FWD: Morning Manna (Oct. 16); BP: Jer. 42; RBTTY: I Thess. 4; Is. 47-49

 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:26:48 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Oct. 16); BP: Jer. 42; RBTTY: I Thess. 4; Is. 47-49
 

October 16                                                                                                                                                                       “The Secret to Inward Peace”

 

“Then they said to Jeremiah, ‘The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord your God shall send to us.  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the Voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you—that it may be well with us, when we obey the Voice of the Lord our God’.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Jeremiah 42:5-6

     Absolute surrender is signing on the dotted line of a blank sheet of paper before we know what He’ll put on there.

     None of us knows what tomorrow (or even today) holds for us (Prov. 27:1; James 4:14).  In reality, the only moment and breath we know for sure are the ones we’re experiencing right at this very minute.  That’s why we must “redeem the time” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5)—i.e., investing every minute, decision, deed, etc, from an eternal perspective—and trust the Lord to lead us as a Good Shepherd would in “the paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3b).

 

     Does that mean this Path will always traverse idyllic mountaintops?  Or, will He continually place a hedge of thorns around us to keep us hemmed into the “strait and narrow” and keep the devil and his demonic henchmen at bay?

 

     No, it doesn’t mean that all.

     Suffice it to say, the real “Battle” begins the moment we say “I do” to the Lord (Eph. 6:10-12).  The evil one doesn’t like it when we say “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give”—for it is this “positive relinquishment” of our lives. . .abilities. . . resources. . . dreams, etc., to Him that flies right in the face of self-sufficiency, self-realization, self-worth, etc.

 

     It seemed that Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and “all the people from the least even unto the greatest” (v.1) knew that they were unable to make it on their own.  Even though Johanan had warned Gedaliah about Ishmael’s intentions, which he didn’t heed (40:13-14) and ended up being killed (41:1-2). . .and even though this spiritually sage servant and his cohorts rescued those taken captive by the deceitful Ammonite (41:11-14). . .it seemed they still knew they needed the Lord to “show them the way wherein they should walk and the thing he/they should do” (v.3).

 

     However, after Jeremiah had prayed for 10 days, God showed him that their vows of surrender were a “drawing near to Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him” (Is. 29:13; Mt. 15:8).  He knew they’d already decided in their hearts what they would do (e.g., flee into Egypt—vv.13-14, 19-21) and weren’t about to obey His Voice.

 

     Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened (43:1-7) and later they’d realize they’d suffer the punishment the Lord had warned them about (vv.8-13).  Dear Pilgrim, it’s one thing to vow “We will obey;” it’s another thing to do it.  Talk is cheap—but surrender is costly (and never painless).  However, it’s never wrong to implicitly obey God. . .without hesitation or reservation. . .for such is “The Secret of Inward Peace.”