God’s Way or the Highway (Jeremiah 4-5)

God’s Way or the Highway (Jeremiah 4-5)
God’s people learn the hard way that they’re better off following His word.
1. Trust in the way God works (4:1-18)
     – Growing in the Lord requires letting God weed out the sin in our hearts (1-4)
     – God is always in control, even when it seems like we’re at the mercy of others (5-9)
     – Counting on our expectations makes us complacent to the Lord’s guidance (10-13)
     – God wants us to avoid judgement, but not at the expense of letting evil continue (14-18)
2. Don’t confuse God’s way with ours (4:19-5:6)
     – The foolish ignore God’s wisdom of how to live, thinking they know better (19-22)
     – Sometimes God has to tear things down to build it back better, including us (23-28)
     – We rely on ourselves in the good times, then do it more when things go wrong (29-31)
     – We lack faith in spite of what has happened to us, not because of it (1-6)
3. Stay on track by receiving God’s word (5:7-31)
     – God corrects His people to restore them, not to annihilate them (7-13)
     – God’s word offers us tools we need to avoid correction, if we receive it (14-19)
     – We’re in danger of knowing God’s word, but ignoring how it applies to us (20-25)
     – The desires of the masses persuade us to seek self-gratification instead of the Lord (26-31)