We Give Thanks, Go and Follow, Yes and Amen, Let Me See Jesus, Here in Your Presence

Which item do you possess that is no longer useful today? Why do you still keep it?

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month. 4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. 8 “Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

Most people don’t ask the question “Will I be useful or useless to God?” because people would automatically want to be useful in general. No one in his or her right mind would actually desire to be useless.

We will never be useless to God because of some physical incapacity, lack of education, or personality quirk. What we focus on in life will determine whether we will be useful or useless to God.

Jeremiah 1:1-10 shows us the three things we need to focus on to be useful to God:

1. GOD’S CALLING (Jeremiah 1:1-5)

Jeremiah was called by God when he was a young man. He must have been around 17 years old. He was the last prophet that God sent to the southern kingdom of Judah before the invasion of Babylon and the exile to Babylon which was probably one of the darkest parts of Israel’s history.

The name “Jeremiah” means “Yahweh appoints” (v.1). Calling by God is an appointment. Our God is intentional in appointing people. God’s ultimate objective for us, His followers, is to become more like Jesus. Jeremiah served many kings (vv.2-3). He faithfully served the Lord for over 5 decades. He was useful and faithful to God. If we focus and respond to God’s calling in our life, we will serve God consistently and faithfully regardless of the circumstances.

God spoke 4 words to Jeremiah (vv.4-5):

• “formed” (a potter making a masterpiece out of clay) – God loves us (Psalm 139:13-14). He is a redeeming God, and He has a wonderful plan for our lives despite all our foolish decisions.
• “knew” (the deepest form of intimacy) – Psalm 139:1-2,4 comforts us in the sense that whatever we’re going through and wherever we may be in this world, God is there. He knows what’s going on in our life.
• “consecrated” (set apart) – God doesn’t just have a generic kind of plan for our life (Psalm 139:16). He has a book written with our name on it and in that book is His amazing plan for our life. Such is the depth and the richness of the calling of God in our lives.
• “appointed” (intentionally putting someone in specific position by someone of authority – John 15:16) – True followers of Jesus have been appointed as ministers (2 Corinthians 5:18) and ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).

2, GOD’S PROMISES (Jeremiah 1:6-7)

Jeremiah had an objection—he is a youth, but God said He will be his enabler (vv.6-7). Nothing will stop him. God is going to work and speak through him.

3. GOD’S PRESENCE (Jeremiah 1:8-10)

Jeremiah’s greatest source of confidence should be God (vv.8-9). Throughout history, the presence of God has always been His greatest assurance to His people. Examples are Moses (Exodus 3,4) and Gideon (Judges 6).

This life is a battlefield but even before we step into the battlefield, Jesus is already there. When the time comes for us to leave the battlefield and go to be with Him, we will be with Him forever.

Many of Jeremiah’s pronouncements were not only for Israel but for many other nations (v.10). Today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God can use us to break down, destroy, and overthrow people’s wrong thinking and misguided worldviews—spiritual barriers that set themselves up against the truth of God. The Holy Spirit is working through ordinary people who are called by God so that we can plant the seeds of the gospel and we can build up people in their relationship with Jesus to help them become more like Him.

The attitude of the heart is HUMILITY.

Conversely, there are ways to be useless to God. The word “worthless” in the original Hebrew is actually translated like the English word “no” or “not”. It is good for nothing. It is useless.

Too many people end up being that way because their focus are (Jeremiah 13:1-11):

1. MY WAY

“refuse to listen to My words” – Reject God’s word when obeying is inconvenient, difficult, or not aligned with our preferences

2. MY WILL

“walk in the stubbornness of their hearts” – Live self-centered, self-gratifying lives to please ourselves rather than honor God

3. MY IDOLS

“have gone after other gods” – Pursue idols of money, pleasure, success, popularity, people, “Do-it-yourself (DIY) spirituality”

The attitude of the heart is PRIDE.

This becomes the lost opportunity of God’s people (Jeremiah 13:11, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, John 15:5,8-9).

In the same way that God has given us the capacity to love, God has given us the capacity to choose. The choice is ours to make – be useful to God in 2025!

Pray for people who feel they are useless in life to experience God’s calling, promises, and presence.

Be intentional in showing care and sharing the gospel with them.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented; tension in the West Philippine Sea to be peacefully resolved.

• Continue to pray for the rest of Israeli hostages to be restored back to their families safely. Pray for Israel and the war with terrorists to end according to God’s purpose and for His glory.

• For the civil war in Syria to end peacefully, protection for Christians and other minorities; that there will be freedom from oppression for Syrians. Pray for the gospel to spread rapidly throughout the country.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expansion worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”