FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
Scripture: Jeremiah 11:18-23

One important question is, how does God respond to those who are set on destroying our assignment or our harvest field? Jeremiah 11:18-23 reveals just such a situation. These verses state, “Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.’ But, O Lord of hosts, You who judge righteously, Testing the mind and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die by our hand’— therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.” In Jeremiah 11:18-23, all those who came against Jeremiah, God said He would terminate. He said, “I will remove them. They will no longer harass you!” God did not play around. Is it possible that the same God has not changed? If I were Peter in jail, I would hope that God had not changed. And when the angel came to get me out, I would hope that God would hide me. But once worms ate Herod, I would know that I was delivered from him forever. May we know this New Year that we are delivered forever! Let the same angels who protected Jeremiah, protect us until we have finished our race! God, arise!