God is good at asking people to do things that just seem impossible, and you know why?
Because when he asks you to do something for him and for his kingdom, and it's bigger
than you, then he gets all the glory for it.
Hi, my name is Leanne Friesman, and this is Restoring Word.
You know, this is Mother's Day weekend, and one year ago, I was at lunch with my precious
husband, sharing with him a vision to begin to talk to people online, and to have the
freedom to, you know, do what I wanted to do, and just obey God with whomever would
listen.
And here I am.
A year later, I've just stepped out in simple obedience, and guess what?
God gave me divine appointments, divine favor, and insight, and revelation.
And that's how he moves.
Oftentimes, we don't see the end at the beginning.
We only see the next step in front of us.
Because you know what?
If we knew the whole story, we would mess it up.
Today I want to talk about the first chapter in Jeremiah.
And I love this book, and I've been reading out of the Message translation.
I've never studied out of the Message before, but I just got a new Bible, and I'm having
fun with it.
And I'm reading out of Jeremiah 1.
Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you, a prophet to the nations.
That's what I had in mind for you.
You know, you can have an idea of what you want to do with your life, but the bottom
line is, where the blessing is, where the anointing is, where the provision is, is when
you do something that God wants you to do.
And you do it God's way.
We often don't get to do things our way.
We get to do it his way.
See God knows what he has in mind for you.
All right, verse 6.
But I said, hold it, Master God.
Look at me.
I don't know anything.
I'm only a boy.
I can't tell you how many times I have felt just like this portion of Scripture.
God, what are you asking me to do?
Started out with me when I worked at a Christian school, and nobody was training worship leaders.
God, what are you asking me to do?
I don't know how to do this.
He's never done it before.
But it was his heart.
He wants to be worshiped and glorified.
It's all about him.
It's all about building the kingdom.
It's not about building it for you.
No, it's about what's going to honor and glorify him.
And you know what?
You're never going to feel adequate.
You're always going to want to make excuses.
Someone once said to me, Leanne, if it isn't big enough to scare you, it's not God.
And over the years, that's proven to be true.
If he is dealing with you right now about doing something that is bigger than what you
could imagine, it's probably him.
Now there's going to be some checks and balances in there.
Does it line up with the Word?
Does it line up with what you've been previously taught or what the Holy Spirit has previously
shared with you?
If it is, not only will he provide for you, but he's going to confirm it through others.
And when you try to make excuses with him, you know, Moses was given Aaron, right?
He'll give you the people and he'll give you the resources to obey.
Moving on, God told me, don't say I'm only a boy or don't give me your excuses.
I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there.
I'll tell you what to say and you'll say it.
Don't be afraid of a soul.
I will be right there looking after you.
God's decree.
Where he sends you, he protects you.
What he asks you to do, he will give you a tangible anointing to do it.
It's not maybe going to be walked out over.
night. It may financially be over your head. You may not have the knowledge or the resources that
you need to do it, but if you will step out and obey Him, you can rock the world for Jesus.
Isn't that good? I'll be right there looking after you. If God's asking you to step out onto
the battlefield, He knows the battlefield and He knows where you are on that battlefield. I
remember years ago I shared a word with a pastor up in Iowa. I saw this vast battlefield and he was
down with a sword and he was whacking away at the battle. It was like a drone coming down right next
to him. The word was something along the lines of, he's only seeing the battlefield from my
perspective. Then it kind of came up. I saw it in praise and worship at this church. He said,
but this is how I see the battlefield. If He asks me, I'll give Him joy in the battle.
Isn't that a good word? Yes, God is right there with you on the battlefield. He knows what you're
dealing with. He knows what you're up against. He knows the battle that you're fighting in your
region, but God looks at things differently. He sees the battlefield from His perspective.
God reached out and He touched my mouth and said, look, I've just put my words in your mouth,
hand delivered. See what I've done? I've given you a job to do among nations and governments,
a red letter day. Your job is to pull up, tear down, take apart and demolish,
and then start over building and planting.
This is a lot of action. These are verbs here. This is things that God is asking Jeremiah to do.
This is Jeremiah's divine encounter. This is chapter one, guys.
This is at the very beginning of his ministry. He's going to go for 40 years, and guess what?
It's going to be pretty miserable. But most people that are called to do something prophetic
are called to do something big. They have a divine encounter at the very beginning,
and then they have to hold on to that divine encounter through the next 40 years. That's
why God gives people prophetic words. It isn't to puff them up or make them look spiritual. No,
it's usually something that they're going to have to stand on down the road when things get kind of
crazy. You're going to have to stand in the middle of that battlefield knowing God's told you to do
something, and then it's going to take some action. What good is it for you to get a prophetic word
and then sit on it? What good is it for God to give you direction about what he needs done,
and then you don't obey? Oh, I am preaching to myself this morning. Oh, my goodness.
Let's go on here. God's message came to me. What do you see, Jeremiah? I said a walking stick,
that's all. And God said, good eyes. I'm sticking with you. I'll make every word I give you come
true. Whoa. God's message came again. So what do you see now? I said, I see a boiling pot tipped
down towards us. And God said, disaster will pour out of the north on everyone living in the land.
Watch for this. I'm calling all the kings out of the north. God's decree. So from day one,
Jeremiah knew that what was going to happen. These kings from the north were going to invade.
And if you think about it, if it's a boiling pot,
well, first off, let's go back to the stick. Okay. A walking stick is something that you use that
accompanies you and stabilizes you on the journey. Okay.
And that's likened to the almond bud. And really in other translations, it's the almond bud.
You see the almonds bud every single year. The flowers come forth. They're fragrant. You know
what season it is when the almond tree begins to bud. It's time. And he says, he'll be right with
you. And then he goes on here and the almond bud is in another translation. Sorry, guys.
But in 13 here, he says, he's talking about the boiling pot. When I think of a boiling pot,
think of, you know, what does boiling water do? Well, it purifies. It disinfects. It gets
rid of the bacteria. It gets rid of those stinky things. And you know, when that
happens it's it's a cleansing. So unfortunately what's happening here is
there's going to be an invasion from the north and it's going to be a cleansing
and yes it can be painful when that happens. Verse 15, they'll come and they'll
set up headquarters facing Jerusalem's gates, facing all the city walls, facing
all the villages of Judah. I'll pronounce my judgment on the people of Judah for
walking out on me. What a terrible thing to do. And courting other gods with their
offerings, worshiping as God's sticks they'd carved and stones that they'd
painted. The one thing God wants more than anything else is your heart and
your obedience and if you really love him you're going to obey him and you're
going to obey his word. That's what he wants more than anything else. He doesn't
want to harm you, he doesn't want to harm anyone, but remember this is Old
Covenant and he's warning his people you need to focus on me and not worship
other idols. You know we live in a time in a season where idolatry is rampant.
People worship money or fame or entertainment. God wants our heart. He
wants our worship. Verse 17 here, but you stand on your feet and get dressed for
work. Stand and say your peace. Say exactly what I tell you to say. Don't
pull your punches or don't pull back when I give you something to deliver or
I'll pull you out of the lineup. You know one thing about being used by God is he
wants you to be obedient and if you're obedient in an area he'll use you again
and again and again, but if you pull back and you don't obey then there might
be a season of time in there where things adjust. Maybe that anointing lifts.
Maybe the grace is gone. Maybe the provision dries up. Why? Because you
weren't in obedience. Does that happen? Yeah, absolutely. When he tells you to do
something, he'll give you the grace. He'll give you the anointing. He'll give
you the provision to do it. Okay, if that lifts, maybe you better check yourself.
Going on here, 18 and 19. Stand at attention while I prepare you for your
work. I'm making you as impregnable as a castle, immovable like a
steel post. So he's telling him, I'm gonna make you like a hard and stable and
strong as a wall. Have you ever seen the walls of Jerusalem? They're beautiful and
they've been there for thousands of years. They've never moved and that's
what he does with Jeremiah. I mean the one thing I love about this book is no
matter what this prophet goes through, he doesn't budge. He stands steady. Man,
you know in the day and the hour that we live in, what I admire more than anything
else is people that even when they screw up, guess what? They just keep going. They
don't stop. They don't back up. They don't give up. They just suck it up, repent,
apologize, and go at it again. That's what God's asking of us. Hey, it's okay if
you screw up. It's okay. Get up and keep going.
Immovable as a steel post, solid as a concrete block wall. You're a one-man
defense system against this culture. Ooh, listen to that. A one-man defense system
against this culture. You know, the pressure to change in this hour is
unbelievable. I don't get to change this. I don't get to rewrite this. I don't get
to decide, you know, what prophets said and didn't say thousands of years ago. It
doesn't change. I'll fight for you, but they won't even scratch you. I'll back
you up every inch of the way. God's decree. Stand strong, body. Stand strong,
believers. Don't get weary in well-doing. If God has asked you to do something in
this hour, he's positioned you for purpose, and there's a reason for it. You
know, sometimes you kind of go through seasons, and you just want to ask God,
why? Well, he knows the beginning from the end. Back to my...
illustration. He knows what it's going to look like in the long term. He knows what
he's going to ask you to do and all he's asking for you is for you to obey and do
your part. Thank you for listening. Like and share and subscribe and I appreciate
you. You have no idea. Thank you and have a great day.