The gift of transformation!

Albert Bogle January 22, 2026 0 0

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Jeremiah 33: 10-16 (NIV-UK)

10 ‘This is what the Lord says: “You say about this place, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.’ Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,

‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
    for the Lord is good;
    his love endures for ever.’

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,” says the Lord.

12 ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In this place, desolate and without people or animals – in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,” says the Lord.

14 ‘“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

15 ‘“In those days and at that time
    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
    he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Saviour.”

When you sit around the restoration table there is no place off limits. You soon discover there is no person, place or problem that the power of God cannot transform. This particular passage in Jeremiah helps to illustrate this observation. Verses 10 and 11 describe the transformation from desolation and waste to dancing in the streets. This is what the power of God can do.

Today as we gather around the gift  table let us pray earnestly for the transformations that are needed in our world. Let’s begin with our own areas of wasteland. The parts of our lives that have become ‘no-go-areas’ the places we have neglected, the people we have written off, the problems that have remained unsolved. Let us wait patiently, wait as we read again Psalm  40. Wait to see what God is saying to us through the voice of Jeremiah this morning.

Prayer:

Lord,

I said I was looking for a project

I didn’t realise 

I am the project

Help me with the ‘no-go-areas’ in my life

You know the situations I never speak about

Help me face these situations

I’m sure they have a bearing on my calling

Lord,

The gift table tells me it’s time to stop running

Time to stop ignoring 

Time to start reclaiming

Time to begin restoring.

Then the table brings to mind

The people I’ve written off

The hurts that I’ve never allowed to be healed

The defences that I’ve erected that need to come down

Then there are the problems that never seem to go away

Lord,

Please let me hear you call my name again

Let me know I can fulfil my calling 

Even amidst all this confusion and clutter

Help me transform my worldview

Bit by bit each day 

Until I can say 

I ‘m being transformed at the Gift table