Recognize the Lord's Authority - Jeremiah 46 - 52

Anyone must believe the Bible to be The True Word of God in order to recognize the Lord’s authority. By studying the Bible we know that God created the heavens and earth and all that is therein. He is the GREAT I AM and as such He is the owner of all and the authorized director of all activity. He is the Authority whether or not any individual recognizes the fact. It is sad, but some believers either forget or simply fail to recognize that God controls our destiny and this simple neglect causes many of our undesirable circumstances in life. As we grow older and gain valuable experience it becomes obvious that our neglect to place God first [recognize his authority] in our lives never brings acceptable results.

There are no exceptions to the rule of accountability; in this lesson today we find that the powerful are accountable by reading [Jer. 50 & 51]—and the privileged are found accountable in [Jer. 52]—in fact every one of us is said to be accountable in [46 to 50]. I believe the writer discussed the accountability of everyone first and then realized that the powerful and privileged might not get the point, so he singled them out in the later chapters. The lesson we learn here is that God is no respecter of any person because of status or position; he requires, yes, even demands, that each individual must recognize his authority. To do otherwise results in spiritual suicide and eternal death starts with unbelief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you truly believe in Him, then it is very easy to recognize his authority over you. Christ is the Light of the world, the Salt of the earth, and the only Door to heaven; He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The failure to recognize God’s position as our Creator is a form of arrogance or false pride which is a sinful attitude or behavior that ascribes to our selves the glory, honor and power that belongs only to God. This attitude can pervade our thinking so easily that we hardly recognize that it is happening. For example; we often pray for what we want instead of praying for what God knows we need. When we do this we are actually saying that we know better than God knows what we need. Am I saying that you should not pray that a love one that is very ill should not be healed? No indeed, I am not. But I am saying that you should recognize that it must be within God’s desire, His plan, and His purpose for you and your love one. Remember that Christ, realizing that he was facing death on the Cross, prayed for his own life in the Garden, but even He said; “Not My will, but “Your will” [God’s will] be done.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of Christ’s prayer, it makes it much easier for me to pray for my wife and children and say to Him—“This is my desire Lord, but never-the-less, your will is acceptable.” We absolutely must avoid personal arrogance.