[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”1891px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore the Lord God of Israel says: \u2018I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.\u2019 But now the Lord says: \u2018Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.\u201d This verse is quoted in the movie \u201cChariots of Fire\u201d, where God\u2019s honour is shown publicly by worldly acclaim, with the winning of gold medals at the Olympics. This reminds me of the story of Jeremiah, who was obedient to God, and followed his commands all his life, and for that he received hardship, suffering, and sometimes torture. Jeremiah had a different take to what the movie had for our verse. In 12:1, he asks of God, \u201cWhy does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?\u201d Looking in the dictionary for the meaning of \u201chonour\u201d, I found:<\/p>\n So, being honoured by God does not imply receiving any recognition or acclaim. On the contrary, God\u2019s promises to Jeremiah were honoured as Jeremiah, who was timid by nature (1:6), was made strong and courageous (1:18), and able to stand against the kings, princes, priests, and people of Judah. How might we expect God to honour our faithful obedience and ministry? Although Jeremiah never saw a positive response in his earthly life, his name is now acclaimed for his faithful obedience to God. Our merciful God used Jeremiah to offer the people of Judah every last opportunity to repent, until they were eventually exiled.<\/p>\n I am grateful to God for giving encouragement through the guidance of fellow Christians. But I pray I will not be led by the hope of human praise, but only as God shows me the path He has prepared for me, and that He will provide the strength and all that is needed to follow that path.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cTherefore the Lord God of Israel says: \u2018I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.\u2019 But now the Lord says: \u2018Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.\u201dQuestion: How can God bless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-verses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29135"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29142,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135\/revisions\/29142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Question: How can God bless His work?
<\/em><\/p>\n‘Chariots of Fire’ movie<\/h3>\n
But in my experience of life, acclaim is often given to the wrong people! Even in churches, people often have the wrong understanding of events.<\/p>\nJeremiah<\/h3>\n
His role was to proclaim God\u2019s warnings to Judah, that their persistent idolatry would lead to their destruction. As a result, he spent most of his time in prison or house arrest. And in Jeremiah 38:6 there is a vivid picture of him, as a consequence of proclaiming what God told him to say, being placed in an underground cistern full of mud, in total darkness, in which it seems he sank to his shoulders and was there so long that his body became waterlogged (38:12).<\/p>\n
And in 15:18, \u201cWhy is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed?\u201d<\/p>\nHonour<\/h3>\n
\n
There was no comfort or relief for Jeremiah; Jewish tradition has it that after fleeing to Egypt he was put to death by being stoned.<\/p>\nHonour for our obedience?<\/h3>\n
Some ideas, based on the experience of Jeremiah:<\/p>\n\n