God's Love For His People

If there is one thing that I have learnt over this summer, it is that there is No life apart from God! If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything! I am just a college student, but luckily God has opened my eyes to his beauty. He has shown me that you can have all you want in this world, and still be as lost and going to hell. "Fulfillment" in life isn’t riches, or promotions, or pleasure...It is Jesus in your life!

Speaking of Life, throughout the Bible, the Lord is depicted as Life. He is not a God that is dead, or in the grave. Nor is he some pole or statue that you bow down to. He is alive...He is real...personal, and Totally in love with you!

Rev 22:17 says “And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come! And Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”

God offers eternal life, thru Jesus, to WHOSOEVER wants it. The ONLY predestined thing is that you have to make a decision. God will let anyone come to Him if they please!

In John 10:10 we find that Jesus gives us Eternal Life.

John 10:10 “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

That word abundantly means overflowing. Jesus just doesn’t give us a little bit of life...He give us so much that it is overflowing. So nail it down, there is NO life apart from JESUS, The Holy Spirit, or God the Father. You can never substitute anything for God’s presents. Nothing will fill the void but him.

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How God Loved Israel

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Jeremiah 2:1-4 "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD"

What God is saying here is "I remember you." How and what you once were. The Kindness towards God when they were young. How your love for me...it was pure and real. You were my bride and you sought me daily. I was your delight because you delighted on me! And when you sought me in the wilderness...a land that had not food...You trusted in me and I provided for you. You were my people. I protected you. I provided for you. You were Holiness...set apart for Me only. A holy nation you were. In fact, you were the first fruit of all nations...I choose you and set you before all other nations. Your enemies were mine...Well they were mine too! I destroyed them and brought disaster upon them."

But O Israel, How I long for you. How I wish it were still the same. But You, you have forsaken ME! Lets read verse 13.

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

A fountain is a place that holds water. This wasn’t your ordinary fountain. This fountain produced Special Water...It was Living Water. It was Fresh Water! It was Pure water. The best part about it is that there was an unlimited supply of it. But no, they didn’t know of that water anymore. They had forgotten about it.

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This Was Total Abandonment From God

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That had: left, deserted, withdrew, given up...

Thrown in the towel...called it quits...packed their bags...and forgotten about God.

They did two evils.

1. They abandoned the very one Who gave them life. (Living water)

2. They became an idolatrous nation.

You see, instead of going daily to the fountain for fresh living water, they went and tried to make their own fountain. That is basically what a cistern is.

"Cistern- A receptacle for holding water or other liquid, especially a tank for catching and storing rainwater" (www.dictionary.com)

These people were...

1. Going to settle for rainwater, instead of fresh water. Cisterns would collect only rainwater. We know that rain water only comes when it rains. These guys were going to settle for nasty rainwater. They were selling themselves short for the REAL thing!

2. They were also unsuccessful in their cistern. They were broken and use-less. Basically what had happened is their “little gods” were turned into nothing. They were Broken, Useless, ineffective, pathetic, and a waste of time!

As a result, the children of Israel were left with nothing...But a God who was extremely Jealous and angry.