{"id":888,"date":"2021-05-10T12:38:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/?p=888"},"modified":"2021-05-10T12:54:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:54:36","slug":"walking-the-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/10\/walking-the-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lord \u2018My\u2019 God\u2026<\/p>\n

Or, is he the Lord thy (someone else\u2019s) God? Let me further explain.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been reading Jeremiah recently and I\u2019ve been fully enjoying the entire book. I\u2019m up to around chapters 40+ and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah have been taken captive by the King of Babylon. However, the poor of the land were left behind in Judah with Gedaliah as their governor. Jer. 40:5<\/p>\n

Jer. 39:10 \u201cBut Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In chapter 41:<\/span><\/h5>\n
    \n
  • Ishmael comes along and kills Gedaliah<\/li>\n
  • Takes the women and others captive<\/li>\n
  • Johanan (who back in 40:15 wanted to kill Ishmael before he killed Gedaliah, but Gedaliah said not to 40:16) gets the captives back 41:11-14.<\/li>\n
  • By chapter 42 the people had forgotten God was \u2018their\u2019 God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    In the beginning of chapter 42:<\/span><\/h5>\n
      \n
    • Two times, the people referenced God as Jeremiah\u2019s God and not \u2018their\u2019 God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Jer. 42:2 \u201c\u2026and pray for us unto the Lord thy<\/u> God\u2026\u201d
      \n<\/em>Jer. 42:3 \u201cThat the Lord thy<\/u> God\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Jeremiah tried to remind them, that God was \u2018their\u2019 God<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Jer. 42:4 \u201cThen Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord your<\/u> God<\/strong> according to your<\/u> words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you<\/u>, I will declare it unto you<\/u>; I will keep nothing back from you<\/u>.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Jeremiah made it a point to tell them: God was \u2018their\u2019 God, he would pray \u2018their\u2019 words, God would answer \u2018them,\u2019 and Jeremiah would declare the whole prayer to \u2018them.\u201d<\/li>\n
        • Finally, in 42:6 it seems the people have gotten it and they are acknowledging God is \u2018their\u2019 God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Jer. 42:6 \u201cWhether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our<\/u> God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our<\/u> God.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          • At this point, I thought \u201cWow, they are getting it. They are realizing God as \u2018their\u2019 God.\u201d<\/li>\n
          • But, read further, there is a twist to this, and it is their downfall. Note: What I\u2019m about to explain in scripture shows why we should read all around a verse to understand its meaning and not just read one verse and take it out of context. If I had stopped at 42:6, I would have taken it fully out of context.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            Further down in chapter 42:<\/span><\/h5>\n

            Jeremiah catches the people in their lies and deceit. Let me give a definition first and we\u2019ll continue on.<\/p>\n

              \n
            • Webster\u2019s 1828 defines Dissembled \u201cConcealed under a false appearance; disguised.\u201d<\/li>\n
            • Now let\u2019s read:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Jer. 42:20 \u201cFor ye dissembled <\/em>(were deceitful) in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

                \n
              • Since \u2018Dissembled\u2019 means to be deceitful, this shows the people came to Jeremiah and they sounded good. They were talking a good talk, but they weren\u2019t walking their talk. Jeremiah didn\u2019t see their wicked heart but God did and revealed it to Jeremiah in the above verse.<\/li>\n
              • In the next verse, the people have no intentions of obeying God and his commands to stay in the land and not go to Egypt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Jer. 42:21 \u201c\u2026but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

                The people were wicked and deceitful. Although in 42:6 \u201cWhether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God\u2026\u201d <\/em>they sounded good. There were talking a good talk, but they weren\u2019t walking their talk and they had no intentions of walking their talk.<\/p>\n

                God knows a lot of people who talk a good talk. They dress right, come into church, talk good, look good; but inside God knows their heart. He knows they have no intention of obeying what has been taught and preached from God\u2019s Word in church the day they attend.<\/p>\n

                Psalm 44:21 \u201c\u2026for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.\u201d<\/em><\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

                People can fool a Pastor and other people. Since man cannot see the heart, it is fairly easy to fool people. But man cannot fool God \u2013 He sees the heart. God revealed the deception of the people to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was praying that the people would change and \u2018walk their talk\u2019 and not just \u2018talk a good talk.\u2019<\/p>\n

                Okay, just what was the people\u2019s downfall?<\/span><\/p>\n

                What can we learn from this so we can \u2018walk our talk\u2019 and not just \u2018talk a good talk?\u2019<\/p>\n

                Here is the answer:<\/p>\n

                Jeremiah 44:10 \u201cThey are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes…\u201d
                \n<\/em>Jeremiah 44:23 \u201cBecause ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies…\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. They would not humble themselves.<\/li>\n
                2. They did not fear the Lord.<\/li>\n
                3. They would not listen, obey, and walk in God\u2019s law and statutes. They would not \u2018walk their talk.\u2019<\/li>\n
                4. They burned incense to other gods. We may not burn incense to other gods, but if there is something (other than extreme sickness) that keeps you out of church and away from serving the Lord, it is the same thing. Anything one puts in the way of serving God becomes another god in our life.<\/li>\n
                5. They sinned!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  In summary, they were blatantly arrogant, and they didn\u2019t care what God said and they were going to do whatever they wanted.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  Jer. 44:16-17 \u201cAs for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee<\/em><\/strong>. 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth\u2026<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

                  What a crying shame.<\/p>\n

                  They talked a good talk, but refused to walk their talk and because \u2013 this was their fate:<\/p>\n

                  Jer. 44:27-29 \u201c\u2026all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them<\/u>. 28\u2026and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs<\/u>. 29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you<\/u> in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand<\/u> against you for evil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

                  As the song by S. Sundar Singh says, \u201cI have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.\u201d<\/p>\n

                  Determine today to ‘follow’ and ‘walk your<\/u> talk’ as a Christian for your<\/u> Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  The Lord \u2018My\u2019 God\u2026 Or, is he the Lord thy (someone else\u2019s) God? Let me further explain. I\u2019ve been reading Jeremiah recently and I\u2019ve been … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[304,99,141,306,305],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":899,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions\/899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}