Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Wednesday, 20 June 2018 "God Redeems the Mess" by Caleb Reynolds - Jeremiah 9:1-11.

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Wednesday, 20 June 2018 "God Redeems the Mess" by Caleb Reynolds - Jeremiah 9:1-11.
Jeremiah 8:23 (9:1) I wish my head were made of water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears,
so that I could cry day and night
over the slain of the daughter of my people!
9: (2) I wish I were out in the desert,
in some travelers’ lodge —
then I could get away from my people
and distance myself from them!
“Indeed they are all adulterers,
a band of traitors is what they are.
2 (3) They bend their tongues, their ‘bow’ of falsehood,
and hold sway in the land, but not for truth.
For they go from evil to evil,
and me they do not know,”
says Adonai.
3 (4) Everyone, be on guard against your neighbor,
don’t trust even a brother;
for every brother is out to trick you,
and every neighbor goes around gossiping.
4 (5) Everyone deceives his neighbor,
no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongues to lie,
they wear themselves out with sinning.
5 (6) “You inhabit a world of deceit;
deceitfully they refuse to know me,”
says Adonai.
6 (7) “Therefore,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“I will refine them and test them.
What else can I do with the daughter of my people?
7 (8) Their tongues are sharpened arrows;
with their mouths they speak deceit —
they say nice words to their neighbors,
while inwardly plotting against them.
8 (9) Should I not punish them for these things?” asks Adonai.
“Should I not take vengeance on such a nation?”
9 (10) I weep and wail for the mountains
and lament over the desert pastures,
because they have been burned up;
no one passes through;
they no longer hear the sound of cattle;
the birds and wild animals have fled, are gone.
10 (11) “I will make Yerushalayim a heap of ruins,
turn it into a lair for jackals,
and make the cities of Y’hudah desolate,
with no one living there.”
11 (12) Who is wise enough to understand this?
To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken,
so that he can proclaim it?
Why has the land perished
and been laid waste like a desert,
so that no one passes through? (Complete Jewish Bible).
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Have you ever had a compost pile? Every day, we take several bowls out to the compost. Pizza crusts and orange rinds combine with coffee grounds and yesterday’s newspaper. It’s a nasty, soggy mess. It's a pile of garbage we do not want, things in life we did not ask for. It’s all useless junk, until nature takes its course. When composted, all that useless junk becomes the most fertile soil in the garden.
Our times of suffering can be like that compost. We pile up the mistakes we have made. Add in the consequences we face from the poor decisions other people have made. To top it all off, add the mess that can only be called our rotten luck. How can God make something out of this garbage?
The Lord can redeem our mess, much like the gardener redeems the compost. In the care of God, it’s those things we didn’t want can be transformed into a rich spiritual soil. Through our suffering, the Lord can grow spiritual wisdom, deep compassion, and an abiding joy. Who in your life is an example of wisdom and joy, because of their suffering? Might God redeem your pain in a similar way?***
Hymn for Today: "He Keeps Me Singing" by Luther B. Bridges.
1. There's within my heart a melody;
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
"Fear not, I am with you, peace, be still,"
in all of life's ebb and flow.
Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
2. All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
stirred the slumbering chords again.Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
3. Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
trials fall across the way;
though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see His footprints all the way.Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
4. Feasting on the riches of His grace,
resting 'neath His sheltering wing,
always looking on His smiling face,
that is why I shout and sing.
Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
5. Soon He's coming back to welcome me
far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.

Thought for Today: It is his doing that you are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He has become wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and holiness and redemption as well! (1 Corinthians 1:30) (Complete Jewish Bible)).

Please pray: That many people in Equatorial Guinea will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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