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Today is Saturday August 21, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Jeremiah, chapters 26-28. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-august-21

Today's Message: Just Cooperate

A yoke is a device that joins two animals together to make them stronger, for instance, often horses are yoked together in order to be able to pull a heavier load. However, in order for the yoke to be effective both animals have to cooperate, if one is trying to go in the opposite direction the yoke is pretty useless. Jesus Said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30. What Jesus is saying here is, “I know you have been trying to do everything all by yourself, you are trying to pull a load that is too heavy for you to carry alone. Come to me, attach yourself to my yoke, and I will make you stronger to carry the load, in fact, I will make your load even lighter.” What a wonderful God we have! Praise God!

The destruction of Jerusalem was inevitable, God had had enough all the wickedness and evildoing going on in His city, He is going to destroy all of it. However, He did not want to destroy those who remained faithful to Him. He has one final warning to the people and even nations, through Jeremiah God speaks, “Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” - Jeremiah 26:2-6. God is telling all, “Come to me and you will be saved, otherwise I will not stop the evil that is about to happen and you are going to suffer.” This is another example of being yoked with Jesus. When we yoke ourselves with Jesus we are saved from any evil that is about to happen, while we might have to deal with some affliction, in the end we will be safe in God's care.

God used Jeremiah to illustrate the importance of being yoked with Him, “Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;...And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.” - Jeremiah 27:2,3,6-8. God wanted Jerusalem and all the surrounding nations to yoke themselves with Nebuchadnezzar. While it seemed that they were losing their freedom by becoming servants of Nebuchadnezzar, God was actually saving their lives. The same reigns true for those who yoke themselves with Christ. While it may seem that we are losing our freedom to do whatever we choose to do, God is actually saving our lives. When Jesus returns not only Jerusalem will be destroyed once again, but every nation will be and those who are not yoked with Him will be left behind and destroyed.

Now, just like a yoke is useless when both animals do not cooperate, when we do not cooperate with Jesus the yoke is useless. Jesus will not yoke Himself with someone who does not want to cooperate with Him. Think about it. Would you want to align yourself with someone who is constantly wanting to do things their own way instead of the right way? I have worked with many people who did not want to the work the right way and ended up having to do mine and fix theirs, it is pretty much useless and aggravating to have them around. Well, imagine how Jesus must feel? The Bible says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” - Galatians 5:1. Every time a person tries to handle a situation on their own they are in bondage to the burden rather than free from it. Jesus wants to help us, think about it, He died for us. If He gave His life to save you from hell don't you think that He would help you with every one of your burdens? Of course He would! He is God! He set us free! Now, instead of making His yoke useless, just cooperate with Him. He will show you what to do and make your burdens lighter. “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” - Psalm 55:22. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version.
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