Remember

The Envoy

In the times of Jeremiah there would be super kings like Nebuchadnezzar

There would be sub kings of territories of the kingdom

when a sub king would not obey the super king the super king would end an letter by an envoy

the letter would be written in such away.

a remembrance of the good things the super king has done

then there would be rhetorical questions. why are you not obeying?

then there would be the consequences of not doing right

here in Jeremiah, the super king is God Himself

The sub kings are Israels rulers

And the Envoy is Jeremiah with the letter from the king

Here God is pleading with the people to come back to Him

when you do life would be great again

Read Jeremiah 2.

Pray

Remember

Read V 1-3

the time when I brought you out of bondage

from the taskmasters who put the whip to your back

remember the slavery and the chains that you were in

remember living in a land not your own

the time when you followed me into the wilderness

how I took care of you

brought water from a rock

fed you from heaven

I was a cloud to protect you from the sun

I was a pillar to light up the night

your love for me was great

you are the firstfruits and if anyone went against you I would destroy them

then I brought you into the land of plenty

vineyards you did not plant

houses you did not build

fields of grain ready for the harvest

pastures for your flocks

it was given to you just go in and possess it

Life was good

I was your God I was your King

I fed you. I protected you

There was a great love for me BUT

Read V 4-8

But they forgot. they started looking around at he other countries around them

they got tired of following the commandments

They say look at them they are doing ok and they don’t have to obey

their gods are wonderful lets go to that church instead

over time they degenerated into the mire

Degenerating

Can we as believers do the same?

can we have a form of Godliness but deny its power

Turn to Galatians 1 6-10

This Church had some false teachers come in and claim that the Gospel has to be baked up with some works

and the people were falling for this falseness

degeneration can happen very quickly if you don’t know the scriptures

The gospel turned from a Grace based life to a works based life

a works based life involves you trying your best to please God

doing your best to change and be like Jesus

doing your best to live a good life

Look at what I have done for you Jesus

Read Galatians 2 19-21.

Read Galatians 5 1-4.

When we attempt to do things to please god we don’t

when we attempt to do things in our own power Then we fall from grace

Paul is writing to the Church not a used to be church

we don’t lose our salvation but we do fall from the grace that we could have to live the victorious life in Christ

When we fall from Grace we become slaves to doing our best

we feel the whip of the taskmaster of failure, depression, not getting it right.

we carry the chains of addiction to uncontrolled temper,

to alcohol, drugs, pornography,

to having the need of every one liking your newest selfy

When we do our best to Christ like we fail

we need Gods grace

we are saved by God giving to us salvation

God regenerating us --Making us born again

Adopting us

Jesus died for us to Redeem us

It was all of Grace

and we live by Gods Grace

by being humble, acknowledging that we unable to do it

Remember Your First Love

turn to Revelation 2.

Jeremiah 2:2 LEB

“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember concerning you the loyal love of your childhood, the love of your betrothal-time, your going after me in the desert, in the land not sown.

Rev 2 1-4. remember your first love

remember how in love you were in Jesus

remember how you told everyone about this new life you have recieved

remember how you prayed and read your Bible wasting that relationship to flourish

wanting to learn as much about God as you can

Remember how everything looked brighter the haze was gone

remember how you wanted to please your savior

remember how you wanted to be ready when he came for you?

Jesus says to the Ephesian church..

Read Revelation 2 4-5.

repent

do, think those things again

life has made us forget,

life has made us fall back into the old rhythms

your doing a lot of good things but your love for me is not there

Have we forgotten?

are we trying our best, but its not good enough?

has our love been replaced by duty?

do we need to reboot, a start over? a time out to change the pitcher

Do we need to turn from our ways to Jesus

repent and rediscover what we had forgotten?