Oct 18 Promise fulfilled

Father, part of Jeremiah’s prophecy has already come true.  You did indeed send Your people “into the hand of the king of Babylon.”  And seventy years later, You did “gather them from the lands where You banished them.”  They once again bought and sold fields in the land.  Jerusalem was rebuilt.

I love the words of Jeremiah’s prayer, and have sung them before: “Ah Lord God, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power – Ah Lord God You have made the heavens and the earth by Your outstretched arm.  Nothing is too difficult for You…Great and Mighty God, Your name is the Lord Almighty”.

The earth is Your creation.  All power and honor and sovereignty is due You, and only You.  It is truly the work of Your hand and arm.  And there is literally, nothing that is beyond Your ability and power.  Nothing is too hard or difficult for You.

And we haven’t even seen all You can do!  For part of Jeremiah’s words are yet to be fulfilled.  You declared “The days are coming when this city will be rebuilt…will never again be uprooted or demolished”.  And although the city was rebuilt when the king of Persia sent the Israelites back, it has been destroyed again and again.  And rebuilt.

Also, they were to “live in safety.”  But the Israelites have been under the rule of many conquerors since then.  Even today, as a formal nation, their neighbors are not on peaceful terms with them, and war is an ever-present concern.  So those “days” have not arrived yet.

But Your fulfillment of Your promises in the past assures me that Your promises for the future are true.  And that the prophecies You have given will all come true.

One day, “All will know the Lord, from the least …to the greatest.”  So in the meantime, I desire to live a life guided by Your instruction.  It seems the list of qualities Paul gives is a good place to start.

Father, help me be “temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunk or violent or quarrelsome or a lover of money.”  If I am drawn away from or drift away from these qualities, rein me back in so I will not be an embarrassment to You.

Thank You, that You, the Creator, Almighty God, King of the Universe, cares enough to let me know, through Your Word, of Your faithfulness to keep all the promises You have made.  And for showing me what is to come.

I thank You for showing me how to live until that time: in great hope and in humble obedience.   Amen

Jeremiah 31:27-38; I Timothy 3:1-13