{"id":1496,"date":"2011-08-26T05:35:22","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T09:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2011-08-25T17:14:55","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T21:14:55","slug":"understanding-the-prophets-seeing-gods-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/understanding-the-prophets-seeing-gods-compassion.html","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Prophets–Seeing God’s compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For\u00a0almost a decade, I journeyed with the prophets in the scriptures observing only the judgment and condemnation \u00a0they proclaimed.\u00a0 Then one summer, I trekked through a most painful personal desert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In\u00a0his mercy, God revealed a hidden, unpalatable sin in my life. \u00a0I recognized the ugly fangs but seemed helpless to tame it.\u00a0 In my frustration, unbridled anger lashed itself on family and friends.\u00a0 Bitterness and resentment walked close by my side and whispered welcomed morsels of distrust that tasted sweet to my ear but soured my spirit.\u00a0 I found myself at the apex of a successful–though limited–ministry and totally out of control.<\/p>\n

As the fall of the year approached, I dreaded a reunion with the prophets.\u00a0 A few months before, I’d relished in their pronouncements of doom and despair.\u00a0 However, now their long fingers of guilt were pointed at my heart, my sin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I breezed through Isaiah without allowing the Word of God to touch me. Study without personal conviction was becoming easy as I allowed religious fervor to replace my trust.\u00a0 Then I came to Jeremiah.\u00a0 I’d especially identified with him in the past.\u00a0 We’d become such good companions, that I hated to peruse through the verses without allowing his words to touch me.\u00a0 I managed until I came to chapter 4,<\/p>\n

Break up the fallow ground, <\/em>(God said to Judah and Jerusalem) and do not sow among thorns.\u00a0 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your heat.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blow a trumpet in the land; cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.’\u00a0 Lift up a standard toward Zion!\u00a0 Seek refuge, do not stand still, for I am bringing evil from the north, and great destruction.<\/em><\/p>\n

For this, put on sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My heart stood pierced and pricked.\u00a0 Jeremiah, so long my companion, had become my accuser.\u00a0 Yet, in chapter 5, verse 18, I discovered a piece to the prophetic puzzle which had been missing for me.\u00a0 Jeremiah proclaimed, “‘Yet even in those days,’ declares the Lord, “I will not make you a complete destruction.'”\u00a0<\/p>\n

My mind burst with hope.\u00a0 As though He were writing a promise on my heart, God said to me, “I will not make you a complete destruction.”\u00a0 Could it be true?\u00a0 Was there really a point for returning to trust?<\/p>\n

‘Do you not fear me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do you not tremble in my presence?\u00a0 For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea.\u00a0 An eternal decree, so it can not cross over it.\u00a0 Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.’<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0 Again, God’s promise.\u00a0 There was a boundary to the testing He would allow me to endure.\u00a0 I started to search for more assurances of God’s unfailing love for me.\u00a0 there were everywhere.\u00a0 “I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness.”\u00a0 My eyes latched on to the word lovingkindness. God placed it before justice and righteousness. Could He love me more than He wanted to judge me?<\/p>\n

As I searched with my eyes of understanding, my hear reeled under the words, “We are put to great shame.”\u00a0 But I felt soothed and comforted to see that Jeremiah had proclaimed of his own despair, “Woe is me, because of my injury!\u00a0 My wound is incurable.”\u00a0 I was no longer alone in my struggle against sin.\u00a0 I was joined by my close ally, Jeremiah.<\/p>\n

Could this be the missing link that would set me free from the condemnation and despair I so richly deserved?\u00a0 How would I reach God’s heart for deliverance?\u00a0\u00a0Have you\u00a0found that God is more compassionate than you have been, even in regard to your own sins?\u00a0 What was the turning point for you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0almost a decade, I journeyed with the prophets in the scriptures observing only the judgment and condemnation \u00a0they proclaimed.\u00a0 Then one summer, I trekked through a most painful personal desert.\u00a0 In\u00a0his mercy, God revealed a hidden, unpalatable sin in my life. \u00a0I recognized the ugly fangs but seemed helpless to tame it.\u00a0 In my frustration,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,186,49,215,258,85,12,212,4,1],"tags":[21,688,696,699,701,57,692,6],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-love","category-old-testament-prophets","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-repentance","category-simple-truths","category-uncategorized","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nUnderstanding the Prophets-Seeing God's compassion - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/understanding-the-prophets-seeing-gods-compassion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding the Prophets-Seeing God's compassion - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For\u00a0almost a decade, I journeyed with the prophets in the scriptures observing only the judgment and condemnation \u00a0they proclaimed.\u00a0 Then one summer, I trekked through a most painful personal desert.\u00a0 In\u00a0his mercy, God revealed a hidden, unpalatable sin in my life. \u00a0I recognized the ugly fangs but seemed helpless to tame it.\u00a0 In my frustration,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/understanding-the-prophets-seeing-gods-compassion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-26T09:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-25T21:14:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/08\/sandals211-300x224.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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