"take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak" 1 Corinthians 8:9.

"Gray areas" are troubling. The Bible is crystal-clear about things like murder and adultery, but what about occasional use of alcohol? What about PG-13 and R-rated movies? What about certain video games?

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"But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them" Jeremiah 45:5.

The question posed in Jeremiah 45:5 focuses on a man named Baruch. Baruch was a scribe, a secretary, to Jeremiah the prophet, and perhaps hitched his star, so to speak, to this prominent prophet. But, the life and work of a prophet was anything but easy and popular. The alarming messages Baruch recorded no doubt gave him cause to regret association with Jeremiah, and even to fear for his own life and safety. It seems he may have sought to distance himself from the prophet, and even from Yahweh as well.

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"Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare" Jeremiah 29:5-7.

Judgment day had come for the Jewish people. Having been warned of the consequences of their disobedience and unfaithfulness to Yahweh, they had been defeated and dispersed; prisoners of war forced into a life of captivity in Babylon. False prophets had promised that their exile would be short; God speaking through Jeremiah had foretold a seventy-year captivity. Thus, they were to settle in the land, marry and have children, be productive and industrious, and be a blessing to the land of their sojourn.

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"You shall also say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death" Jeremiah 21:8.
 

Disaster was at the doorstep. A threatening invading army had encircled the city, and the king was wistfully hoping that the army would simply withdraw and return to their homeland. In desperation, the king sought a word from the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah. That word is recorded in Jeremiah 21, and it was anything but what the king hoped to hear.

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"Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts" Jeremiah 15:16.

It's been said that you are what you eat. If so, a diet light in fruit and nuts might be advisable (perhaps it's not quite that literal). Seriously, the true meaning is that healthy food contributes to good physical health, while the opposite is also true.

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"Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD" Jeremiah 9:23-24.

The measure of character is in what we love most. Worldly wisdom, power, and wealth are the true loves of many, and easily supplant that which should be our greatest love. Jesus reminds us in Mark 12:30 that the greatest commandment is to "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

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"Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls" Jeremiah 6:16.

A beloved hymn states, "He leadeth me: O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught! Whate'er I do, where'er I be, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me." God leads those who willingly make the choice to let Him do so.

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"How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" ... So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" Romans 10:14-15,17.

Anyone who has ever used a computer knows that there is an important sequence that takes place at startup. There are certain lines of command that run before we can work with the software we need to work with. Similarly, there is an important sequence associated with the gospel. There must be proclamation in order for there to be hearing. Hearing is prerequisite to believing, and believing is prerequisite to calling on our Father. This sequence is essential to the effective work of the gospel. Everything depends on sending, proclaiming, hearing and believing the word.

"For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate ... For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me ... Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:15,18-20,24,25

It can never be said that the apostle Paul was pretentious. His transparency has been preserved for all to observe throughout the ages. He obviously struggled with his human nature as he tried to live faithfully as a follower of Christ.

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"God ... gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist" Romans 4:17.

I enjoy working with my hands, and especially woodworking and home improvement projects. As I write this, we are in the process of purchasing a home that has a bona fide woodworking shop within walking distance of a home improvement store. This is either an amazing blessing or an expensive error.

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Much of life is about faith. We have faith that our car will get us to school or work. We have faith that an elevator in a building is in working order. We have faith that the crew of the airplane we fly in knows how to fly the plane. We have faith in people to manage our bank accounts, teach and care for our children, pay us for work, and repair our car.

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"On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth" Isaiah 62:6-7.

Most of us need reminders concerning things that are important. Daytimer appointment books saved the day for many people in a bygone era; now Google calendars has largely become the go-to tool in this internet age.

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"For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite'" Isaiah 57:15.

We cannot be two places at once, but our Creator is able to do so. Not only does He dwell in a high heaven realm, but also in the lives of those who are humbly repentant. As He indwells such people, He revives their spirit. And who doesn't need some reviving these days?

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"Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence'" Isaiah 48:17-19.

No one lives life regret-free. Each of us can recount plenty of missteps, mistakes, and poor decisions. Often, we would have to admit, pride and a stubborn streak were contributing factors. We might have been given good advice, but we chose otherwise. The nagging message of regret playing in our mind was, "If only I had listened."

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"'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 'Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it' ... 'I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone' ... I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God' ... 'I am the LORD, and there is none else' ... 'there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me' ... 'For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me'" Isaiah 44:6-7,24; 45:6,18,21;46:9.

Repetition reinforces. If we hear something often enough, we eventually remember. The advertising industry is well aware of this fact (think about that commercial that you can't get out of your head).

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"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary" Isaiah 40:28-31.

Knowledge and faith must go hand in hand. 2 Timothy 1:12 says, "I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day." Paul knew the One he had believed. Isaiah appeals to us to know and believe.

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"Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, 'O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God ... Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God'" Isaiah 37:14-17,20.

The situation was grim; defeat seemed certain. The enemy had a far larger and better-equipped army, and had the entire city surrounded and cut off.

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"Behold, a king will reign righteously And princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land" Isaiah 32:1-2.

The musical, Camelot," first performed on Broadway in 1960, is best known for the line, "Don't let it be forgot/ That once there was a spot/ For one brief, shining moment/ That was known as Camelot."

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"Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or to the left" Isaiah 30:20-21.

God's covenant people knew hardship and deprivation resulting from their disobedience. Generations of Jews spent years in captivity under extreme adverse conditions. The God who seemed so silent and absent during such times promised that it would not always be so. They would behold Him, and they would hear His voice as they turned right and left, directing them to the path they should walk.

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"Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open" Isaiah 22:22.

The key to everything is God's Messiah, Jesus. With Him, everything is literally an open and shut door. And it is interesting that He identified Himself by these words to the church at Philadelphia: "He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 'I know your deeds Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name'" Revelation 3:7-8.

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