In the dark days of Zedekiah’s reign (the last King of Judah 597-586 BC), Jeremiah, the prophet, received a Word from the Lord while shut up in prison. The Word was a word of encouragement, as well as a word of judgment. In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord invites His people to “call unto me and I will answer thee…”. Jeremiah prophesied that although Jerusalem and the nation of Judah will be destroyed because of their rebellion and sin, God would ultimately restore the nation and bring her the peace that she longed for.

In Jeremiah 33:15, the Lord promised to send “the Branch of righteousness” who will sit upon the throne of David and bring both righteousness and peace to the land. That “Branch of righteousness” is the Lord Jesus Himself, the Messiah. That Branch has now come and ultimately will be revealed to the people of Israel as the Lord has promised.

Everyone experiences dark days band dark moments in their lives. But if we will stand upon the Word of God and call unto Him, He (the Branch of righteousness) will come and bring peace to us in the midst of our darkness. As he has been faithful to Israel, He will be faithful unto us. Call unto Him and He will answer!

In Jeremiah 29: 4-7, the Word of the Lord came to the captives in Babylon. They were to “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives and to pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof, ye shall have peace (vs. 7).

They did not want to be in Babylon. They wanted to be home in Jerusalem. We would too! The life they once knew was gone. Things were different and difficult. But the Lord asked them to pray for the peace of that city so that they would also have peace. The Holy One wanted His people to seek Him where they were despite their circumstances. If they would, He would bless them where they were.

The Lord will do the same for us. There are times in life that we find ourselves in a place where we would rather not be. But we are there and there is nothing we can do to change it. What are we to do? We have two choices. We can become enslaved by bitterness and regret or we can seek the Lord where we are and honor Him there.

If we determine to seek the Lord, He will use those circumstances to work something good into our lives that could never have been done any other way. In other words, God will both redeem and bless in the midst of those circumstances if we allow Him. The greatest example of that is Paul the Apostle. He did not want to be in prison. He would rather be free to minister outside. But while in prison, God used him to write much of the New Testament that blesses and encourages us today. With God, nothing is ever wasted. So, seek the Lord where you are. He is at work in the midst of it.

One of the greatest blessings of being a follower of Christ is the ASSURANCE the Father gives us about our relationship with Him. Romans 8:16 says that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (NKJV). In all the other religions of the world, no one can ever fully know or be sure of where they stand with God. But the joy that the followers of Christ have is that we can be sure!

That assurance is provided to us by The Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended back to heaven after the resurrection (Acts 1: 8-9) the Holy Spirit came to indwell or live inside of each believer in Christ (Acts 2:4). The Holy Spirit (God Himself) now lives in each of us and lets us know that we belong to Him. It is a KNOWING that we cannot describe or explain. But the reality of that “knowing” is demonstrated by a “change” in us (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We think differently. We view life differently. We have a whole new perspective on life and the human condition. We understand things we did not understand before. We have hope that we did not have before. Life has a purpose and meaning that it did not have before. For the first time, we understand and KNOW why we are here. And even more importantly, we know where we are going when we die! What a joy and what a blessing the Father has given to us in enabling us to know we belong to Him!

In Romans 8:31, the Apostle Paul makes this powerful statement. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” That is the awesome message of the gospel! God is for us!’
All of us have people in our lives who, for whatever reason, do not like us. Some, particularly non-believers, can even be hostile to us.

But if God is for us and with us, no one can successfully stand against us or overcome us. That does not mean they will not try. They will. But because we are in Christ and Christ is in us we are “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). We are already victorious because Christ Himself has already overcome all the powers of darkness; even the darkness that sometimes works through other people.

The power, strength, and victory are all in Him! Stand in Him and no one can successfully stand against you! For if they come against you, they are also coming against Christ Himself who is within you!