God's Destructive Work
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When a farmer prepares to plant in land which has been dormant, he first cuts and clears the brush, weeds, and trees that have grown up there. When a contractor prepares to build, he first demolishes and removes any old structures that are in the way.

In the same way, when God prepares to move upon human hearts, He first removes those things which are rooted and established there in opposition to Him. To illustrate, when God called Jeremiah and appointed him as a prophet to the nations, He commissioned him to do six things:

"...to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (Jeremiah 1:10 NASV).

Four of the six things God gave Jeremiah to do refer to the fearful work of God's destruction. God targets for demolition the hold of false gods and the world system on individuals and nations. And He directs His Word at the power of sin as it manifests in the heart through independence, self-will, and rebellion.

God's desire is that the fear of His destructive work would spur His people to repent and turn to Him. But if they refuse, the testimony of God's Word is that what they have built and planted, and even their own lives, will be swept away.

Word Based Counseling at times involves confronting those who oppose God in their beliefs and in their behavior. The purpose is to deliver God's words of warning and admonition to them, to turn "them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds."  Not everyone listens and heeds. Some persist in their own way. Yet in many, humility triumphs over pride, and repentance and righteousness abound as they surrender and return to God with their whole heart.

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