This...

This...

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are New every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him.' The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD."

- Lamentations 3:21-26

Without a doubt, Jeremiah is one of my prophetic heroes. From the time he was first called (Jeremiah 1:4-10) the entirety of his life was spent walking in faithfulness to God's calling and God's Word. Again and again he was given Word after Word from the LORD, and each time, he spoke it, wrote it, lived it out and even, when called on to do so, acted it out faithfully, every time.

At first glance, this all sounds well and good, except for one problem... the problem of the other side of Jeremiah's calling... his audience. In other words, the problem was not with the message (God's Word), nor was it the messenger (Jeremiah the Prophet), the problem was with the message recipients (God's chosen people) and the messages they just didn't want to hear.

If you read the Book of Jeremiah you will find that Jeremiah spent his entire ministry and all of his adult life, faithfully proclaiming a message that was never received. And, one of the unique things about Jeremiah is that not only was he given prophetic words, in the form of both forthtelling and foretelling, to boldly speak to his people, but he also literally lived to see his people, his friends, his family and his countrymen, reap a harvest of the consequences that grew directly out of their stiff-necked disobedience, and their outright full-knowing rejection of, God's Word, God's Will, and God's Plan.

Sadly, the extremely comforting words found at the beginning of this post, from the book of Lamentations, are actually written from the ruins and from midst of the tragic consequences of the willful disobedience of God's people. God's people had rejected God's Word, God's Will and God's plan for them, and had intentionally removed themselves from God's covering. They wanted to live the way they wanted to live. They wanted to do what they wanted to do. They wanted to be like other nations, like other peoples, and they wanted to practice the idolatrous religions of the peoples around them. They didn't want to be warned, corrected, held accountable, or re-directed. And, the truly sad thing is the reality that Chaos is always what God's people reap whenever they/we reject His Word, His Will, and His Plan for their/our lives. Always...

Throughout both his lifetime and then on into his legacy, Jeremiah was known of as "the weeping prophet." Because of his prophetic anointing, Jeremiah saw what was coming and desperately tried to get someone, anyone, and especially those in leadership and authority to listen. But no one would have it... And, as a result, Jeremiah wept. He wept as he witnessed the people's rejection of God's Word. He wept as he witnessed the people's indifference to God's Will. He wept as he witnessed the people's usurpation of God's Plan in an effort to implement and live out their own. And, finally he wept from the rubble of what had once been a strong, stable, Nation, that had been lived in by a free and godly people, and that had been built upon a land that was given to them by the abounding Grace and Hand of Almighty God.

I feel the weight of that today... The day after yesterday, January 6th, 2021. What will 2021 really hold if it has started out like this? America, the truth is that we too, just like the people of Jeremiah's day, have rejected God's Word, God's Will and God's Plan. We must return to Him now, and there is no time to delay. We must Recall where we come from, Repent of our rebellious "self-will run riot," and Return to Jesus with all of our hearts! I personally believe it is really the only way we, and our Nation, can survive in and through 2021.

In Jeremiah, chapter 29, we can read a letter that God told Jeremiah to write from the ashes, and to the exiles who had been taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In the letter, Jeremiah speaks a Word from the LORD and says: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD. Plans for good and not for calamity, plans to give you a future and a hope." Can we hear what God is saying here? Do we understand? As God directs Jeremiah to write these words, God is literally and contextually saying to His people: "Look, I know the plans I have for you... and these things that you are going through (exile, catastrophe, chaos) are not the the results of my plan, they are the results of your plan apart from me!" Do we get it? Can we understand? If so, do we also understand that if we as a nation don't come back NOW, there may actually be no coming back... There are times, in the history of Nations, in which it can literally be too late.

Last night, my wife and I stayed up late talking and praying together about the current state of our Nation and the events that had transpired earlier in the day. One of the questions we came to as we talked and prayed was: "What can we do?" That's a hard question really, especially when you think about the size and the scope of the issues we are facing in our nation and our world, today. But, I truly believe that "We" always begins with "Me." Any change in the faith and Spiritual climate in our Country, in our State, in our Community and in our Time, is not a change we wait for, it's a change that we must literally understand is in the hands of... "me." I believe, Now, right Now, is the time for the followers of Jesus to be in the Word (Joshua 1:7-8), in Prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), in Fellowship (Hebrews 10:25), in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), and in Ministry (Matthew 28:18-29), no matter what. These are the things that keep us on track, in a living relationship with Jesus, and in right relationship with one another. Do we understand the power of what can happen if "we" will... just come back? And, do we understand the inevitable implications of what will happen if we don't?

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Return to Me," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I may return to you," says the LORD of hosts." - Zechariah 1:3

Today, "...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

Today, as I, to the best of my ability, seek to personally return, and prayerfully ask that my Nation would return, to the LORD, I also choose, in faith, to recall to mind that... "The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are New every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him.' The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him."

"Lord, today, please bring about whatever circumstances it will take to bring America back to You! And, please help me to be a man You can call on, a man who places his hope firmly in You, who waits expectantly for You, who fervently seeks Your face, and who faithfully follows Your lead, in and through each unknown day, and all of that which 2021 holds and has in store.   No matter what.

• In Jesus Name, Amen"

Pastor Rob Schmutz

Watchman Evangelism Ministries