Bible verse:

“And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:34

You and I know how hard it is to forgive someone who has wronged us deeply.  And how even harder it is to forget!  But that’s exactly what God has done for you and me.  On that historic day, when Jesus of Nazareth died on that cross, when the only innocent person to walk this earth was unjustly crucified for crimes he did not commit, that’s the day this NEW COVENANT was enacted.  It was for our crimes (sins committed willfully and unconsciously) against God, that Jesus suffered.

Jesus gives an illustration (parable) of this event in Matthew 18:23-35.  A servant owed his king “a million dollars” and couldn’t pay it back.  When the servant pleaded for mercy, the king forgave that enormous debt!  Like this servant, our debt was enormous and unpayable.  And like the king, God forgave our debt, by paying for it with Jesus’ blood.  Can you imagine how this changed the life of that servant, now freed from that unspeakable burden?  You and I have been freed from an even heavier burden.  That’s his love and mercy toward us.

Fully realizing what Jesus has done for us, changes everything!  God has forgiven our debt and remembers our sin no more!  He forgets our offenses forever!  Incredible.  As we take in the magnitude of this act of love, it causes us to live for God willingly, serving him with our whole lives.  Will you let this reality sink in?  Will you receive this free gift through faith in Jesus Christ, and live out of gratitude to him?

There’s a second part to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18.  This freed servant now goes to a fellow servant who owes him “a thousand dollars”, but refuses to forgive him, and throws him in prison.  The king hears of this and revokes his mercy towards the original servant.  Jesus’ point is, when we fully realize God’s mercy toward us, we are then to forgive others the relatively small offenses others have committed toward us.  In light of what God has done for you, will you forgive others their debt towards you?  This is one of the most heavenly acts you and I can do, demonstrating God’s mercy to another.  Will you step into this flow – receiving his mercy, and offering it to others?

Prayer:  Lord, let the magnitude of your forgiving and forgetting of my sin, sink in.  Then help me forgive others, demonstrating your love in the lives of people around me.  Give me supernatural power to do this, that these “offenders” around me may experience your vast love as well.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“’But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,’ says the Lord.”  Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

Jesus, before his arrest and crucifixion promised, “when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26).  Jesus also said, “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.  He will tell you about the future.  He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me…the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me” (John 16:13-15).

Jesus is connecting what the prophet Jeremiah predicted, with you and me today, as post-Pentecost believers.  He promised that through the work of the Holy Spirit, we would know God, we would know what he Jesus said and did, that he would “write his instructions in our hearts.”  He promised a renewed, intimate relationship – that he would be our God, and we would be his people.

Jesus also said, “when he (the Advocate/Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8).  Everybody, no matter who they are or where they live, will know who God is, will be convicted of their need for God and be aware of the urgency to confess Christ before the Final Day.  The Holy Spirit is making sure of it.

Prayer: Will you let the Holy Spirit teach you everything about Christ, and will you allow him to draw you into a closer relationship with him?  Will you also pray for others to receive the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing them to God? Make the answers to these questions, your prayer.  Holy Spirit, this is my prayer.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.” Jeremiah 31:24-25

What an amazing promise from God through Jeremiah, the prophet’s prophecy.  With this NEW COVENANT God promised in Jeremiah 31, which Jesus established in 1 Corinthians 11:25 (“this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”), we now experience through faith in him!

This new covenant promises our relationship with God is renewed and forever sealed. He also promises a person to person relational effect.  “Townspeople…farmers…shepherds” were often adversarial toward each other in Jeremiah’s day, fighting for land, for dominance, for wealth, etc.  But as each person’s relationship with God was renewed, it changed the way each related to his neighbor.

God promised he would do this today, and is unfolding this promise even now.  Wall Street financiers, laborers, executives, teachers, artists, farmers, royalty, celebrities, construction workers, etc. – all, no matter their station, can “live together in peace and happiness,” just as Jeremiah prophecies.  For God has given “rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing” through Jesus on the cross and empty tomb.  He has made irrelevant our station, work status and class, and established us as brothers and sisters in Christ.  He has positioned us as members of his Body, with himself as our Head.

So instead of taking out our “weariness” and “sorrow” on each other, we lean into each other as members of one body.  We compliment each other, help each other, live at peace with each other and even love each other.  That’s what he has in store for you and me, who confess Christ as Lord.  Will you let him give you relational peace with others?

Prayer:  I’m sorry, Lord, for taking out my fatigue and sorrow on others.  I receive your gift of peace to share with others.  I press into you, Lord, to redeem and restore the relationships I’ve blown up.  And place my expectation in you to see this prophecy realized, with rest and joy for us together.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“‘The day is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the Lord.”  Jeremiah 31:31-32

What Jeremiah predicted in “the day is coming,” is now here!  The “new covenant” he prophesied, Jesus fulfilled when he said, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24), when he instituted the Lord’s Supper with his disciples.

The old covenant, like a wedding vow between God and his people, kept getting broken as God’s people, committed spiritual “adultery,” by going after other gods and rejecting his way.  This landed them in Egypt as slaves, for 400 years.  But God showed his incredible and tangible love by freeing his people, renewing his relationship with them and taking them to the promised land.  He renewed his vow, in an unbreakable marriage covenant, to love his people like a faithful husband loves his wife.

You and I, as God’s people (through faith in Christ) are also recipients of his new covenant!  What we did to create a barrier between ourselves and God, has been paid for and wiped clean on the cross.  

You are no longer your own, or the world’s, or worse, the evil one’s.  You are part of the Bride of Christ, with an unbreakable promise, that he will love you no matter what.

Will you let “the day is coming” be TODAY?  Will you respond to this new covenant, by placing your trust and love in Jesus Christ?  If so, you will experience him “taking you by the hand” and bringing you out of slavery, from all things evil, to himself, to his embrace!

Prayer:  By the authority of Christ’s name and according to his promise, I declare THIS DAY to be the day I respond by renewing my marriage vow with God.  To love him back, as he has first loved me.  To forsake all other “lovers”, and to live today as Christ’s alone.  I want this for my fellow citizens of this country as well, Lord.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verses:

“For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.” Jeremiah 31:11

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 15:57

Have you experienced that sinking feeling of being overpowered by a bully?  When you knew there was no way to defend yourself or fight back?  The people of Israel experienced this at the hands of the great Babylonian military in the 6th century BC.  Israel was easily overpowered.

Jeremiah, the prophet, predicted something that seemed impossible, that they would be freed from the Babylonians by God himself.  And it happened!

You and I face an even greater adversary, the devil.  He seeks to use every weapon at his disposal to try to crush us, and drag us to hell where he is headed.  We, by our own power, are helpless.  But that’s why Jesus came, “to redeem Israel (believers in Jesus) from those too strong for them”.  Jesus overcame the evil one’s power, and offers you and me the power to overcome as well.  Overcomers by the power unleashed in us through Jesus’ death and resurrection!

Jesus says in John 16:33, even though we experience trouble and pain from the evil one, Jesus says, “take heart,” be encouraged, for he has overcome the world and everything from the evil one!  

There are various forces of evil at work in our world and our country today.  The more we look, the uglier it appears.  This is real.  But what is even more real is the power of God, through Christ’s resurrection!  This same power lives in you and me.  This is the Holy Spirit’s work within us!  Will you turn from obsessing over the evil in our day, and instead, look to Christ to help you overcome?  Will you “take heart” by noticing what he is doing in this country, and in you?

Prayer:  I admit the evil one is too strong for me.  But I receive you, Christ, and your resurrection power in me.  Help me overcome the evil one, day by day, as I rely on you alone, Jesus.  Help our people, the citizens of this country, to find strength and courage, by receiving your overcoming power, Lord Jesus.  This is my urgent prayer.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.” Jeremiah 31:10

Sheep, when scattered, are vulnerable.  Without a shepherd, sheep are helpless, and often doomed.  The picture, the prophet Jeremiah is painting, is true in the natural, and even more true in the spiritual.  We are like sheep, who often turn away from God and do our own thing, rendering ourselves helpless and doomed spiritually.

That’s why Jesus Christ came, to be our Good Shepherd, to gather us to himself, to protect us from the evil one, and to care for us as his own.  A sheep knows his shepherd’s voice, and you and I know our Lord’s voice.  Jesus says this in John 10:27, “my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.”

For all the “rugged individualism” we like to talk about in America, we actually are very much like sheep, who need a Shepherd.  And that’s what Jeremiah, the prophet, predicted many years before Jesus was born.

Today, Jesus is gathering people from all the “nations of the world”, and we are seeing large movements of people coming back to God.  Will you let Jesus “shepherd” you?  Will you let him gather you to himself, watch over you and care for you?  Read John 10 for yourself and hear what Jesus says to you.  Then let Him in.

Prayer:  I recognize that I am vulnerable, because I have turned away from my Shepherd and Lord, I am sorry.  America is also vulnerable, wandering aimlessly, on its own, away from the Shepherd.  Shepherd me, Jesus, for I am your sheep, and I need you.  Shepherd all the people I care for, as well.  Gather them and draw them close to you, Lord. Shepherd America, it needs you! We need you!! I ask this from the bottom of my heart.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“‘Save your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel!’ For I will bring them…  from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women in labor. A great company will return! Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father.” Jeremiah 31:7-9

The people of Israel had been exiled, taken from their own land and deported to another.  This was a natural consequence of their rejection of God, their Father, and choosing other “gods” and doing things their own way.  But God loved them with a faithful, unfailing love.  So he brought them back home again.  Notice he brings EVERYONE, even those we’d consider vulnerable or weak?  Notice the people’s reaction – tears of joy!  Notice how he prepares the way home – beside quiet streams (a constant, fresh, water supply) and on smooth paths, so no one stumbles.  This was an historic event that happened to real people.

As significant as this homecoming was for the remnant of Israel then, it’s even more significant to us today, what Jeremiah predicted through Christ’s coming.  Through the cross and empty tomb, by placing our trust in Jesus, you and I are considered the “remnant.” You and I are being freed from our adversary (slavery to sin, eternal death and the power of the evil one) and being led “home,” back to a close relationship with God now, to be with him forever.  

The “new covenant” Jeremiah predicted in chapter 31:31-32 is unfolding NOW, among us.  People are coming back from their “exiles” and coming back to God.  They are turning away from the “gods” of this age, and putting their trust in Christ Jesus.  They are experiencing the “tears of joy,” the “quiet streams,” and “smooth paths” he is providing.  Will you let him free you and father you?

Prayer:  You are not only Israel’s father, you are my Father.  I receive the freedom you are providing for me, freedom from my adversary, and freedom to be in daily relationship with you.  Not only me, but would you help each person that is locked up and exiled to experience your freedom. I pray the see the Truth of Jesus.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.'”  Jeremiah 31:3

Your Father says, “I HAVE loved you,” not “maybe someday down the road,” but TODAY, already activated and in place.  He says, “ I have loved you with an EVERLASTING love,” a love that lasts forever with no end.  His love for you never trails off, never runs out of steam, or gets revoked.  It’s everlasting.  He loves you with an “unfailing love”, which speaks to his character – faithful.  His love is never based on one’s performance toward him, how good or bad, faithful or faithless, for HIS love is always faithful.  With unfailing love, he has “drawn you to himself,” embracing you, like the most wonderful, earthly father (times a billion) does for his child.  He’s not loving you from afar, but up close and intimately.  Notice he is doing the initiating, always extending his love towards you, drawing you close and embracing you.  That’s just who he is.

Today is a good day, to BE LOVED.  Let yourself be completely and entirely loved, to the core.  Let him wipe away your tears, heal your hurts, forgive your sins, and wash away your regrets.  This may be a new experience for you, this language may make you uncomfortable.  It’s OK, he knows.  He knows you very well, for he formed you within your mother, and even knew you before you were even conceived, and loved you then, and loves you entirely now.  You don’t have to jump through hoops or get your act together first, to become more “lovable.”  Forget that.  Let him love you today with an everlasting, unfailing, drawing-you-close kind of love.  

That’s what the prophet Jeremiah predicted, and that’s what Jesus came to accomplish and establish.  It’s an historic event – for you.  Today.  Will you let him?

Prayer:  Father, I receive your love today.  I will let myself relax in your arms, and rest in the strength of your love.  Help me not to resist, or squirm away, but receive all that Jesus accomplished for me on the cross.  I pray for my family, my friends, my neighbors, my coworkers, that each of them would receive your unfailing love as well.  I want this more than anything.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible verse:

“And he will be called: Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)

Have you noticed there is a difference between physical peace (absence of bodily harm) and internal peace?  Have you noticed that we can have physical peace and not have inner peace?  Of course we want both.  What does Jesus promise us?  In John 14:27, he says, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.”  And in John 16:33 he says it even stronger.  “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

He promises that whatever you experience externally in our world today, that he will give you a GIFT of peace, a shalom for your heart and mind!  And that no matter the trials and sorrows we face, that we can actually take heart, or be encouraged, because he has overcome the world,  through the cross and empty tomb.  Incredible.

Will you shift your focus from the chaos, confusion, division, strife and warring of society, to the Lord Jesus?  Will you receive this gift he earned for you on the cross, and step into this lifestyle of peace?  Notice that even when Jesus was tortured and undergoing incredible pain prior to and on the cross, he never lacked peace.  That’s what he offers freely to you now.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I receive your peace now.  Even if I can’t fully understand it, I know you are the Prince of Peace, so I trust you.  Help me to shift from the world’s flawed version of peace, and into your bulletproof shalom.  Guard my heart and mind from the evil one, and help me to enjoy you in full confidence and peace.  May the Prince of Peace in me cause others around me to experience your peace as well!  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler