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The Life and Faith of the Prophet Jeremiah.

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Jeremiah 20: 10-13

I hear the whisperings of many:
“Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!”
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
“Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.”
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!

The Word of the Lord.

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Michelangelo - The Prophet Jeremiah in the Sistine Chapel … | Flickr

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Perhaps one of the most relatable, dynamic prophets of the Old Testament is Jeremiah. He’s arrestingly honest with the Lord as he experiences both highs and lows along his journey of faith.

When the Lord first called him into ministry, Jeremiah was young and idealistic, ready to change the world. Looking back over those days, he later writes:

“When I read your words, I devoured them! They became the joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name O Lord, God of hosts!” (Jeremiah 15:16)

Many of us have been there. We endured a period of great excitement as we discovered the Lord. Serving Jesus put pep in our step; God filled our hearts with grace.

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Yet the same Jeremiah who “devoured” the words of the Lord later cries out, “You duped me, O LORD!” (Jeremiah 20:7).

Jeremiah was disheartened. He’d been betrayed by his friends and neighbors because they rejected the message of repentance that he spoke on God’s behalf. “Let us denounce him!” they say in our first reading.

They’re literally plotting to kill him.

Maybe we’ve been there, too. Life took a sudden or dark turn, and we began questioning our faith or God’s ability to protect us.

But in his darkest hour, Jeremiah’s faith won the day. He surrendered to the Lord’s plans, calling God his, “mighty champion.”

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Wherever we may be on our journey of faith, may Jeremiah intercede on our behalf, that God the “mighty champion” would reveal himself and strengthen us to do his will.

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Amazon.com: THE LORD IS WITH ME LIKE A MIGHTY WARRIOR Jeremiah 20:11 Notebook: A blank 6x9 college ruled inspirational bible verse gift journal for Christian men and women: 9781708151836: Sousa, Jedidiah: Books

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Image credits: (1) Love This Pic (2) Jeremiah the Prophet, Michelangelo (3) Amazon.com, Notebook

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God makes the impossible, POSSIBLE.

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Genesis 3: 7-9

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Abraham-Stars3-1600x1050-rgb - All Saints North Epping

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We believe in the God of the impossible. Throughout scripture, the Lord works wonders, making us believe that anything can happen.

In our first reading, for example, the Lord promises Abraham that he will make him a father of nations, whose descendants shall be as numberless as the stars. 

While that sounds amazing, there’s one problem the Lord must solve first: Abraham’s one-hundred years old…and his wife, Sara, is ninety. Making matters worse, she’s barren.

When God tells Abraham not to worry – that Sara will indeed conceive – Abraham literally breaks out in laughter. It just seems too impossible.

But, again, we believe in a God who does the impossible.

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Sara not only conceives her first-born son, Isaac (whose name means “laughter” in Hebrew, recalling Abraham’s doubt), Abraham also became the father to a “host of nations.”

Today, more than half the world – nearly four billion people – consider Abraham their father in faith. 

That’s four-billion proofs of a promise kept.

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We call upon the same God today.

Whether we’re in need of something great – like our physical health to return, the promise of a child, or a new door to open – or something small like enough grace to be patient with others, the same God who changed Abraham’s life can change ours.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” Jesus says. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

Unlike Abraham, who laughed at God’s promise, may we accept them in faith. 

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Part 3: Blessings Molded for Greatness: The Story of Joseph. - ppt download

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Image credits: (1) Rivers Church (2) All Saints North Epping (3) Slide Player

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Jesus is either THE Way… or IN the way. Who is he to me?

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Gospel: John 8: 21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Confronting the Hidden Pharisee Within Your Heart – StevenGoodwinBlog

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“You will die in your sins.”

That’s a grim promise. 

But Jesus is reading the hearts of the men standing before him. They do not see Jesus as “the way” to God; as “the way” to happiness; or as “the way” to anything good.

Rather, they see Jesus as “in” the way.

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Jesus is “in” the way of their religion.

He’s “in” the way of their egos.

He’s “in” the way of their convenient lifestyles.

He’s upsetting their plans, flipping tables, and turning their belief system upside down, while dining with tax collectors, forgiving sinners, and breaking the Sabbath.

He’s an obstacle that needs to be removed from their path – a path that cannot lead to God – which is why they will, “die in their sins.”

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Christians, on the other hand, never see Jesus as “in” the way of anything; rather, he’s “the” way to life in abundance. As it’s written in the Psalms, “Your Word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path.”

The more we discern His will, the happier we become.

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Still, everyone must decide for themselves who Jesus is.

“The” way … or, “in” the way.

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May our actions speak for themselves.

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Jesus is the way Template | PosterMyWall

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Image credits: (1) Church Leaders (2) StevenGoodwinBlog, WordPress (3) PosterMyWall