So, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. – 2 Corinthians 5:9
You have heard people in great grief or deep fear say, “God feels a million miles away.” Understandably, in times of distress, it is tempting to imagine He is somewhere else, unaware. However, the Bible teaches God is right there, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” (Psalm 139:7-8).
Jeremiah, a prophet of God in the Old Testament, lived in a spiritually crumbling nation in the southern region of Judah. The kings and leaders of God’s people had abandoned their founding faith in His laws and were living in abomination. Jeremiah had the assignment to warn the nation of their impending demise. His voice was rejected by false prophets who, instead, spoke blessings over the way-ward people, soothing their sin-soaked minds with lies and lulling them into spiritual complacency. But Jeremiah remained faithful to God’s Word. It cost him dearly as he lost relationships with his family and influence with those in power. Yet, God’s word through Jeremiah was fulfilled and the nation was overthrown, because God’s Word is always true!
Regardless of where you find yourself today, God is with you. You may find it difficult to hear His voice because the world is angry and shouting while descending into darkness. Just as in the time of Jeremiah, the truth of God remains. You have the option to either please God by listening and following Him or ignore Him and go the world’s way into destruction. Pray for God’s people in the United States to tune their ears to His voice, obey His word, and follow His Son.
Today’s Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:9
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: James 1:22-27
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
