Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022
Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
4 major prophets
4 Gospels
12 minor prophets
12 disciples
Jeremiah (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called the “weeping prophet,” was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, the Books of 1 and 2nd Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with the assistance and editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.
Jeremiah 1:1-3
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
This first introduction gives the historical setting of when all this happened. Jeremiah’s amazing ministry took place during the reign of three different kings.
624 BC
Josiah was a good king but the following two were not. It was actually in Josiah’s 13th year that he began to turn a different direction that would cost Israel everything and lead to the untimely death of this other wise good man.
The number 13 is attached to spiritual rebellion. If you really want to see rebellion illustrated Biblically through the number 13, you need look no further than the 13 words in the 13th verse of the 13th chapter of the very first book in the Bible:
Genesis 13:13
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
The word “rebel” is found in 13 verses throughout the Bible. I think it is worth noting that Nimrod, a name that means “rebel” – the founder of Babylon and all world religions – is the 13th descendant from Adam.
The next greatest example of thirteen illustrating rebellion would be in Mark chapter 7. There are the 13 rebellious things that proceed from the heart of man:
Judas Iscariot has 13 letters
There are 13 lepers and drunks in the Bible
The word “carnal” appears 13 times
The word “treason” appears 13 times
The word “dragon” appears 13 times IN REVELATION
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then said I:“Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
7 But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down,To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
I can find these first 8 seasons in the 80 years of his life
So remember God told Jeremiah in Vrs 5
Jeremiah 1:5-7
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then said I: “Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
7 But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
God starts off Jeremiah’s ministry.
Embracing harmful mindsets and learning to let go of them
Imposter syndrome
SELF DOUBT & IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Understand you are growing and have a yes in your spirit for the things God brings you – even scary things.
If God says I can do it, I can do it. If God brings me the opportunity I can own it. If The Lord tell me this is who I am, then I have to conform my life to the image of who He says I am.
We have to replace our eye of “us” with God’s eye of us
People who can’t do this tend to be what the Bible calls lukewarm. That’s why Jesus tells the lukewarm church Laodicia, that needed a new view.
Revelation 3:18
“anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
Anointed eyes = heavenly vision and Godly perspective
The eye of the world will cause you to be blind to heavenly things. Jesus can cure our blindness with an anointed eye. When Heaven invades your perspective.
When the blind man was healed by Jesus and they asked him how
John 9:10
Therefore said they unto him, “How were thine eyes opened?” He answered and said, “A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes…”
When we see with anointed eyes, we begin to see ourselves the way Jesus sees us. There a phrase in the Bible for that:
THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE
Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 17:8; Zechariah 2:8
The pupil of your eye
Your reflection in the pupil of His eye
You can partner with a view, a lens or a perspective that will cause you to lose your loyalty to Jesus.
In Luke chapter 9, the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven
Moses wasn’t allowed to enter into the Promised Land for partnering with a spirit of wrath.
I HAVE HAD A BIG PROBLEM WITH IMPOSTER SYNDROME, BUT I LEARNED TO DROP THOSE GLASSES AND SEE THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS.
And I learned to lose this lens buy laying down the lens of comparing my elf to others. Comparison kills, my friends.
GOD’S ANTIDOTE TO COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS:
OWN YOUR OWN STORY AND BE AUTHENTIC.
BE CONVINCED GOD LOVES YOU AS YOU.
2 Corinthians 10:12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
PEOPLE PLEASING
Set boundaries and insist on being real about what works and what doesn’t work
BOUNDARY LINES ARE NOT MEANT KEEP PEOPLE OUT. THAT’S WHAT FENCES AND WALLS ON BONDARY LINES ARE FOR.
A state line doesn’t keep the other state out. That would be silly to tell California, “You are rude for keeping Nevada out.” It’s easy to recognize that’s a silly notion because the boundary lines simply designate what state is which. So, boundaries aren’t aggressive or designed to keep people out. Instead, they are self-definitions.
PEOPLE PLEASING
Set boundaries and insist on being real about what works and what doesn’t work
Proverbs 25:17 – “Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.”
This one can’t get any more clear. If you think showing up at your neighbor’s house unannounced and uninvited is your right as a member of the Christian community, the Bible says otherwise. It actually implies that if you overstep your neighbor’s boundaries, then he will hate you, and it will be your fault! That’s a clear example of living in healthy boundaries.
Or Proverbs 26:4 says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” This one is a little more nuanced. Many Christians feel the need to engage anyone who talks to or approaches them.
SO LOSE THE LENS OF PEOPLE PLEASING AND SET VERY CLEAR BOUNDARIES IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE.
PERFECTIONISM: COMPLETE THINGS
2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him
I HAVE HAD TO LEARN TO CELEBRATE THE WINS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT OVER THE WINS OF WHAT I THOUGHT WAS FLAWLESS.
I HAVE HAD TO LEARN TO GET RID OF THE LENS OF…
THE LENS OF LUST
THE LENS OF POVERTY
THE LENS OF HISTORY