Jeremiah 27 & 28: The True Calling

Introduction

1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 28: Troubled by Gospel Truth

Thomas Linacre was king’s physician to Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, founder of the Royal College of Physicians, and friend of the great Renaissance thinkers Erasmus and Sir Thomas More.

Late in his life, Linacre studied to be a priest and was given a copy of the Gospels to read for the first time. Linacre lived through the darkest of the church’s dark hours under the papacy of Alexander VI, the Borgia pope whose bribery, corruption, incest, and murder plumbed new depths in the annals of Christian shame.

Reading the Gospels for himself, Linacre was amazed and troubled. *“Either these are not the Gospels,” he said, “or we are not Christians.” —Os Guinness, The Call (Multnomah, 1998)

—Os Guinness, The Call (Multnomah, 1998)

1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 28: Troubled by Gospel Truth

Thomas Linacre was king’s physician to Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, founder of the Royal College of Physicians, and friend of the great Renaissance thinkers Erasmus and Sir Thomas More.

Late in his life, Linacre studied to be a priest and was given a copy of the Gospels to read for the first time. Linacre lived through the darkest of the church’s dark hours under the papacy of Alexander VI, the Borgia pope whose bribery, corruption, incest, and murder plumbed new depths in the annals of Christian shame.

Reading the Gospels for himself, Linacre was amazed and troubled. “Either these are not the Gospels,” he said, “or we are not Christians.”

—Os Guinness, The Call (Multnomah, 1998)

I want to start with a question:

*Do we believe the modern version of Christianity that is currently lived out is how God wants us to live?

I want to ask you the question, not to get into the overly tired argument of dogging modern church, but I want to look at us.

In the past, German Christians supported Hitler, we can go back to the dark ages of the Christian faith mentioned by Os Guinness, we can look back to slavery and know that Christians distorted the Gospel for what they wanted.

But, do we get it right today? Do we actively seek out the real Gospel for ourselves today?

If the answer is no, what is the answer? Do we even know? Or do we shake our heads at others all the while not knowing who Jesus wants us to be?

You see, in reading a book like Jeremiah, we want to imagine that we would be on his side, but what does it take to know the real Gospel?

*Do we live out our life in such a way that the Gospel can be received?

I believe when we are saved, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, but we must be willing to be guided.

When I was young in my faith, God revealed simple truths in my life and as I matured, my understanding of God grew.

A choice had to be made and not one choice, a daily choice. I am going to leave salvation to God and not fight about salvation on whether you lose it or not (as if our opinion matters)… Jesus however said this...

* ESV “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 3:2 ESV

2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

A choice had to be made and not one choice, a daily choice. I am going to leave salvation to God and not fight about salvation on whether you lose it or not (as if our opinion matters)… Jesus however said this...

* CSB Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.

Luke 9:23–24 CSB

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.

Luke

Is it not a daily choice to choose Christ? And if so, does this verse go against a “one and done” mentality that’s popular today?

*A one-and-done mentality with God will never lead us to spiritual responsibility.

In other words, we never learn what it means to own our faith. We never learn what it means to share our faith, to sacrifice for it, to suffer for it, to focus our life on it… Do we not only see this in modern culture, but don’t we see this often in us?

*There is a dramatically different perspective in the life of the Christian when salvation is more important than the Gospel.

You see, when your salvation is the focus, it’s always about your eternity and your benefits, your blessings, your needs. But when the Gospel is the priority in your life, salvation is a bi-product of living for Jesus.

If you look back at recent church history, isn’t it interesting that before we ever had a prosperity gospel in America, we had a salvation focused mission? I lived it. I remember it. Walk the aisle, pray the prayer, nothing else is required.

Then our lives had no fruit because we weren’t taught that. We were good listeners and even learners, but we rarely “did” anything. And to the younger generation, it is my fault, my parents fault and grandparents fault, because that’s what was passed to us...

*We live in an era where Christians give off the idea that the Bible was meant to be listened to more than it was meant to be lived out.

We are just starting to understand the need for discipleship in this generation, where we do life together, someone holds us accountable and we make choices daily that honor Christ. I never saw that growing up.

As a result, today people see Christians and when they feel like the only difference between their life and a church goer is hypocrisy and free weekends, they don’t want what we have, because by outward appearances, it doesn’t look like we have much.

And then, as we look at ourselves, we wonder why God doesn’t respond when we call. There are many reasons for that, but here’s one that’s pretty relevant to where we are going...

* NLT If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Psalm 66:18 NLT

18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

When is the last time you considered this when you prayed? Please here me! I’m not here to beat you up. I would rather us walk together, beg God to make us better people and hold each other to the original idea of living for Jesus as He’s asked us.

Tonight, let’s just get real with this. Let’s get past “Christian-eze” and “modern Christian culture” and ask ourselves the real questions. There are so many reasons to do this, but I want to start with the idea: that all of us, including me, need to regularly re-examine the life Jesus calls us to and see if we are striving for His call or getting lost in modern ideas.

*RESISTING GOD’S WILL ()

SECTION 1

SECTION 1

CSB At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 This is what the Lord said to me: “Make chains and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck. 3 Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. 4 Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Tell this to your masters: 5 “By my great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please. 6 So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him. 8 “ ‘ “As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague—this is the Lord’s declaration—until through him I have destroyed it. 9 So you should not listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, fortune-tellers, or sorcerers who say to you, ‘Don’t serve the king of Babylon!’ 10 They are prophesying a lie to you so that you will be removed from your land. I will banish you, and you will perish. 11 But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will cultivate it and reside in it. This is the Lord’s declaration.” ’ ”

Jeremiah 27:1–11 CSB

1 At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 This is what the Lord said to me: “Make chains and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck. 3 Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. 4 Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Tell this to your masters: 5 “By my great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please. 6 So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him. 8 “ ‘ “As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague—this is the Lord’s declaration—until through him I have destroyed it. 9 So you should not listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, fortune-tellers, or sorcerers who say to you, ‘Don’t serve the king of Babylon!’ 10 They are prophesying a lie to you so that you will be removed from your land. I will banish you, and you will perish. 11 But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will cultivate it and reside in it. This is the Lord’s declaration.” ’ ”

As we begin chapter 27, Zedekiah no longer wants to be enslaved by Babylon. He wants his freedom, so he gathers 5 nations for a summit. They were discussing an anti-Babylon coalition. Maybe they were excited or determined in their alliance against Babylon.

So imagine what they thought when Jeremiah enters the scene with what scholars believe is a double yoke that would hold two oxen on his neck. Probably the most in-your-face sermon illustration that I could think of. He then tells them to serve Babylon and live.

However, since no one really wanted this, Judah’s prophets and all the spiritists of the coalition encourage the king (and other kings) to do what the people desire, not what God wants.

*It is a dangerous place to be to speak for God when He has not spoken.

And here me on this one. We do this in determining theology. We do this in life. Let me give you some things that people say that are literally not Biblical:

*1. God won’t give you more than you can handle...

James says we won’t be tempted beyond what we can bear, but it doesn’t mean that life won’t be overwhelming. Jesus, in a parable says, “because of wickedness and worries in this life, the love of many will grow cold.”

*God will sometimes give us more than we can handle on our own, but we can face anything when God is with us.

*2. Satan is the reason why I am sinning...

Unless you are possessed by a demon, Satan can’t force you to do anything. In as much as we rebuke satan in our prayers, we should be asking God to help us with obedience...

*It is much easier for a Christian to bind satan in his prayer than it is to take responsibility.

*3. God helps those who help themselves...

It’s a pretty common and cliche statement in Christendom, and while it celebrates hard work and initiative, God is actually more known for helping the widow and the orphan.. in other words… the helpless...

*There is never a scenario in your life where you provide for yourself without some intervention from God.

*4. I'm so sorry for your loss. Heaven must have needed another angel.

The idea that when a job opening comes open in heaven, God prowls the earth and harvests a good person to meet a quota. The idea also suggests that we are “too good” for earth. Not only is this wrong, but we don’t go to heaven to become angels. We will still be ourselves with a new body devoid of death, but we will not be angels.

And while the sentiment is good, because we want to see the good in people after they have died, please understand this...

*Death will never be a means by which we justify life. Only life can justify life.

What I mean is this: Our deaths will never justify the life we lived. We get to choose what people say about us now. We get to choose what God will say about us now.

*5 I’m a good person is the reason why I’m going to heaven.

I hate to cover this one because it’s simple to understand why this is wrong, but it is still a popular thing to say today. And while most Christians understand that this is wrong, we base whether or not God loves us on our goodness.

*God has never designed the Gospel in such a way that you substitute your goodness for His.

I remember one day at my old church that we were at a pavilion for our service. The pastor started his message with a game called “In the Bible or not”. He rattled off 10 of these type statements and so many Christians got it wrong.

Are we living a life where we can receive and distinguish truth? We live in a day and age where things like this have been taught and shared and re-shared. God is calling His people to truly follow Him. Are we living a life where that is even possible? Are we committed to knowing God?

The people in this passage wanted life on their terms, not God’s. And in this, they changed the narrative of God to fit their own will and their own desires. I pray we never repeat such a mistake.

*DUELING PROPHETS ()

CSB In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. 4 And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

Jeremiah 28:1–17 CSB

1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. 4 And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ” 5 The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do that. May the Lord make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the Lord’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace—only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the Lord has truly sent.” 10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it. 11 In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way. 12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar. 14 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even put the wild animals under him.’ ” 15 The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ” 17 And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 28

28 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah,a in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeonb said to me in the temple of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.c 3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the LORD’s templed that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. 4 And I will restore to this place JeconiahA son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judahe who went to Babylon’—this is the LORD’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

JEREMIAH’S RESPONSE TO HANANIAH

5 The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the LORD. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen!f May the LORD do that. May the LORD make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the LORD’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster,B and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace—only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.”g

HANANIAH BREAKS JEREMIAH’S YOKE

10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it.h 11 In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way.

THE LORD’S WORD AGAINST HANANIAH

12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar. 14 For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,i and they will serve him.j I have even put the wild animals under him.’ ”k

15 The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.l 16 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’ ”m 17 And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 28

28 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah,a in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeonb said to me in the temple of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.c 3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the LORD’s templed that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. 4 And I will restore to this place JeconiahA son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judahe who went to Babylon’—this is the LORD’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

JEREMIAH’S RESPONSE TO HANANIAH

5 The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the LORD. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen!f May the LORD do that. May the LORD make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the LORD’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster,B and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace—only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.”g

HANANIAH BREAKS JEREMIAH’S YOKE

10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it.h 11 In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way.

THE LORD’S WORD AGAINST HANANIAH

12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar. 14 For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,i and they will serve him.j I have even put the wild animals under him.’ ”k

15 The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.l 16 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’ ”m 17 And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

5 The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do that. May the Lord make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the Lord’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace—only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the Lord has truly sent.”

10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it. 11 In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way.

12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to “Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar. 14 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even put the wild animals under him.’ ” 15 The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ” 17 And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

I’m glad this happened then and not now. This passage almost reads like a WWE Showdown and I could not imagine how this would have been televised today.

After Jeremiah comes to the king with a yoke on his neck, another prophet claiming to speak for God opposes Jeremiah. Hananiah literally breaks Jeremiah’s yoke.

Jeremiah is ok with this but he knows Hananiah has a problem. He is prophesying peace when there is none.

Jeremiah then hears from God and then goes to Hananiah and tells him that yes, he broke the wooden yoke, but God is setting an iron yoke, in other words, an unbreakable yoke on all nations.

Then Jeremiah declares that to prove that this is from God, Hananiah would die within the year. Notice something… this exchange began in the 5th month. Hananiah died in the 7th month. The people now have to contend with Jeremiah’s words because he had proven that his source was God.

Hananiah’s motive literally is for things to return to the way they were. It’s what the people wanted. It’s what he wanted.

You see, for me, besides the fact that this really happened, we all have a Hananiah within us.

Whenever there is sin in our life that we want there, we will use any means necessary to justify our sin. We will even try to balance our sin with our walk with God. And of course it’s wrong, but we do it.

God is calling us from sin, so we delay… we even imagine that we can just ask God to forgive us over and over and stay as we are.

*God’s design for grace will eradicate sin from your life, not excuse it.

Let’s make sure we all understand what repentance is. Repentance is when you come before God and you say, “I’m done running. I’m done hiding. I’m done doing things my way.” It’s turning completely away from what you have done and by the grace of God, He yet again offers grace.

The Hananiah within us would keep us from this moment. Most of us probably understand this because many of us ran as far from God as we could before we turned to Him and it was this mentality within us that created the distance.

What if we looked at our lives differently? You see, people saw Babylon’s power as something they didn’t want, but God saw Babylon as the only way His people would return to Him.

What if every difficult experience we’ve been through were processed through the proper lens? What if every relationship lost, every opportunity missed, every health problem, financial problem and every confrontation you ever had in your life was an opportunity to draw closer to God?

What if we trusted God so much that when these things come, we still believed our lives were in His hands?

I’ve had a hard month this last month. My blood pressure was really high and I eventually ended up in the emergency room. You have different conversations when you don’t know what’s wrong with your heart. I found myself holding my wife’s hand more, telling her how much I love her and realizing again how much I love all of you.

As of now, I am on medication, which I affectionately call my “old man pills” and I have another test at the end of the month to be sure that all I need to do is quit eating bacon, exercise and lose some stress.

To top it off, I was rear-ended in my car, church related stress and fighting sickness all within a few weeks of each other. In the past, the Hananiah in me takes over and I do things to cope and I lose sight of who God wants me to be. This time has been different. I know God is using me and I know that opposition and challenges will come...

I am at that place in my life where at 48, I’m just sick of fake Christianity. I’m sick of shallow expressions and shallow ideas about life and people attributing these ideas to God when He has so much more for us and He is so much deeper than that.

So tonight...

I want to go back to the question I started with, but in the context of us...

*Are we living the Christian life God wants us to live? (rate life 1 to 10)

*Do we look at the situations we find ourselves in from the lens of the Gospel?

Do we look at the situations we find ourselves in from the lens of the Gospel?

Do we ask God how He wants us to respond when we are in difficult seasons or does the Hananiah in us come out and take over? Do we run from hard things or do we understand that God has something for us, even in difficulty?

*Do we understand that in difficult times, God is still with us?

I say this in the Following Jesus class, but your pain will either be your ruler or your teacher. You get to choose. God has never designed you to allow your hurts to rule over you. If we imagine ourselves alone, we are merely left with our hurts and they have the power to burden us, control us or even destroy us.

*Do we look to God for life?

What do you lean on when you can’t stand?

Who do you look to when you can’t see?

What do you protect within you and around you?

Who do you serve, which means, where do you give your time and who do you give your heart to?