For your own Good

The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

One basket [had] very good figs, like the figs [that are] first ripe; and the other basket [had] very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."

Jeremiah 24:1-3

Putting Jeremiah 24 in historical perspective, This time in history King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has already come to Judah and he took as prisoners King Jeconiah(Jehoiachin) and his mother along with all the captains and mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all craftsmen and smiths. (2 Kings 24:13-16) Nebuchadnezzar left the poorest people in the land and then made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah King, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

So Judah at this time was wiped clean, Jeremiah was there amongst the poorest in the land, while all the men of valor and builders and craftsmen, all the strongest and most useful were taken into exile to Babylon. So in Jeremiah 24 the LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs, one basket has good figs and the other basket has bad figs…which Jeremiah can easily see, and then the LORD says..

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for [their own] good, into the land of the Chaldeans.

'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull [them] down, and I will plant them and not pluck [them] up.

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I [am] the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

Jeremiah 24:4-7

God is painting a picture for Jeremiah, He is using the example of the bad and good figs for a purpose. God says that those who were exiled into Babylon are the good figs, are you following this? Would it not seem more logical in OUR eyes that the good figs would be the ones who are still living in the land? Isn't it not more logical to think that the bad figs would be the one God let the Babylonians take away into their pagan land? But no, God says he sent them away for THEIR OWN GOOD, these same people who didn't listen to Jeremiah, these same people who said "God wouldn't let us be defeated" these same people who didn't realize how far they've fallen, God says He has sent them away for their own good. God even says that He will give them a heart for HIM!

THINK about this, here is the tribe of Judah living in the land God promised them, and they get taken away in chains to be slaves to a Babylonian Pagan empire(Daniel being one of these slaves) and God allowed it to happen for their own good. You see, this is a perfect example, just one of the perfect examples in the bible that we give God glory in GOOD and BAD. Things happen sometimes that we can't explain or understand.

God allowed it for a reason, trials and pains they come and go, the important thing is we continue giving God glory in good and bad, especially when it seems like everything is going wrong I.e not the way we think it should be going. God used the exile of Israel, the prisoners in Babylon and said He would bring them back, He would build them up and He would give them a heart for Him.

The exile wasn't something they wanted and it was hell to go through, and living in a foreign pagan land doesn't sound like a Blessing to me, but in the end it was, because through it.. God saved them, through it and by the grace of God their hearts were opened up. God made them realize how far off the path they were.

God is absolutely in control, and he deserves all honor and glory at all times. Nothing surprises Him, and in the end it's all apart of His plan.

I pray that all who are reading, and for myself that we would give God all glory, that no matter what we are going through, no matter how big our troubles look… realize that God is much bigger!

just honor Him..

just surrender..

Those who know my testimony know that I failed in this, I didn't give God glory, I didn't have faith or even ask why? I went straight to cursing God when I was going through a transplant. I now know everything happens for a reason, and although it wasn't an ideal situation and their were and are obvious struggles, I know now that I wouldn't want to change a thing, that it took this situation for Him to open my eyes. What I thought was a bad situation at the time, I know now it was for my own good, so God could give me a heart to know Him.

Seek God in struggles and tribulations because they will come,

and hope can only be found in God, we are confident in our Faith.

Confident that God will give us peace, Confident in the fact that our health and well being ,

riches and fame are all meaningless without a surrendering selfless life in Christ.

Sin is Slavery...not Freedom

So I'm reading Galatians chapter 5 again,

the title of that chapter being 'Freedom in Christ'

Now Paul is talking to everyone about

the law, and how some of them have

got things twisted and confused.

Some of the people seemed to be to heavily

influenced by the "old-way" and having to

do things in a set way, and trying to work

their way into Gods good graces,

which we know it doesn't work that way.

I'm reading the "notes" for chapter five verse one through twenty one,

and at the very end it says "Sin is slavery, not freedom"

Reading that now, i'm like "yeah I can see that"

however there was a time where I thought the complete opposite.

Do you see where I am going with this?

I use to think "being of Christ" a "Christian"

a "believer" whatever you want to call it,

I use to think that was slavery, and I use to think sinning

was "freedom". When I was on the outside looking in,

when I was looking at the word of God and

at "Followers of Christ" I was thinking..

"what a bunch of sheep" why would

I ever want to become a "believer" and be

chained down from doing whatever I want.

I use to think, hell I don't have to read the bible..

I already can tell you what it's all about,

it's a book of rules, it's a book of don't do this and don't do that

live this way and not that way ect ect.

Everything that feels good is a sin, everything that you want to do

you can't do.

Now obviously I could make an argument with those things,

I could of kept on believing that way, but thanks be to God

for opening my eyes and removing the scales.

Sure when you are gratifying your flesh and sinful nature

it seems "freeing" because you are doing

what you want and selfishly giving into your human nature which is to sin.

However in the end what does it do for you?

when you are done doing whatever YOU desired,

when you are alone by yourself at some point in time

you're going to wonder what is it all for? what is the point?

guilt and shame are going to come into play, and maybe

you just drink more to make it go away or whatever

the guilty pleasure is. You're going to come to find

that nothing you do is going to satisfy you,

no amount of drinking or drugs or sex or whatever

is ever going to make you feel whole...

the only person that can do that is Jesus Christ.

Sure sinning and doing whatever you want

will make you feel good for a moment or two,

the key words would be "feel good for a moment"

it will never "satisfy" you, you will never be fulfilled following

your sinful ways, something will always be missing.

Just like what was stated last week..

"money can't by you happiness"

neither can being in the darkness

and following your sinful nature.

Why do you think there is so much depression and suicide?

To many people are forced to believe one thing or another

is going to make them happy, to many people are led

to believe that this is all there is, and when they

follow their desires...when they get what the world

tells them will make them happy and it turns out

that it actually doesn't, they figure.. what's the point?

obviously there are other reasons for depression/suicide

and I won't get into all that. The point I'm trying to make is,

who is actually the person in slavery?

is it the "believer in Christ" like the world would like you to believe

or is it the "non-believer" who gratifies his sinful nature...

Before I tell you why It's the latter let me just clarify

something real quick. Now obviously

the believer and non believer are both sinners..

the only difference is one side recognizes his faults and doesn't

willfully give into sin, and knows Jesus came and sacrificed himself

for his sinful nature, and the other side obviously doesn't believe that.

So why is a person living in sin not free?

why is sin slavery and not freedom?

First of all a price was paid for our sins

so that in itself should explain why it's not "free".

Second as stated above you don't feel at peace

gratifying your sinful nature, the more you seek for

happiness in your sins the more you will be weighed down by them...

I.E the more you put money first in your life the more

it's going to become a burden to you.

you'll constantly be working and striving to find fulfillment

but you'll never find it, never will you be complete

or at peace because something will always be missing.

We become burdened when we are far from Christ...

constantly seeking something to fulfill ourselves...

because we all want happiness.

In the end we will all face judgement,

God will either welcome us with open arms

or turn away and say he never knew us.

and again every single one of us sins,

and we will never be perfect...

but accepting Christ's sacrifice lifts the burden of sin,

Christ took all of our sins on his shoulders and he barred them all for us.

willfully giving into sin and denying your Lord and savior

is not freedom at all because you yourself are picking

those chains Christ already broke and you are putting

them right back on yourself. You are shackling

yourself to your own demise and a price will be paid.

As a follower of Christ I am free from the bonds of sins

not because I'm better then you...

not because I deserve to be...

But because Christ died for me,

because he knew I couldn't be perfect...

because he knows I am a failure, and I can't do this alone.

Where is the freedom in selfishness?

In the end we all have a choice..

it's choose life or choose death..

choose freedom or choose slavery..

we can choose to be that slave to sin,

ignore that voice inside telling us when something isn't right

and do whatever we desire

but going down that road only leads to pain and sorrow...

maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow...

but someday you are going to wonder

what is this life all for?

I followed all that my heart desired

only to find that it was all pointless and meaningless...

It is freedom that Christ has set us

free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves

be burdened again by as yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let

yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value

to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself

be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been

alienated from Christ; you have fallen

away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through

the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor un-circumcision

has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing

itself through love.

Galatians 5:1-6

So I say, live by the spirit, and you will not gratify

the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature

desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit

what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict

with eachother, so that you do not do what you want.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,discord,jealousy,

fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live

like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:16-21