There isn’t anything about any one of us that is hidden from God. In Jeremiah 1:4-5 the prophet wrote, “The LORD gave me this message: “I knew you before I set you apart and appointed you as thy prophet to the nations.’”
First of all, I urge you to note that it was God who formed baby Jeremiah in his mother’s womb. This is one of the reasons that abortion is so wrong. It is an assault on someone that God is developing in the mother’s womb. In Psalm 127:3 we read, “Children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”
In Jeremiah 1:4-5 we have two tremendous concepts —
1. Divine foreknowledge; 2. Divine foreordination.
With regards to the first concept, God knows us more completely and perfectly than the world does, or your closest friends. He knows us better than our closest family members and even better than we know ourselves.
He knows every breath we take, every heartbeat we have, every thought, every word we speak, and every act we take. The Bible says He knew us even before the world was formed.
It is ridiculous to think that we might be able to hide anything from our God or to try and evade Him. In Luke 16:15 Jesus said to the Pharisees …
“You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Is there anything in our hearts or lives that we would not want God to reveal to the whole world? If there is, then I suggest we confess it to our Savior right away, ask His forgiveness and experience His forgiveness and cleansing. In 1 John 1:9 we read “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
David thought he had covered his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. But GOD KNEW all about it. He sent His prophet Nathan to confront the king. David broke, confessed His sin and God forgave him but it is recorded in scripture for the whole world to read about and be warned of the futility of trying to hide anything from God.
Listen to what God said to Jeremiah – 23:23-24,
“Am I a God near at hand and not a God far off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the LORD. “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.”
What is the answer to our dilemma of trying to hide things in our lives from the all-seeing eyes of God? The answer is found in Ezekiel 36:26-27,
“A new heart also I will give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.”
What great gifts God gives to us so we may love Him and live for His glory — a new heart and His Holy Spirit to be in us.
Now, let’s focus on God’s pre-ordination for the purpose He has for our lives. In Jeremiah 1:5 God said to Jeremiah “… before you were born … I sanctified (set apart) you and ordained you a prophet unto the nations.”
What was God’s purpose in setting Jeremiah apart and ordaining him? God intended that Jeremiah would be a prophet to the nations. That was His purpose for Jeremiah’s life.
Folks — please take to heart what I am about to share. I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for every life that is born. He knows who you are and what He wants to do with your life. Are you surrendered to God’s sovereign plan and purpose for your life?
Satan will do his best to keep you from receiving the new heart God wants to give you and the Holy Spirit to indwell you. But the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39,
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD.”
In 2 Timothy 1:8-9, Paul wrote to his spiritual son and said —
“Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our LORD, nor of me, His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”
Saul of Tarsus thought he was doing God’s work by persecuting the followers of Christ. Our LORD decided it was time to give this very learned man an eye-opening encounter with himself. In Acts 9 we read of Saul’s conversion — Paul had been given authority by the high priest to take into custody any who were following the Christ.
“As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said ‘Who are you, LORD?’ Then the LORD said ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads; So, He (Saul) trembling and astonished, said, ‘LORD, what do you want me to do?’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Arise, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’”
Folks, Jesus, who had died for our sins, was resurrected and had ascended to heaven confronted Saul and spoke to him, changed his heart, and shared that He had a plan for his life.
Have you met Jesus? Have you invited Him to be your Savior and LORD? Have you realized that He has a plan for your life? Are you surrendered to that plan?
If you have received Christ, He has given you a new heart and His Holy Spirit to dwell in you to accomplish your God-given purpose — to know him and to make Him known.
I pray that each of us, with hearts filled to overflowing, are eager to do His will.
In His love, Pastor Leonard
