Jeremiah 9:23-24 The Message
23-24 God’s Message:
“Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom.
Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits.
Don’t let the rich brag of their riches.
If you brag, brag of this and this only:
That you understand and know me.
I’m God, and I act in loyal love.
I do what’s right and set things right and fair,
and delight in those who do the same things.
These are my trademarks.”
God’s Decree.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
We live, some days it is more like barely existing, in a culture of self-promotion which encourages us to follow, to trust, only in ourselves instead of our Creator.
Aware of our need to battle against self-reliance, God speaks to us through His living Word, encouraging us to boast—to find our confidence—in Him alone.
In an attempt to find wisdom apart from God, some pursue instead education and knowledge. Some are more prone to rely primarily on physical strength or beauty, ignoring the reality that our bodies will decay and eventually fail us.
Still others are enticed to look to money and riches and social status rather than God as their ultimate provider.
It’s a delusion, though, says Jeremiah, to think even for a nanosecond that we can boast in an agile mind, a healthy body, or a fat financial portfolio.
Where, then, are we to place our confidence?
The prophet’s answer is clear: we are to place our trust in God Himself.
We can trust God because He is a God of justice.
He rules in equity, He deals in truth, He is not arbitrary in what He does. We can all have full assurance that His actions are always in keeping with His character.
We can trust God because He is characterized by His steadfast covenant love for His people—a love made known to us in the person, work of Lord Jesus Christ.
And because of the depth of the Father’s love for us, we are “called children of God” (1 John 3:1)!
Therefore, we are to take refuge in His righteousness, not our own.
Our confidence rests in Jesus, who fulfilled the Father’s will so that we may know Him and love Him as our Creator and Sustainer, as our Savior and King.
A biblical worldview does not denigrate people’s aspirations in the pursuit of wisdom, the exercise of physical prowess, or the ability to earn.
But it does stand against the idea that our identity, satisfaction, or salvation can successfully be based on any of these things.
There is still a glory that outshines these lesser lights.
Our lives should proclaim purposefully, graciously, and straightforwardly that God created us to give Him glory by our walking humbly before Him, enjoying Him into eternity.
Where is your confidence for today, for tomorrow, and forever?
What do you look to to get you through difficult days?
Living in a world with information at our fingertips, we must learn that the knowledge we need is really wisdom applied with the compassion of Christ.
It includes an awareness of God’s covenant laws and a concern for life calling for obedience, discipline even when doing so may be difficult. Jesus showed the Way, the Truth, the Life by submitting to his Father’s will. He is our example.
In the name of God, the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 34 English Standard Version
Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
[a] Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 