Jeremiah 29

Two Sundays ago on 31 January 2010, I opened the bible in preparation for church service and I came to Jeremiah 29. I said to God, “Lord, not Jeremiah 29 againnnn! I know verse Jeremiah 29:11 already “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future”.

God said to me “Read it Jeremiah 29 again”. So I did. Then when I came to verse 12 and 13 it really spoke to me. For it’s so true that when I called Him after my diagnosis and prayed to Him, he really listened to me and when I sought Him I found him! Praise God! Then I received an sms from Lisa Choy not to miss the sermon by Leong Thien Fook that morning.

When I heard Thien Fook speak, he said it was not he that chose Jeremiah but Jeremiah came to him. When he revealed Jeremiah 29:13, I almost fell off my seat! Talk about holy spirit! And his sermon was almost similar to my last blog entry but mine was zoomed into a specific sickness and the influence we play in the people around us by testifying about God’s goodness and wonders.

There were false prophets in Jerusalem and Babylon then saying that God will bring them out of exile within 2 years but prophet Jeremiah said it’s not 2 years but 70 years! God’s purpose is that after the exile works in the hearts of the Israelites, they would seek Him and they will find Him.

God’s plan for us is to prosper but the process involves calamity. Why? Because when calamity has done its work in our hearts, we will seek Him with ALL our hearts. Hey! Just like me after being diagnosed and then desperately seeking God. I am so glad I found Him even though I call myself Christian - helping out in Sunday School and helping to lead a cell group. I wouldn’t say it’s hypocrisy. For me, I realize I did not know how to use my spiritual authority (Luke 10:19) to overcome my fears (2 Timothy 1:7) to serve Him more boldly and be more effective. I did not know how to use my spiritual authority to overcome my anger when addressing the kids at home. I also did not know how to cast my cares and prayers for others in my cell group unto the Lord as required in 1 Peter 5:7 and Philippians 4:6. I did not know because I prayed in HOPE and NOT in FAITH. Big difference.

These are all open doors to the devil for a foothold in my life. Quiet time when downhill when after a crazy time with and around the kids, I just wanted to unwind in front of the TV not caring for my health and overall well-being. Spiritually dry and still wanting to be near God.
I wasn’t giving God my full attention. I was giving it over to “foreign gods” not knowing better and it is such a folly as the bible would say. In addition to worshipping God, I was worshipping “foreign gods” (as mentioned above) as well.

As Thien Fook puts it well:

Worshipping God + foreign gods = Not worshipping with all your heart

Do not fall into the following ferocious cycle as I did:

Could not trust God completely ---> God is not real ----> hard to trust Him alone ----> trust in foreign gods

We need to be able to trust God and GOD ALONE because He is the creator of heaven and earth and everything in it. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than ALL I CAN EVER IMAGINE OR DO! (Epehsians 3:20) I am learning everyday how to do that and the more blessings I see, the more excited I am about being with God. Just the Friday night before Thien Fook’s sermon, I saw Ethan was developing some infection on his right eye as it was smaller than the left and puffy red. I prayed over him but the next morning it got even smaller! Yikes!

But still now, I learn to trust in God and not rush to the doctor (foreign god- sorry May Foong, I meant not to just rush to doctors first but put our trust in Him first and if need be He will work through the drugs) first. This time, both Henry and I prayed over Ethan and Henry’s palm covering Ethan’s right eye. It was quite an amusing sight because Ethan did not struggle and he looked like captain Hook from Peter Pan! I think Ethan too has seen many miracles in his life and trust Jesus too! By evening, the infection came down and by Sunday morning, all was well again! Praise the Lord. All Glory to God! Truly!

We only need to trust in God and God ALONE!

God does not need back up. We live in the supernatural once we are sons of God because he says we are heirs of God and co-heirs in Christ Jesus. Thanks Leong Thien Fook for the sermon and for obeying God to speak the rhema given to you to us.