Jeremiah 39:18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. 

When I see or hear the word “prey” I immediately get a picture of a bird of “prey” focusing on its next meal. For that reason the thought of God viewing my life as a “prey” has never made sense. So when I came across this verse again I decided to work it out in Hebrew and the word lsalal changed the picture significantly. In context it refers to God coming to Jeremiah when he was in prison and making him a promise…

Jeremiah 39:15-17 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. 17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.

It is in fact a promise from God that wherever He sends us, He promises to guard our life. The translation of that verse in Hebrew is … but thy life shall be spared. It is the complete opposite of what that word means to us; to hunt and kill for food or an animal that is hunted and killed.

The message is that when God calls us to do something or go someplace for Him there is no time for us to be focused on being a “prey” in the circumstances because He will “spare” us. Or put another way, we cannot go where He wants us to go or do what He wants us to do if we are in fear of being “prey.” We can’t be concerned about what it may mean for us if we are not justly dealt with in the process. That was Jeremiah’s concern. How would he be dealt with at the hands of Ebed-melech when Jeremiah delivered God’s message… Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good.

If we are concerned about being justly dealt with by this world when we follow the Lord we are standing on the edge of self-pity in fearing that we will be treated unjustly. God promises us just the opposite. Jesus tells us to go on with what He has told us to do and He will guard our life if we walk in faith and not fear, not leaning on our own understanding.

The bottom line is never to look for justice in this world. If we do, we will find plenty of justification to hold back from what God is asking us to do. Rather we need to hold fast to what God told Jeremiah… because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. It’s all about having complete faith in the promises of God…

 Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

If we are walking in accordance with Jesus’ “purpose” for our life, our faith in Him is the guarantee that there is nothing the world can do to counter the “justification” that we have in Him. Everything … “everything” … is working for our good if we remain focused on His purpose for our life. His purpose of conforming us into His very image. And if we keep in mind that in Him we are already “justified,” whether or not are we justly dealt with in the world is irrelevant and of no conscience.

About Thomas M. Mitchell

Pastor Tom has a deep love for the Word of God and a hunger to see lives changed since dedicating his life to the Lord in 1963. It is his vision to see the bride of Christ walk with her bridegroom with a repentant and obedient heart and a never ceasing hunger for His presence in her daily life. Without that desire, our time here on earth is destined to fall far short of His best for us. Walking with Jesus is the most exciting and rewarding blessing after becoming a Christian. In the loving words of Oswald Chambers … “My Utmost For His Highest.” And you will find His Highest when you spend time with Him in the Holiest Place – that garden He has created for you alone, where He waits and longs to spend time with you.

In recent times, people are going crazy about compiling knowledge. They are obsessed with the fast development in every sector, and while this is admirable, it can lead to mental stagnation. These people feel that the difference between them and their success plateau is who mentors them. They spend untold amounts of money convinced that if experts in various fields coach them, they will surely hit it big in that field.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆?

Is gathering knowledge from every business specialist in the world including Bill Gates, enough to make you succeed in life?  As a copy and creative writing coach, I have seen many students eager to hack the copywriting sphere and make millions of dollars like others before them. Through weeks of learning, it was clear to me who indeed would be successful and who wouldn’t.

How could I tell? Hunger! A hungry person will do anything they can to get food, and then they apply the food to their hungry stomachs. They don’t stare at it, or save it in the fridge, or admire how well it looks. They simply gobble it all up till the hunger pangs are assuaged. The difference between you and your goal is in how much you want it! Even if Bill Gates, Dangote, or Jeff Bezos agree to mentor you for a month or even a year, there won’t be much difference if you don’t have what I call “The Hunger Quality”.

The question is are you truly hungry to be successful or you’re just saying so because everyone is saying it? If the latter is your answer, then thank you for reading thus far, you can continue with what you’ve been doing. But if your answer is the former, keep reading because this is for you. Knowing everything there is to know about something is simply not enough, you have to apply it like butter on bread. Like a hungry man, apply the food and solve the hunger!

For many years, I spent more time gathering knowledge, some were confusing, some useless, others useful but not bringing any results. I wondered if I was cursed or I just wasn’t made for the good life. Like you, I was improving my skills so I could make money! However, I just had all this accumulated information gotten over the years from various coaches, books, seminars, classes, etc, but I still wasn’t making money. After much soul search, I stopped being afraid and started to implement the important lessons one after the other, and boom! It’s been back-to-back results ever since!

Listen, if you have spent so many resources learning how to write, stop ‘learning!’ Oops, yeah I said it. Stop aggravating your poor brain and use what you already learned. Stop learning, start applying! Go back to your notes, videos and audio notes, or whatever materials you got, list out what is important in your writing journey, then take action. Challenge yourself to a one-month or three-month writing marathon where you implement everything you have learned, daily. Improve on what you know, play with it, have fun, and don’t stop writing. Soon, the people with the money would be all over you like zombies on fresh meat. Sorry, bees on honey. Well… you get the point now. 9-5, 24/7 jobs that seem prevalent in this part of the world with little or no profit to show for it are now becoming a thing of the past. No offense to those who enjoy these kinds of jobs, I truly envy your dedication. I just want to write and be taken care of.

Understand this equation: Knowledge + Application = Showers of Money.

If you want to make money, diligently apply what you know, otherwise you will gain nothing but a head full of empty promises.

I wish you the best

It’s the feeling we get when the exciting journey with and in God begins to seem overwhelming.

The people of Israel cried to God while in Egypt to save them, He heard and sent Moses. By His mighty outstretched arm, He brought them out of Egypt on the way to the Promised Land.

In Exodus 15, they went 3 days without water in the wilderness. At Marah they finally found water, but it was not drinkable. The Lord showed Moses a tree, he cast it in, and the water became sweet. What an adventure!

However, in Exodus 16, right after Elim, they hit a spot and Adventure Fatigue surfaced. They cried out to Moses. ‘We would have preferred remaining in Egypt around our meat pots, they said. God’s response, I will send you Manna and I will test you in the process.

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