A Refuge for the Future

The Inescapable God
God Protects
Jeremiah 16:14-21 (The Message)
^14-15"On the other hand, don't miss this: The time is coming when no one will say any longer, 'As sure as God lives, the God who delivered Israel from Egypt.' What they'll say is, 'As sure as God lives, the God who brought Israel back from the land of the north, brought them back from all the places where he'd scattered them.' That's right, I'm going to bring them back to the land I first gave to their ancestors.  ^16-17"Now, watch for what comes next: I'm going to assemble a bunch of fishermen." God's Decree! "They'll go fishing for my people and pull them in for judgment. Then I'll send out a party of hunters, and they'll hunt them out in all the mountains, hills, and caves. I'm watching their every move. I haven't lost track of a single one of them, neither them nor their sins.
 ¹⁸"They won't get by with a thing. They'll pay double for everything they did wrong. They've made a complete mess of things, littering their lives with their obscene no-gods, leaving piles of stinking god-junk all over the place."
 ^19-20God, my strength, my stronghold,
   my safe retreat when trouble descends:
The godless nations will come
   from earth's four corners, saying,
"Our ancestors lived on lies,
   useless illusions, all smoke."
Can mortals manufacture gods?
   Their factories turn out no-gods!
 ²¹"Watch closely now. I'm going to teach these wrongheaded people.
   Starting right now, I'm going to teach them
Who I am and what I do,
   teach them the meaning of my name, God—'I Am.'"

For Reflection
You are the future.  You are the teachers.  God lives in you. The grace of the living God flows through you.  Read again God's promise.  How do you surrender to God's work in restoring the world?

Pray
Confess your reluctance to participate fully in God's plan for the world.  Pray for His help in sacrificing your SELF for the Kingdom of God.  Listen to His answer and pray for the courage to follow His word.