23/10/2020 - TAKE AWAY HER BRANCHES

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“Go up on her walls and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, For they are not the Lord’s. Jeremiah 5:10

Judah’s recovery would begin by withdrawing the branches created by those who claimed to be wise (and, in the eyes of men, he was) against the enemy. These openings in the parapet of the walls were very important for those who did not have the Most High as their Fortress. Their partial destruction seemed crazy to war strategists, but not to the Almighty, who gives security to everyone who trusts Him.

What protections do you have in your life? What would God use them for, if He is the Almighty Lord of the entire Universe? Probably, when receiving this order from the lips of Jeremiah, the people considered him crazy. After all, without them, their defenders would have no way of protecting themselves from opponents. However, the people who were taken from the greatest empire in the world by God would not need some defenders.

We try to defend ourselves when, on our knees, we seek the world’s wise men and ask them for help. So, following their “good” advice, we have built walls with battlements, but that does not come from the Lord. He never instructed His children to do what other people invented. Remember King Asa, who decided to build walls while the land was quiet, and that brought Zerah, the Ethiopian, to attack him (2 Chronicles 14:6-15).

The walls had to be destroyed, but not entirely. They would only serve to mark the territory of God’s people. When the enemy came, he would be happy to see the city open, but there would be something bigger than what happened years before, when the king of Assyria went against Judah, and king Hezekiah, along with the prophet Isaiah, prayed and an angel of God destroyed the opposing army in one night. God would do more against Nebuchadnezzar!

The threat to your life can be enormous and apparently it looks like you won’t be able to overcome it. What the enemy has proposed to do against you is indefensible. Is it really indefensible? I would rather obey the Lord and see His glory at work on my behalf than equip myself with things of man that are only valid for those who do not have the Almighty working for them. They exchanged God for men´s strength and therefore, would be defeated.

The battlements built were a statement that they knew more than God. The Lord said that they were not theirs, so, how would they proceed now? If they wanted the Lord to fight for them, they had to remove almost the entire wall, as well as the openings. What comes from man is enmity against God (James 4:4). If I do not want to become an enemy of the Most High, I must obey Him in my actions. To Him be all glory!

It is time to return to the Lord, forsaking men´s subtleties and seeking God with all our heart. Otherwise, our house will be deserted, and what will become of us? The Heavenly Father speaks about faith, which needs to be sought daily as a hidden treasure on earth. We will never please God without it. Whoever has faith can solve everything!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares