Back From Captivity: Rebuilding Your Identity in Christ
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About this ebook
Jennifer Johnson
Jennifer Johnson is a sixth grade writing teacher and Christian fiction writer. She is married with three daughters.
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Back From Captivity - Jennifer Johnson
Introduction
At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes (Zephaniah 3:20)
Does your spiritual life resemble a car crash survivor who has temporarily lost the use of his legs? Did you take a few wrong turns somewhere, even though you thought you were on the road that led to satisfaction? Did your car spin out of control, and the only thing you knew to do was cry out to Jesus? You miraculously survived the wreck, but are unable to pull yourself out of the wreckage without Divine rescue. Immediately, you are rushed to the emergency room. This is no time for the family doctor, only a specialist will do. After a complete evaluation, you are in need of some intensive care. You desire things to be the same as they were before you left that dreadful day headed for what you thought would be freedom and happiness. Realizing the accident was no accident,
this event will forever change you. You look down at your limp legs and see that you must learn to walk again.
Let’s evaluate your present spiritual condition: Do you need to learn to walk again? Is your life in jeopardy? Good news! There is a road to recovery. Walking again on your own will require hard work, but you are not alone in this journey to wholeness. With God as your Healer and with encouraging friends, you will discover what freedom and happiness truly are. Don’t worry about your little strength; it will be just enough to begin the journey toward a renewed and intimate relationship with your Rescuer and Deliverer, Jesus Christ.
As the Israelites, God’s chosen people rebuilt their identity after returning to Jerusalem from captivity, so we can learn from them in our own experience. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.
(Jeremiah 33:7). Back From Captivity is a guide to strengthen the foundation and walls of your intimacy with God as well as give you eyes to see your future from God’s perspective. This Bible study is divided into three parts. First, we will focus on the present—getting through one day at a time. Second, we will glimpse back into the past—where you were before you had your accident.
Third, we will peer into your future.
This Bible study is written for those who call themselves a Christian,
not only in word, but also by how they once lived. They are members of a church and read their Bibles regularly, participated in church activities, and may have even held a leadership position. From someone else’s perspective this person is a Christian.
Yes, this person genuinely asked Jesus into his or her heart, was baptized, and lived the Christian life as best he or she knew how. But, this person began to make some wrong choices or just simply stopped believing God and ended up somewhere he or she thought he or she would never be. But by the grace of God, today, this person is seeking Him again and wondering how to restore and rebuild his or her relationship with Jesus Christ. As I reference leaving home
and coming home,
I don’t necessarily mean a physical departure. To leave home
refers to the departure from an intimate relationship with God and to temporarily follow primarily after the desires of your flesh. To come home
simply refers to a decision to leave the path of destruction and to begin again following Christ and His ways with a desire to deepen your relationship with Him.
Hop in. Buckle up. Stay awake. This time from the passenger’s seat. I’ll drive; I’ve been down this road before. This will be one ride you will never regret.
Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you (Jeremiah 32:17).
PART 1
PRESENT
Week 1
Who Am I?
Day 1 — Desolate Waste
Welcome. I greet you today with a huge smile and warmth in my heart. Just the thought of you opening your Bible and beginning a study of God’s Word is nothing more than living proof that God is your God. To think of where you’ve just come from and the fact that you humbly open the Bible means something has changed in your thinking. It truly means you have matured. It means you made the decision to turn to God for direction, hope, love, and answers to life’s questions because you now know that without Him, you have no real, meaningful life. I want to tell you, Congratulations!
Maybe no one has said that to you, especially in your present circumstances, but I truly congratulate you on your decision to come home and to actually turn to God for divine help. Returning home may have been one of the hardest decisions you have ever made and quite possibly ever make. No one can make you
return home; that was your decision. Praise God!
Today’s Scripture:
This is what the Lord says: You say about this place,
It is a desolate waste, without people or animals."
—Jeremiah 33:10
Throughout this study, we will compare our lives with the prodigal in Luke 15 and with the Israelites as they returned home to Jerusalem after being in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. In reference to the Scriptures pertaining to the Babylonian captivity (exile), Ralph W. Klein states, In these writings, we will see that the depths of the Exile were the occasion for some of the most profound insights in the entire Old Testament. These writers made the most of a disaster.
(Ralph W. Klein, Israel in Exile, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979, p. 7).
I believe God has much to reveal to us about Himself and ourselves through His written Word, which is amazingly so relevant to us today. The enemy can still take us captive into our own exiles. While in captivity we may have reflected on our life before we left home, but didn’t know how to get it back, nor did we know if we even wanted it again. We remembered what we had and even longed for it, but it seemed so far from reality because captivity quickly took on a life of its own. Back From Captivity will aid you in putting the pieces of your life back together.
Understanding that participating in a Bible study is a giant-step in the recovery process of being home again, please take your time as you complete each day’s study. This week’s study will focus on who we are—how we see ourselves and how God sees us.
Please read Jeremiah 33:10. God described the land of Jerusalem where the temple once stood after it had been completely destroyed by fire when the Babylonians captured Judah. Jerusalem was the place God’s people, the Israelites, came to worship Him. It was in the temple that God would manifest His presence and accept their offerings. When the Israelites were allowed to return home to Jerusalem, they came back to nothing but rubble. The place that had once meant so much to them was now in ruins.
The word desolate in the Hebrew language is chareb, which means to parch (through drought).
Maybe that is just how you have been feeling lately—dry, spiritually dry. I believe that without daily living water
(John 7:37-38) one of the consequences is emptiness.
The prodigal son also experienced emptiness at his lowest point and said to himself, and here I am starving to death
(Luke 15:17).
I distinctly remember a worship service I attended a few months after I was home from captivity where the speaker began his message with a lengthy prayer. At that moment, I had never felt more spiritually empty. So many wonderful, rich words were overflowing from his heart for all our ears to hear. I remembered that I too had once been able to pray aloud in a group with words that came from deep within my spirit. But at that moment, if someone had asked me to pray aloud, I felt like I had absolutely nothing to offer.
God promises that He will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before.
The fortunes
for us are the spiritual wealth of peace, joy, and love that will overflow out of the depths of our spirit and onto the lives of those around us. The emptiness we feel on the inside will