Its Always Been Him

Hey y’all,
What’s good, good? And what’s good, evil?
And what’s good, gangstas? And what’s good, people?

Anyone a Chance the Rapper fan? Just me? Oh, lol. I would tell y’all to go listen to that song, but even Chance feels some type of way about his Acid Rap album. I went to his 10-year reunion tour, and before every song he had a monologue about how much he’s grown since then. You could tell it hurt him to even be performing it. Anyways… y’all see he dropped a new album? I haven’t listened yet, but it popped up on my Spotify.

Anywho, that’s not even what I wanted to talk about. 😂

A few of you have told me you’ve been using this blog as a devotional — which, honestly, was 100% not my intention. But I will say, I do have to feel inspired and pray before I can even write. So however God wants to use this — He can.

My original intention for writing was just to share life through my eyes and I thought it would be a little different than this. But as I reflect, I realize how much God is truly on my heart and mind. For years, I felt like I couldn’t relate to people because I was never up to date with pop culture, TV, music, or sports. It was often hard for me to know what people were talking about.

But when it came to spiritual conversations? I could hold those down just fine. The thing is, not everyone wants to talk about God all the time. So I really downplayed that part of me and tried to indulge in culture more to be relatable... Still wasn’t relatable. Lol.

Now I’m at the point where I’m like: Hey, I’m 30. This is my worldview, this is my lens, this is how God created me, this is how my brain works. Love me, hate me, take it or leave it. I’m not trying to act like I’m about a certain life. I’m just being me. Not perfect. My interpretations can be wrong. I’m learning. But I’m not going to hide.

So here’s y’all’s devotional 😂😂 … kidding, not kidding.

The Drift of God’s People

Lately, I’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah, and it’s been powerful, to say the least. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve read it and actually felt the heart of the Father.

I know most of my readers, along with myself, aren’t Bible scholars, so here’s a quick recap. God’s people had been freed from captivity in Egypt, and by the time of Jeremiah, they had already been living in their own land for quite a while. But during that time, they drifted. Instead of living for God, they started living for themselves, and eventually were taken into captivity:

“They have abandoned me — the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” (Jeremiah 2:13).

God sent Jeremiah to confront them and the people denied leaving God at all: “That’s not true!” (Jeremiah 2:23). They even convinced themselves they were safe because they were God’s chosen people and had the temple in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:4).

“It makes me wonder: how many of us have walked away from God, yet still convince ourselves we’re fine because we wear the label ‘Christian’?

God’s Plea and Their Hardness

Even in their denial, God still pleaded with His people to return to Him. The things they turned to did not reflect His love or His justice — instead, they worshiped false gods, took advantage of others, and relied on their own strength. Ultimately, they were only hurting themselves — even going as far as offering their children as burnt sacrifices to false gods:

“They burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!” (Jeremiah 7:31).

God’s heart broke as He pleaded with them: “Am I the one they are hurting? Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame” (Jeremiah 7:19).

I realized that God didn’t just allow them to go into captivity as punishment — He did it to protect themselves from themselves and from their own destruction. Them hardening their hearts led them to take advantage of His mercy, grace, and patience- ultimately forfeiting His blessings. It hurt God deeply to discipline the people He loved. It hurt Him to no longer be able to bless them with power and favor.

“I will abandon my people and my special possession. I will surrender my dearest ones to their enemies.” (Jeremiah 12:7).

It is clear: God did not want that future for them. But even in His pain and sorrow, He had another plan to bring His people back to Him…

My Questions

Y’all, I think at this point in my reading I was in tears. I asked God, “Why do we always stray? You are so good and perfect. You only want what’s best for us. Whole generations abandon your goodness for selfish ambitions. Is the evil one that powerful and deceptive? Is the flesh too persuasive?”

For a second, I felt hopeless. I thought about Solomon. Y'all know David? — the man God himself said. "is a man after my own heart." Yeah David's son Solomon. The Solomon who asked for wisdom and was richly blessed. That Solomon also fell. I think about all the spiritual giants who have fallen. I think about my family and friends who no longer profess the faith. And I said to God, “Lord, I love You, and I want Your glory to shine through me. I love being a part of Your kingdom here on earth. But I don’t trust me not to fall too. What if one day my heart turns from You? I am no better than others. So many people have felt Your realness, experienced Your love, knew You — and eventually hardened their hearts. Lord, how do we make sure that I persevere until the end?”

Then I was reminded of His plan. His perfect plan for the people in Jeremiah’s day, the people before them, the people now, and the people after us.

His Plan: Jesus

Y’all, Ima be real with you. It took me most of my “Christianity” to finally understand Jesus’ role. I always knew He was the sacrifice for our sins so that we could be seen as blameless before the Father. I knew He died, rose again, and is now seated with the Father. That’s as far as it went for me.

To be honest, it wasn’t until recently that I learned how alive He actually is. Not only did He do what I mentioned before, but every time we mess up He is right there — to show us love, to teach us, to speak to us, to remove our current guilt and our current shame. He leads the way.

And He didn’t just leave us on our own. He left believers with the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us. The Holy Spirit gives us POWER over falling away.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth” (John 14:16–17).

God saw, time and time again, that we couldn’t do it for ourselves. He saw that we couldn’t help but hurt ourselves. So He saved us from ourselves — through Himself.

Closing

What Jeremiah shows us is that God never wanted His people to destroy themselves. His heart has always been for them to turn back, to be healed, and to walk in His blessing. The same is true for us today. On our own, we fail — just like the people in Jeremiah’s day, even the prophet himself couldn’t stand in his own strength. From beginning to end, the story is the same: we need Him, we have to focus on Him, He is our strength. It’s always been Him.

- Briana Breathes