ACTIVE not PASSIVE v.8“…that sends out its roots by the stream”
- Start, Renew, or Deepen a Daily Devotional Time
- Memorize & Fill Your Day with Scripture
- Sing and Remember God’s Truths
- Prioritize Truth-Filled Prayer Encounters
- Share God’s Love in Action and Truth
Symptoms:
FEARLESS not FEARFULL: v.8 “…and does not fear when heat comes,”
FULLNESS not EMPTYNESS: “…for its leaves remain green”
PEACE not WORRIES: “and is not anxious in the year of drought”
PURPOSEFUL not POINTLESS: “for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
WARNING: v.9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Fruitfulness Comes from a Heart & Mind that Draw Near God
v.10 “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.”
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44)