Before I Formed You In The Womb, I Knew You

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Jer. 1:5

I have a tool in my toolbox that has only one purpose. It is a highly specialized tool; one that I bought to do a single job. That job was completed several years ago, but I keep the tool. On occasion I have tried to use the tool for other purposes, I did that last week, but the tool refuses to cooperate with my ineptness. It is as though that tool shouts to me, "Hey, idiot! I can't do that job. I was not made to do that job. It is an impossible task for me to accomplish!" And you know; the tool is right. Its job is to tighten and loosen the ring that holds the kitchen garbage disposal in place. It does that quite well. It does not work on any other plumbing problem. It makes a miserable hammer. And God forbid that it would ever be used in electrical work!

Like my tool, we are a called people. You are called. I am called. We were chosen by God, and He gave each of us a purpose. Today's verse reveals Jeremiah's call as a prophet of God. Now I am not about to say that each of us is called to be prophets. That would not be true. Be we are all called to fulfill a task, a particular task, and we will not be satisfied until we accomplish what we have been tasked to do. Let's take a look at Jeremiah's call. I think it will tell us something about our own.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," says God to the prophet. The Father was reassuring Jeremiah that the caller was knowledgeable about whom He was calling. God knew Jeremiah from the inside out. He was there the day Jeremiah was conceived, He was there before Jeremiah was conceived. This is God's way of saying, "I know every thing there is to know about you. I thought about you and the plans I had for you long before you were even two separate cells in two separate individuals. I have had you in my plans for generations before you were born. I know you. I know all about you. I know every gene of every chromosome that has been combined from every generation previous to yours. I mixed them all together to form one unique individual, you, Jeremiah. Every fiber of your being was carefully chosen and placed by Me, your true Father, to accomplish what I am calling you to do today."

Wow! God really knew Jeremiah. And He really knows you, too. You are no different than Jeremiah, not really. Multiple generations ago, God foresaw that He would need you in this age, day, and time to accomplish something that no one else could do. Like He did with Jeremiah, He ordered your ancestry so that every gene of you chromosomal makeup would be just what He needed at just the right time. He ordained your parents, grandparents, and great-great- great grandparents so that you would be unique, you see, with God there is no mass production. There is no great "assembly line in the sky" that kicks carbon copy individuals all prepackaged and ready to ship off the end of the line. God makes each one of us totally different than any other product.

I can see that you need to ponder that for a few hours. Take you time. We will look at the second part of Jeremiah's calling tomorrow. It fits you, too!

A Fool Becomes Wise

A Fool Becomes Wise


Have I seen a fool today I ask

Surely one has passed my way

I will try to remember his face

Did he speak to me as he slipped silently past

No surely I would have known

For he could have only said something foolish

I will recall his face with some thought

If I can find those words he spoke to me

Ah yes it was when first I did rise

Now it is all coming back to me slowly

Now I saw him again as I pass this mirror

It was I

I had wounded a friend with hasty words

Ah but this fool must find those words again

I will replace them with words of right

I must secure my friend with truth

I love my friend and I regret those words

This fool must now become wise

I can do that with the help of my friend

Jesus will help this fool become wise again


RONNIE LEVINER
COPYRIGHT©2005

Prayer

"As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools."
Psalm 84:6

The Valley of Baca has been translated both as the Valley of Weeping and The Thirsty Valley. Neither of these are very pleasant names. Obviously, the Valley of Baca was a dry, desolate place. Today, you may be walking through your own Valley of Baca. You may be feeling dry in your soul. You may be thirsty and wondering where the living water is to quench your thirst. But lets look at today's scripture again.

What are we going to do when we are in this thirsty place, we are going to dig a well. What does this mean in our spiritual lives. Well, there are times when we have to step out on faith, to take some sort of action. The word translated well could also be translated pit or ditch. Apparently, there were no streams in the valley of Baca, but there were rainstorms. But the ground just soaked up the rain, unless you dug a pit.

Digging that pit was an act of faith. It was in expectation of a refreshing rain. Too often when we are in a dry place, we do not expect it to rain ever again. We believe that we will not see water again, so we are not
prepared when (not if, when) the rain does fall. In that case the rain is
refreshing for the time, but after it stops we find ourselves in much the
same situation as before.

I know a lot of people who seem to have these vicious ups and downs in their moods. One moment things are terrible. The world is conspiring against them. Everything is awful. Then some blessing comes their way and everything is wonderful for a few days until the next trial.

What many of us need to do is create a reservoir of blessing to sustain us in the dry seasons. The next time God sheds His blessings on you dig a well. Drink in those blessings, bask in them, praise him for them, store up the knowledge of those blessings, learn the lessons he is trying to teach you, find out what you can take from that blessing to help you in the hard times. Then when the dry spell settles down in your valley again, you remember those lessons, you praise God just as you did during the season of refreshing drawing on the strength you gathered during that time. You also remember that the trial before the blessing did end and God delivered you in a marvelous way and that if he did it once he'll do it again.

So, if you have found yourself in the valley of Baca today, take out your
shovel. You have some digging to do.

Lord, today let me dig a reservoir for your blessing and in the times of trial let me draw from that well of refreshing you have sent me today.

THE FOREST....THE TREES

Trials and troubles ...
They come to us all.
We stumble, we falter
And sometimes we fall.

Our focus distorted,
Our vision impaired,
Attention to earth's cares
Has caused us to err.

But God gives the way to
go through these with ease,
'cause He sees the forest,
though we see the trees.

We search to know God's will ...
we strive for His way.
We know when we find it,
we're sure not to stray.

We think that we trust Him ...
His plan is the best.
And if He'll just show us,
then in it we'll rest.

But we ask for His guidance,
then do as we please.
Though He sees the forest,
we're lost in the trees.

There's much more to faith
than what meets the eye.
It's trusting He'll do right,
not questioning why.

It's giving up our wants,
letting Him have the say ...
it's doing what He wants ...
and without delay.

It's spending time seeking Him
while down on our knees.
Letting Him see the forest,
and us just the trees.

Wouldn't It Be Scary If God Wasn't Compassionate?

''As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust"
Psalm 103:13-14

Wouldn't it be a scary thing if our God was not compassionate? Could you imagine the fear we would live in if our God were mean like the false gods? You borrow a penny from your wife's purse without her knowing. Is it stealing? Will God strike you with lightning -- or worse yet -- a lingering fatal illness? You say an angry, hateful thing to your mother. Do you duck for fear of some celestial punishment? Talking about living in fear, that would do it.

Fortunately our God had great compassion on those of us who have a healthy fear of Him. That fear is a healthy respect for, not a breath wrong and you die type of fear. Because of this great love, we live in peace knowing that forgiveness is always available, should we sin?

Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten that God can be a severe judge. We take for granted that He will love us no matter what. We have not seen an Ananias and Saphira type of incident in our churches lately. So what is there to fear. We can neither see God nor feel Him nor hear Him with an audible voice. This all gives rise to the question "Does he really exist? And even if He does, is He really interested in what I do?" Sure, we never really ask those questions. But we all too often live like we did. Think about it. What do you really think about God? Who is He really? What is your real relationship with Him? Do you really know Him?

Do you really care about what He says? I urge you to honestly answer these questions. If you do, you may be surprised about how much you have to grow in your spiritual life.

I Will Help With Your Burden

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

In a traditional wedding ceremony, the couple vows to love each other "in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse."
According to I Corinthians 13, this quality of endurance is characteristic of Agape love whether that love be for a spouse, a friend, a co-worker, family member, fellow Christian or someone to whom you are ministering. We are called to "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6.2)

Within any type of relationship, difficulties will arise. Sometimes they will arise within the relationship. One or both persons will say or do things which hurt the other. For the most part such hurts are unintentional, but that doesn't always assuage the pain. More often the difficulties arise from outside the relationship itself. Sickness, persecution, financial distress, emotional pain, attacks of Satan which affect one of the people will by extension affect both.

Remember the context in which 1 Corinthians 13 appears. In Chapter 12 is a discussion of the body of Christ and how what affects one member affects all. True Agape love feels the pain of others, and in so doing, helps carry that burden. Their prayer needs become our prayer needs. Their distress becomes our distress. Their need for salvation, deliverance or healing becomes ours as well.

But, you say, that's hard. How can I carry another person's need as though it were my own? That isn't natural. Absolutely correct. It isn't natural. But neither is Agape love, it is supernatural. When you have loved as much as you can in your own strength and that strength begins to lag, step out of the way and let God love that person through you.

To bear another's burdens doesn't require that we need to be strong, it simply requires that we be willing. There will always be another pair of hands helping with that burden. And if you look closely, you will find that they have the imprints of nails in them from a time, when he carried a burden that wasn't his.

Lord, today show me someone struggling under a burden I can help carry.

Can You Out Give God?

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" Gal 6:2-3

After his eventful day of murder and mayhem, Cain asked God if he was his brothers keeper. Some centuries later a popular musical hit of the 60's stated "he's not heavy. He's my brother." There is a lot of history in between those two events. The most significant moment in time between them was the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is he who brought about the change from "no" to "yes" (from the human standpoint) to the brother's keeper question. For He taught that we should bear one another's burdens. He said we should love our neighbors. When asked who our neighbor was, He replied "whoever is in need."

By bearing each other's burdens, we fulfill the "law of Christ." What law is that? Try this one on for size. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Or, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Can you imagine what our world would be like if we would only "bear on another's burden?" Who would sell drugs on that dark corner? Who would rape the first girl he saw? Who would commit murder? Who would rob or steal? Would you dare lie to a brother who's burden you were carrying? Would you cheat on your wife or husband? Of course not! You are to bear their burden, not make them heavier. Just in case you think you might be above this command, Paul tells us the man who thinks he is something when in actuality he is just a little, frail human like the rest of us, is deceived -- not by satan, but by his own thoughts. This means that none of us are so high and mighty that we can forget about our brother or sister in their need.

Truthfully, the person who has the most should be willing to help the most. Don't get me wrong. I do not advocate socialism in any way. What I do suggest is that we willingly share out of our bounty with those who are in want. This type of generosity cannot be legislated through taxes. Nor can it be commanded by "generosity police." It only comes through the firm belief that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and that He alone gives us the love we need to be generous. Granted, there are those who have an innate goodness without Jesus, but they are the exception, not the rule. And even then, they are most likely to have a Christian background. Let's take the opportunity this week to develop a bit of generosity. Instead of looking down on the poor, let us help to lift them up. Instead of shunning the "ugly", let's find the "beauty" in them. Instead of hoarding our meager wealth, let's give it away! I can guarantee that there is no way you will ever out give God.