August 14th, 2019

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Jeremiah 23:16-22: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophecy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the Word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you.' and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear His Word, or who has paid attention to His Word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the intents of His heart. I the latter days you will understand it clearly. [The Lord now speaks,] "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds."

The Story's Beginning:
Jeremiah, the voice for God to the nation of Judah before the exile to Babylon, had some stiff competition from "prophets" telling the people, "God will not allow Babylon to take us away from the home HE promised us. Don't listen to Jeremiah and his 'gloom and doom' of exile. There is no sin of which you have to repent. You will be fine."

The nation of Judah wasn't fine. They continued to go their own way. They continued to follow their own path the destruction. Jeremiah, God's voice to the people, tried to convince the people and leaders to repent and turn back to God. When they do, God will protect them. 

They didn't listen. They didn't repent. God then executed His justice. They were exiled.

Listened to the Wrong Voices:
The people ignored the Word of the Lord spoken to them by Jeremiah. They didn't want to hear that they had to repent. They didn't want to hear that they were sinning and their sin was leading them on a path to destruction. Then look what happened.

Don't You Listen to the Wrong Voice:
By listening to the wrong voice, you run the risk of "exile." When you listen to the wrong voice, you are still in your sins and sinfulness. 

So to whose voice do you listen? You listen to the voice that is saying, "Repent and turn away from yourself, your sins, and the influence of Satan through others. Repent and turn toward God who forgave you of all your sins and created a new and right spirit in you. Turn to Jesus, who by means of His death on the cross, you were forgiven and a new start and a new life was given. Turn to Jesus who rose from the grave to give you a new life to live now as well as forever."

That is the voice to whom you listen. For that is the voice that leads you to God and His life for you. That is the voice that speaks HIS WORD. 

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