#721 Extracting the Precious from the Worthless
I had a very special experience recently. I was worn out, with no energy or motivation, and I felt discouraged. It was a very cloudy, rainy day. In my morning devotions I read Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah was very discouraged; the message of judgment he bore was not received well and he was persecuted: “everyone curses me.” Jeremiah 15:10 Jeremiah was reminded of God’s promises and intention for his welfare. “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good…” verse 11 The Lord repeats the surety of His judgment of captivity in Babylon, verses 12-14. Jeremiah pleads again for his life and for Divine protection verse 15.
“Thy words were found and I did eat them and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” At that point as I read the phrase “Thy words became for me a joy” a burst of sunshine broke through the clouds just as I read the word JOY. The sunlight was pure and blinding. Reading further Jeremiah stated again his obedience, and his personal pain of heart, and it appears that he expressed some doubts in verse 18b. My eyes fell on verse 19 to God’s response: “If you return, then I will restore you—Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.” And then the Lord stated an important instruction: You must influence them—don’t let them influence you. (NLT)
The sun was still shining brightly through the clouds. And this lesson came to my heart:
In the midst of clouds of doubt or discouragement we must extract the precious from the worthless! This process of extracting the precious from the worthless begins in our heart and in our thoughts. We need to identify what is worthless, the personal perspectives we have that are no use to the new creature’s growth, and surrender them to the Father (Psalm 62:8) and then empowered by the holy Spirit surrender to the Truth of His Perspective. Part of this process is to remember and continuously review the brightness of JOY in His Word and Promises, and our delight in them. And then we are able to speak words that bring Him glory.
“There must be a daily laying up of its [the Word’s] treasures of wisdom and counsel in the heart, and the working out of its principles in the life. ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them…and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.’ Jer. 15.16 So must we also feed upon them in our hearts.” R 2093 (Deut. 11:18-20, Josh 1:8, Prov. 7:1-3 and Prov. 23:12 also part of this article with elaboration!)
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 The meditation of our heart is the source of our spoken words. Luke 6:45
May the meditation of our hearts be meditation in the LIGHT of the joy of His Word and Promises.
I had a very special experience recently. I was worn out, with no energy or motivation, and I felt discouraged. It was a very cloudy, rainy day. In my morning devotions I read Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah was very discouraged; the message of judgment he bore was not received well and he was persecuted: “everyone curses me.” Jeremiah 15:10 Jeremiah was reminded of God’s promises and intention for his welfare. “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good…” verse 11 The Lord repeats the surety of His judgment of captivity in Babylon, verses 12-14. Jeremiah pleads again for his life and for Divine protection verse 15.
“Thy words were found and I did eat them and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” At that point as I read the phrase “Thy words became for me a joy” a burst of sunshine broke through the clouds just as I read the word JOY. The sunlight was pure and blinding. Reading further Jeremiah stated again his obedience, and his personal pain of heart, and it appears that he expressed some doubts in verse 18b. My eyes fell on verse 19 to God’s response: “If you return, then I will restore you—Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.” And then the Lord stated an important instruction: You must influence them—don’t let them influence you. (NLT)
The sun was still shining brightly through the clouds. And this lesson came to my heart:
In the midst of clouds of doubt or discouragement we must extract the precious from the worthless! This process of extracting the precious from the worthless begins in our heart and in our thoughts. We need to identify what is worthless, the personal perspectives we have that are no use to the new creature’s growth, and surrender them to the Father (Psalm 62:8) and then empowered by the holy Spirit surrender to the Truth of His Perspective. Part of this process is to remember and continuously review the brightness of JOY in His Word and Promises, and our delight in them. And then we are able to speak words that bring Him glory.
“There must be a daily laying up of its [the Word’s] treasures of wisdom and counsel in the heart, and the working out of its principles in the life. ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them…and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.’ Jer. 15.16 So must we also feed upon them in our hearts.” R 2093 (Deut. 11:18-20, Josh 1:8, Prov. 7:1-3 and Prov. 23:12 also part of this article with elaboration!)
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 The meditation of our heart is the source of our spoken words. Luke 6:45
May the meditation of our hearts be meditation in the LIGHT of the joy of His Word and Promises.
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