"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you." Jeremiah 5:25
Good morning, dear friends,
Contrary to what my children may think in their hearts, I do not enjoy correcting them.
There have been many times while correcting them, that I have had to remind them of this fact. I sometimes wonder if they feel as if I have nothing better to do with my time than invent cruel and unusual punishments for them. I don't. Generally speaking, I consider myself a nice person, and a nice mom.
As our children have grown, our corrections have grown as well. Many times now it involves withholding from them something that they really enjoy doing, or having. During these times, I often say to my children, that I cannot reward them for their disobedience, bad attitude, etc., and so I have to withhold their blessings, until they show themselves responsible enough to have them again.
I wonder, how many times in my own life, God has applied this same principle to me.
This passage this morning in Jeremiah is almost word for word what I say to my kids, without me realizing its source. I cannot bless disobedience, and God certainly cannot, either. God through Jeremiah tells the people that they are receiving the "just desserts" for their actions: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you." (Jeremiah 5:25)
What were the blessings that the children of Israel missed out on, by their disobedience?
The most notable one here is the most obvious: God's care and provision for His people, in the most basic of ways: sending the rains needed for their crops, their animals and themselves (Jeremiah 5:24). In turning their backs on God, they turned their backs on the only one who is able to care completely for all their physical needs.
Because they turned their backs to God, God withheld His blessing from them. If this is the case, then the opposite is true. Psalm 84:11 reminds me, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." The path of blessing is the path of obedience to God, in my walk with Him.
I do not believe this is a blanket promise, as many "name and claim" people have used it. As a mom, even if my children were always obedient, and I could give everything that my children wanted, I wouldn't, because I would not want them to become spoiled and "forget" that these are blessings and not their "rights." God has promised to provide my needs, and because He is a loving Father, He delights in blessing His child with many wants as well, but the danger is always for me to become too "spoiled" and forget the God who blesses.
May God remind me today to live my life free from sin, so that I can always enjoy the best of relationships with my Heavenly Father, who loves to give good things to His children.
And may I never again forget, as I so often do, the hands from whom all blessings come.
There have been many times while correcting them, that I have had to remind them of this fact. I sometimes wonder if they feel as if I have nothing better to do with my time than invent cruel and unusual punishments for them. I don't. Generally speaking, I consider myself a nice person, and a nice mom.
As our children have grown, our corrections have grown as well. Many times now it involves withholding from them something that they really enjoy doing, or having. During these times, I often say to my children, that I cannot reward them for their disobedience, bad attitude, etc., and so I have to withhold their blessings, until they show themselves responsible enough to have them again.
I wonder, how many times in my own life, God has applied this same principle to me.
This passage this morning in Jeremiah is almost word for word what I say to my kids, without me realizing its source. I cannot bless disobedience, and God certainly cannot, either. God through Jeremiah tells the people that they are receiving the "just desserts" for their actions: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you." (Jeremiah 5:25)
What were the blessings that the children of Israel missed out on, by their disobedience?
The most notable one here is the most obvious: God's care and provision for His people, in the most basic of ways: sending the rains needed for their crops, their animals and themselves (Jeremiah 5:24). In turning their backs on God, they turned their backs on the only one who is able to care completely for all their physical needs.
Because they turned their backs to God, God withheld His blessing from them. If this is the case, then the opposite is true. Psalm 84:11 reminds me, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." The path of blessing is the path of obedience to God, in my walk with Him.
I do not believe this is a blanket promise, as many "name and claim" people have used it. As a mom, even if my children were always obedient, and I could give everything that my children wanted, I wouldn't, because I would not want them to become spoiled and "forget" that these are blessings and not their "rights." God has promised to provide my needs, and because He is a loving Father, He delights in blessing His child with many wants as well, but the danger is always for me to become too "spoiled" and forget the God who blesses.
May God remind me today to live my life free from sin, so that I can always enjoy the best of relationships with my Heavenly Father, who loves to give good things to His children.
And may I never again forget, as I so often do, the hands from whom all blessings come.
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