Mon.’s Devo - Words of Power

Read: Jer. 22:1-23:20; 2 Thes. 1:1-12; Ps. 83:1-18; Pr. 25:11-14 Josiah was a righteous king who had two sons, Shallum and Jehoiakim. Both of Josiah’s sons were wicked. They extorted money to build their own houses and buildings and treated their laborers wrongly. They thought they could get away with it since they were the king, but God was going to show them that He is the king who saw all they did. In Chapter 23, God deals with the pastors who weren’t true pastors. Pastors are suppose to be shepherds who gather sheep and care for them. Their pastors were scattering the sheep and destroying them. God as the Great Shepherd promised to bring them back into His fold and care for them in the future. One day Jesus, the righteous Branch would reign and bring justice and prosperity to His sheep. Next, God deals with the false prophets. His anger was sent to bring justice and judgment on them. They lied about their prophesies and caused the people to forget God’s name and pray to Baal instead. Paul’s gospel was so different from the prophets of Jeremiah’s days. They prophesied lies and empty words where Paul’s were not just words but power. Paul backed what he said by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. Our Psalms gives us a reason for God’s judgment: that men might seek Him and know that God is the most high over all the earth. Lord, may your shaking on the earth bring people to seek You and know that You are king of the whole earth. May we walk in the same power of the Holy Spirit that Paul walked in.