The LORD is With Me -Jeremiah 20:11

"But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten."

I Am With You -Jeremiah 1:4-8

This comes from the beginning of Jeremiah, where we see how God ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet.

"Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." Then said I: "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the Lord said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord."

I found it encouraging how God told Jeremiah to be a prophet. He starts out by telling Jeremiah how He foreknew, sanctified, and ordained him before He was even born! Then, when Jeremiah says, I am young, I can't speak! However, God explains to him that He will direct Jeremiah. He then ends with this promise:

"Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you"

When we are following God's will in our life as He directs us, we can rest, knowing that God is with us, to deliver us from whatever circumstance we are in.

We need to remember, however, that the deliverance may not be exactly what we expect.

A Branch of Righteousness...Jeremiah 23:5-6

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

This is one of those promises that I believe has not been completely fulfilled. (If you think otherwise, please leave a comment!) This verse is definitely talking about Jesus, but I believe that this also refers to His second coming.

I like how the name given at the end is, "The Lord OUR righteousness", not The Lord of Righteousness...even though both are accurate, the fact that He is Our Righteousness....is another encouragement for the believer.

This verse is one of those "stop and get perspective" moments. God will come again, and when He does He will come as a King, coming to rule. However, this verse also promises peace to Judah and Israel, which, given the context, I believe means all believers....the true "spiritual" descendants of Abraham...


...and when He returns, the only thing we will be doing is worshiping THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.