Week 2 Discussion continued

It seems to me that God is pretty blunt in His dealings with Israel. He told them staight out that they were sinning and living foolish lives. They put their trust into idols carved by their own hands rather than into the God who had delivered them over and over from their enemies. He lets them know that He has given them chance after chance to repent but now it is too late. He must complete the word He had given to them. They had been told from the beginning that they would be blessed as long as they followed Him but curses would follow if they broke the covenant. Well the covenant was good and broken...to the point that God tells Jeremiah to not pray for the people.

Here is the ultimate expression of tough love. God's heart was breaking and we see it through the tears that Jeremiah shed, but in order to give anyone a chance at redemption he had to fulfill His word to His people. If He had broken His word here then there would have been no hope for you and me. It would have unraveled the scarlet thread of history that led to Jesus and then through him to us. His Word had to be kept and performed just as He had promised in the beginning.

So back to God's bluntness...I am actually relieved to have seen that He has always been this way. I was beginning to think that He only spoke to me like that. When my friends would get a word from God it always seemed so positive yet I would get words like 'disappointed' or 'sabotage' to be my words for a season. But I have come to realize in this journey called life, that God only gives me the words that will do the most to draw me closer to Him. Without His bluntness I would let more things slide more than I even do now. It is only because of His amazing love that He is willing to take the time to work with me on those areas where I am weak. But the good news is He is as willing to take the time to love on me and tell me those things that He sees me doing right. God loves me unconditionally, but He is not blind in that love.

As you are reading over Jeremiah...what are some of the words that God speaks to His people that show this dichotomy...His unfailing love and His righteous anger?