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DAY 224 OR AUGUST 12.

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THERE IS NO ESCAPE CLAUSE.

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Our thoughts today come from Jeremiah chapter 48 verse 44.

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Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit.

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Whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare.

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For I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment, declares the Lord.

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The big picture surrounding this verse.

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God is the God of the Israelites and of every other nation too.

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That's true for ancient times and for the twenty-first century.

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Jeremiah has much to say to the surrounding pagan nations, and they will reject it at

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their peril.

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Many of these nations prove to be very powerful and feared by other countries, but significantly

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have all since disappeared.

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God reminds them through Jeremiah that ultimately He is in control.

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There is no escaping His judgment, so just live with it.

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That's not to say God is merely a master puppeteer and pulls our strings whenever He chooses,

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but He has a supreme plan which is for the benefit of all and which He longs for His

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followers to establish here on earth.

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And now today's action step.

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There are many times when we want to run away from God or deny His sovereignty over our

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lives, never mind over the whole world.

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Just like Jonah the prophet, who did his best to escape from God's influence in his life,

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but failed to do so because in the end he did what God wanted, as it seemed the right

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thing to do.

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Sadly, Jonah continued to doubt and question right to the end.

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The prophet Amos said something similar when he declared,

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It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered

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his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.

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Amos 5, verse 19.

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Throughout history there have been examples of nations and individuals who were convinced

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they could out think God.

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They all failed.

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I find this concept very invigorating.

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Fancy having a personal God who knows the beginning from the end and wants to involve

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you and me.

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We would be foolish to kick against Him, so stop it.

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Now!