Spiritual

The following is part of what I received when I was reading Jeremiah this morning. It speaks to our purpose and God’s faithfulness

In chapter 1 verse 5 it says that God formed Jeremiah in the womb and that before He formed him in the womb, He knew him. I read that and I asked myself: Did God know me before I was formed in my mother’s womb? I think He did. And all the unborn babies that were  being formed in mothers wombs and were lost due to miscarriages, abortions and accidents I believe that God knew them as well. I think that the formation in the womb is the preparation of a physical body to house a spiritual being. Of course I have no proof of that but we are body, soul and spirit. The body and soul are formed in the womb and the spirit comes from God. The spirit is the eternal part of us. But I go on and that is not the point I wish to make with what I received this morning.

God consecrated Jeremiah before he was born. Consecrate means to set apart as  holy, make or declare sacred for religious use. Why would God do this? Because He had a specific job for Jeremiah to do at that point in time in history. God had appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. A prophet is a person who claims to speak for God; someone who claims or is thought to be divinely inspired.

God spoke to Jeremiah and told him the plans that He had for him and He let him know that they were not last minute plans. Not based on an ‘oops there is another male child being born, what shall I have him do during his lifetime?’ God informed him that before being formed in his mother’s womb God knew, consecrated and appointed him to be a prophet to the nations. To go where God would send him, to speak what God would have him speak to nations and to kingdoms. Jeremiah was to ‘pluck up and break down’,’ destroy and overthrow’, ‘to plant and to build’. And get this: He was to do all of this with the words of his mouth. Scripture tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue and this confirms that that is so. Can you imagine the power that there is in our words if it is just by words Jeremiah was to pluck up and break down, destroy and overthrow, plant and build?  God knows the power of words since God created all that there is with the words that He spoke. And yet we use them so carelessly. If we truly believe that we are created in God’s image why would we not realize that the same  power that is in the spoken word is resident in us. We know it to be true. Look at the impact that a careless word has had in the life of someone who was told that they would never amount to much, or called demeaning names, etc. Those words spoken over them went deep and has had an impact on their lives.

I believe that God has a plan for every person that enters the world. We may not have the benefit of God coming to us to have a conversation and to tell us what our purpose is but I do believe that we do have one. I also believe that we need to be careful about the words that we speak. Are we planting good seeds in the souls of people and building them up or are we plucking up, breaking down and destroying people and their dreams with our words.

Jeremiah’s first response when he heard what God had planned for him was that he was too young and therefore, wouldn’t be able to speak as a prophet to the nations. His age made him insecure and feel that he was not qualified to do what God has indicated he was born to do. I can relate to Jeremiah. There is always something that makes you ask: Who am I that I should …..Yet God has called us all to fulfill His plan. Verse 7 tells us that God touched Jerermiah’s mouth and put HIs words in his mouth. That is like God. He never calls us to do something that He doesn’t give us what we need to do the job. Anything that we can do on our own isn’t a God sized job. A God sized job means God has to partner with us if it is to get done and done well.

There are four things that I have learned from this reading:

1. God knew me before I entered my mother’s womb and
2. He had a plan for me. Ephesians 2:10 states that “For we are His workmanship,, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,  that we should walk in them.” There are works He has for me to complete while I am here and
3. He will equip me to do what He has placed me on planet earth to accomplish. I think that is awesome and comforting.
4. And lastly, I need to be careful about the words that I speak. Scripture tells us that we shall give an account for every careless word that we speak (Matt 12: 36, 37). I would prefer to be known as someone who builds people up as opposed to being known as someone who is critical and tears people down.

Have a blessed day.