Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 4/6/2020

by Jim Hughes

Jer. 20:7-9 O Lord, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked by everyone in the city. Whenever I speak, the words come out in a violent outburst. “Violence and destruction!” I shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household joke. And I can’t stop it! If I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in.!

The Lord persuaded me. Has the Lord ever persuaded you to do something for Him, maybe even something you did not want to do or thought you couldn’t do? If we are serious about our faith, there will be times in which the Lord will lay upon our hearts to do things. When He does, we then have a choice to make, do we do it or not?

Jeremiah let the Lord persuade him. He yielded himself to the will of God and did what God wanted him to do. We are not told, but I believe he did it without too much resistance. Jeremiah walked with the Lord and knew Him to be faithful. He knew God to be trustworthy and worthy to be obeyed. He loved the Lord and wanted to please Him. He understood the consequences of what it would be like if he did not obey God. He knew that it would be hard to live with himself for there would be no peace within his soul.

Jeremiah’s obedience did not make his life any easier. People mocked him and considered him to be a laughing stock in the community because he dared to proclaim God ‘s message to the people. Obedience often does come with a price. The world does not welcome those who take a firm Biblical stand and speak out against sin. The world does not want to hear from God or about Him and will often try to make life miserable for those who do. But, we need to be like Jeremiah; we need to be so consumed by our obedience to God that we cannot be silenced, no matter what.

Oh, but that the Word of God would have such a hold on us that it burns in our souls like fire! Oh, but that it would so consume us that we cannot hold it in, no matter how hard we try! The world desperately needs God’s children who will not stop proclaiming the Gospel to them. The world needs you and me to be consumed by the Word of God and set on fire by it. The coming of the Lord is soon and the harvest field is ripe. The day of salvation is almost past and the world is full of souls who are not saved.

“Lord, help us to care! Set a fire in us for the lost! Lord, when we read your Word, use it to fire us up. Use it to move us into action. Lord, do not let us sit idly by and wait for your coming. Send us out into the world with the Gospel message that souls may be saved while there still is time. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

About the Author:

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.