Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Tuesday, 12 June 2018 "Are You Listening To God?" by Caleb Reynolds - Jeremiah 7:12-26.

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Tuesday, 12 June 2018 "Are You Listening To God?" by Caleb Reynolds - Jeremiah 7:12-26.
Jeremiah 7:12 “Go to the place in Shiloh that used to be mine, that used to bear my name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Isra’el. 13 I spoke to you again and again, but you wouldn’t listen. I called you, but you wouldn’t answer. Now,” says Adonai, “because you have done all these things, 14 I will do to the house that bears my name, on which you rely, and to the place I gave you and your ancestors, what I did to Shiloh; 15 and I will drive you out of my presence, just as I drove out all your kinsmen, all the descendants of Efrayim.”’
16 “So you, [Yirmeyahu,] don’t pray for this people! Don’t cry, pray or intercede on their behalf with me; because I won’t listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Y’hudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim? 18 The children gather the wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and, just to provoke me, they pour out drink offerings to other gods! 19 Are they really provoking me,” asks Adonai, “or are they provoking themselves, to their own ruin?”
20 Therefore, here is what Adonai Elohim says: “My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on men, animals, trees in the fields and produce growing from the ground; and it will burn without being quenched.”
21 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el: “You may as well eat the meat of your burnt offerings along with that of your sacrifices. 22 For I didn’t speak to your ancestors or give them orders concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. 23 Rather, what I did order them was this: ‘Pay attention to what I say. Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. In everything, live according to the way that I order you, so that things will go well for you.’ 24 But they neither listened nor paid attention, but lived according to their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, thus going backward and not forward. 25 You have done this from the day your ancestors came out of Egypt until today. Even though I sent you all my servants the prophets, sending them time after time, 26 they would not listen or pay attention to me, but stiffened their necks; they did worse than their ancestors.. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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It is easy to mistake God's blessings for God's approval of our behavior.
In Jeremiah’s day, God’s people had the great blessing of the Temple. It was abuilding that served  as the dwelling of God on earth. There in the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant, the physical assurance of God’s continuing presence with them. At the altar, the sacrifices were offered daily, reminding the people of God’s forgiving grace. What a blessing to live in proximity to those visible expressions of God’s blessing!
The problem came when the people confused God’s blessing with God’s approval of their behavior. The Word says that the Lord blesses both the righteous and the unrighteous with sunshine and rain (Matthew 5:45). God does this for those who follow him wholeheartedly, and those who outright reject him. God’s blessing does not necessarily indicate God’s approval of our actions or attitudes.
The Israelites of Jeremiah’s day refused to hear the divine word of warning. Their stubbornness brought the judgment and punishment of God upon their lives. Have we mistook God’s blessing for God’s approval? If so, it’s time to get our lives lined back up with God’s will.***
Hymn for Today: "Have Any Room For Jesus" by Daniel W. Whittle.
1. Have you any room for Jesus?
He who bore your load of sin;
As He knocks and asks admission,
Sinner, will you let Him in?
Chorus: Room for Jesus, King of glory,
Hasten now, His word obey,
Swing the heart's door widely open,
Bid Him enter while you may!
2. Room for pleasure, room for business,
But for Christ the crucified,
Not a place that He can enter,
In the heart for which He died.
Chorus: Room for Jesus, King of glory,
Hasten now, His word obey,
Swing the heart's door widely open,
Bid Him enter while you may!
3. Have you not found time for Jesus
As He pleads with you today?
If you still reject His mercy
He, from you, may turn away.Chorus: Room for Jesus, King of glory,
Hasten now, His word obey,
Swing the heart's door widely open,
Bid Him enter while you may!
4. Room and time now give to Jesus,
Soon will pass God's day of grace;
Soon thy heart left cold and silent,
And thy Savior's pleading cease.
Chorus: Room for Jesus, King of glory,
Hasten now, His word obey,
Swing the heart's door widely open,
Bid Him enter while you may!

Thought for Today: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10 (Complete Jewish Bible)).

Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Cape Verde.
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