Read: Jeremiah 26-29
The theme of today’s reading is to prophesy only what God says. Jeremiah paid a price to say only what God said even though it made him the most unpopular person in Judah. He almost lost his life when he prophesied that they should surrender to the Babylonians and let them take them captive. He even sent word to all their enemies that they were to surrender to Babylon also. God was judging most of the world and he was using Babylon as his tool. Then he would judge Babylon.
Two other prophets rose up and spoke of peace and prosperity and the end of judgment for Judah. It cost both of them their lives. They prophesied lies and false hope. Jeremiah offered hope. He gave them one of Jeremiah’s most famous lines: “I know the plans I have for you…to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) It was in this setting that God promised these words we often quote. The next verse says to call upon God and pray to him and he will hear and be found of those who seek him with all their heart. God will turn their captivity away and bring them back to the place they started in His timing.
I am watching this scenario play out in the life of someone very dear to me. They started out where they were suppose to be but when things didn’t go like they thought they should, they jumped ship and did their own thing. They went through two years of wandering in the wilderness of joblessness and poverty. During that time God did a great work in their hearts and they are starting over at the place they left with totally new perspectives and a much closer walk with God. It was worth the trip.
Lord, thank you that You never leave us in our wilderness but you lead us right back to your open arms.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Thurs.’s Devo - Pray for Pastors
Jeremiah 23-25
God holds the pastors responsible for not gathering the sheep and teaching them to follow him. Jeremiah prophesies of the day when Jesus will come and rule with righteous judgment and justice.
Next God rebukes the prophets that said many words in His name that weren’t His. Both the prophet and the priests lived their lives as a mockery to righteousness.
Jeremiah was shown two baskets of figs which were set before the temple of the Lord which means that these baskets are before God’s face and getting his attention in heaven. The good ones represented the people that were saved and sent to the land of the Chaldeans. They would one day come back to the land. The other one was full of bad figs and they represented the people who determined to do evil and refused to repent. Their end would be dispersion, famine, and pestilence. They would not return to God’s land.
Jeremiah laid out the plan in chapter 25. God would send them to Babylon for seventy years then after that time, they would come back to the land. Then God would judge the nations that came against his people.
Lord, we pray for our pastors and spiritual leaders that You would put Your word in their mouth and that the fear of You would keep them holy and set apart. May they prosper in gifts of the Holy Spirit and lead us with righteousness.
God holds the pastors responsible for not gathering the sheep and teaching them to follow him. Jeremiah prophesies of the day when Jesus will come and rule with righteous judgment and justice.
Next God rebukes the prophets that said many words in His name that weren’t His. Both the prophet and the priests lived their lives as a mockery to righteousness.
Jeremiah was shown two baskets of figs which were set before the temple of the Lord which means that these baskets are before God’s face and getting his attention in heaven. The good ones represented the people that were saved and sent to the land of the Chaldeans. They would one day come back to the land. The other one was full of bad figs and they represented the people who determined to do evil and refused to repent. Their end would be dispersion, famine, and pestilence. They would not return to God’s land.
Jeremiah laid out the plan in chapter 25. God would send them to Babylon for seventy years then after that time, they would come back to the land. Then God would judge the nations that came against his people.
Lord, we pray for our pastors and spiritual leaders that You would put Your word in their mouth and that the fear of You would keep them holy and set apart. May they prosper in gifts of the Holy Spirit and lead us with righteousness.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Wed.’s Devo - Pray for Our Nation
Read: Jeremiah 18-22
If you have read the Harbinger or the Mystery of the Shemitah then you know what has be prophesied about September 13th and 9/11. It is our part to do what Jeremiah 18:7-8 says and turn from our evil. America has been a vessel that has sent the message of the Gospel around the world. We have blessed other nations with food and water and help in their time of need. We have done many good things but we have also done many evil things. We have turned from God and served our selves and other gods. We have killed our unborn sons and daughters and sold their remains. We have constructed images of other gods and looked for help in things other than God. We have fallen into the trap of fear and dread. We have tried to do what only God can do and thought he didn’t care. We are guilty but we can repent and turn and God can repent of what he has planned. Remember Jonah and Nineveh.
Jeremiah said that Jerusalem would be defiled as the place of Tophet which means “ place of spitting” because all the houses have burned incense from their roofs. When the priest, Pashur heard this, he took Jeremiah and put him in prison. Pashur means “liberation” which is ironic because when Pashur brought Jeremiah out of prison Jeremiah changed Pashur’s name to Magor-missabib which means “fear from round about”. So Jeremiah who was spiritually free could not be bound and Pashur who was named liberated was bound in his own fear.
Pusher had been one of the priests who was a false prophet and an enemy of the truth. I wonder how hard it was for him in chapter 21 to be sent by the king to Jeremiah and beg him to pray for the nation. Everything Jeremiah had said about the king of Babylon was coming to pass and they were panicking. It was too late. God was fighting with Babylon and the Chaldeans against them so they didn’t stand a chance. They had had their time to repent and didn’t do it. I pray it is not too late for America! But, Jeremiah did tell the people that they could still choose to live if they leave the city. God always has a plan of escape.
Lord, we repent for our nation of all its evil and for turning away from You. You founded this nation as an escape to those who wanted spiritual freedom and it has become a place of spiritual oppression. May we rise up and fight the spirits of darkness in the name of Jesus.
If you have read the Harbinger or the Mystery of the Shemitah then you know what has be prophesied about September 13th and 9/11. It is our part to do what Jeremiah 18:7-8 says and turn from our evil. America has been a vessel that has sent the message of the Gospel around the world. We have blessed other nations with food and water and help in their time of need. We have done many good things but we have also done many evil things. We have turned from God and served our selves and other gods. We have killed our unborn sons and daughters and sold their remains. We have constructed images of other gods and looked for help in things other than God. We have fallen into the trap of fear and dread. We have tried to do what only God can do and thought he didn’t care. We are guilty but we can repent and turn and God can repent of what he has planned. Remember Jonah and Nineveh.
Jeremiah said that Jerusalem would be defiled as the place of Tophet which means “ place of spitting” because all the houses have burned incense from their roofs. When the priest, Pashur heard this, he took Jeremiah and put him in prison. Pashur means “liberation” which is ironic because when Pashur brought Jeremiah out of prison Jeremiah changed Pashur’s name to Magor-missabib which means “fear from round about”. So Jeremiah who was spiritually free could not be bound and Pashur who was named liberated was bound in his own fear.
Pusher had been one of the priests who was a false prophet and an enemy of the truth. I wonder how hard it was for him in chapter 21 to be sent by the king to Jeremiah and beg him to pray for the nation. Everything Jeremiah had said about the king of Babylon was coming to pass and they were panicking. It was too late. God was fighting with Babylon and the Chaldeans against them so they didn’t stand a chance. They had had their time to repent and didn’t do it. I pray it is not too late for America! But, Jeremiah did tell the people that they could still choose to live if they leave the city. God always has a plan of escape.
Lord, we repent for our nation of all its evil and for turning away from You. You founded this nation as an escape to those who wanted spiritual freedom and it has become a place of spiritual oppression. May we rise up and fight the spirits of darkness in the name of Jesus.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Tues.’s Devo - Rest in the Midst of Judgment and Persecution
Read: Jeremiah 14-17
The sins of Judah were so horrible that God told Jeremiah that he wasn’t to get married or have children in Jerusalem. It was because if he did they would die gruesome deaths and no one would be there to mourn or bury them. He later says in Jeremiah 17:13 that those who depart from Him will have their name written in the earth. I wonder if that is what Jesus wrote in the earth the day he saved the woman caught in adultery. If he wrote their names, which he would have not natural way of knowing them, those students of the law would have known this scripture and the fear of the Lord would have fallen on them. They would have known that something supernatural was happening and leave. That is just my thoughts.
Jeremiah does give us some encouraging words in 17:7-8. He says that the man who trusts the Lord will be like a tree planted by the water. He will not fear when the persecution comes because he will prosper in it. And he will not be anxious when the water fails because he will not cease to produce fruit. I believe this is true both naturally and spiritually.
He warns them not to carry a burden on the sabbath day. To us spiritually that means that during our lives we are not to carry the burden that Jesus has already born for us. We should live in complete freedom and rest. God talks about this sabbath rest in Hebrews. We are all invited to walk in God’s 7th day rest.
Lord, in light of what is going on around us, we pray for our nation and that we would repent as a nation and turn to You. As Christians, we pray that we find rest in You.
The sins of Judah were so horrible that God told Jeremiah that he wasn’t to get married or have children in Jerusalem. It was because if he did they would die gruesome deaths and no one would be there to mourn or bury them. He later says in Jeremiah 17:13 that those who depart from Him will have their name written in the earth. I wonder if that is what Jesus wrote in the earth the day he saved the woman caught in adultery. If he wrote their names, which he would have not natural way of knowing them, those students of the law would have known this scripture and the fear of the Lord would have fallen on them. They would have known that something supernatural was happening and leave. That is just my thoughts.
Jeremiah does give us some encouraging words in 17:7-8. He says that the man who trusts the Lord will be like a tree planted by the water. He will not fear when the persecution comes because he will prosper in it. And he will not be anxious when the water fails because he will not cease to produce fruit. I believe this is true both naturally and spiritually.
He warns them not to carry a burden on the sabbath day. To us spiritually that means that during our lives we are not to carry the burden that Jesus has already born for us. We should live in complete freedom and rest. God talks about this sabbath rest in Hebrews. We are all invited to walk in God’s 7th day rest.
Lord, in light of what is going on around us, we pray for our nation and that we would repent as a nation and turn to You. As Christians, we pray that we find rest in You.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Mon.’s Devo - Seek the Lord First
Read: Jer. 10-13
God rebukes Judah for seeking supernatural help through means other than Him. The supernatural is obtainable through other sources than God, but the result is not good. God’s supernatural power brings life, healing, hope, restoration, salvation, etc. Satan’s supernatural brings deception, pain, brief happiness, false hope, momentary healing and always ends in death.
God had brought Judah out of bondage and slavery and commanded them to obey his voice. Instead they had conspired to go back to serving the gods of their past and broke their covenant with God. God was so angry with Judah he told Jeremiah not to pray for them because he would not hear them.
God rebuked the pastors for destroying the vineyard and walking over the people.
God told Jeremiah to bury a girdle in rocks and then dig it up. It was marred and unusable to represent how he was going to mar the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. They would be good for nothing and scattered among the nations.
I wonder how many times we seek help from things other than God. Or are we tempted to fall into our old patterns of worry and stress when God has invited us into his rest. It is not hard to find ourselves in the same place Judah was in.
Lord, help us to recognize when we are seeking other means of salvation and help us to walk in your spirit minute by minute.
God rebukes Judah for seeking supernatural help through means other than Him. The supernatural is obtainable through other sources than God, but the result is not good. God’s supernatural power brings life, healing, hope, restoration, salvation, etc. Satan’s supernatural brings deception, pain, brief happiness, false hope, momentary healing and always ends in death.
God had brought Judah out of bondage and slavery and commanded them to obey his voice. Instead they had conspired to go back to serving the gods of their past and broke their covenant with God. God was so angry with Judah he told Jeremiah not to pray for them because he would not hear them.
God rebuked the pastors for destroying the vineyard and walking over the people.
God told Jeremiah to bury a girdle in rocks and then dig it up. It was marred and unusable to represent how he was going to mar the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. They would be good for nothing and scattered among the nations.
I wonder how many times we seek help from things other than God. Or are we tempted to fall into our old patterns of worry and stress when God has invited us into his rest. It is not hard to find ourselves in the same place Judah was in.
Lord, help us to recognize when we are seeking other means of salvation and help us to walk in your spirit minute by minute.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Sun.’s Devo - Judgment to God’s People
Read: Jer. 7-9
Notice where God told Jeremiah to give his prophesy of judgment. It was not in the governmental building of the day but at the gate of the Lord’s house. It is not the heathen that God is speaking to but His people…the ones that should know better. He keeps telling them that if they would just turn and do what is right then God would allow them to stay and live in their land and it would go well with them. Their list of sins was pretty long. God’s house had become a den of robbers.
Jeremiah must have felt like his ministry was a failure because no one seemed to listen and change. The sad thing was that they claimed to be wise and have the law of the Lord to protect them. They just didn’t realize they had to read it and obey it. Jeremiah wept over God’s people and what he was seeing. He felt God’s heart for a lost people who had missed their time of visitation. When a nation is deceived and walks after the imagination of their own heart they fall into the same deception our nation is experiencing where political correctness trumps the Bible. It is not our church buildings that are going to turn God’s wrath away but our earnest cry of repentance and our desire to walk in God’s righteousness that will grant God’s favor. God warned them to let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man glory in his might, nor the rich man glory in his riches. But let him glory in the fact that he understands and knows the Lord.
Lord, You are the Lord who exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. We delight in You.
Notice where God told Jeremiah to give his prophesy of judgment. It was not in the governmental building of the day but at the gate of the Lord’s house. It is not the heathen that God is speaking to but His people…the ones that should know better. He keeps telling them that if they would just turn and do what is right then God would allow them to stay and live in their land and it would go well with them. Their list of sins was pretty long. God’s house had become a den of robbers.
Jeremiah must have felt like his ministry was a failure because no one seemed to listen and change. The sad thing was that they claimed to be wise and have the law of the Lord to protect them. They just didn’t realize they had to read it and obey it. Jeremiah wept over God’s people and what he was seeing. He felt God’s heart for a lost people who had missed their time of visitation. When a nation is deceived and walks after the imagination of their own heart they fall into the same deception our nation is experiencing where political correctness trumps the Bible. It is not our church buildings that are going to turn God’s wrath away but our earnest cry of repentance and our desire to walk in God’s righteousness that will grant God’s favor. God warned them to let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man glory in his might, nor the rich man glory in his riches. But let him glory in the fact that he understands and knows the Lord.
Lord, You are the Lord who exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. We delight in You.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Sat.’s Devo - Repent America!
Read: Jer. 4-6
Jeremiah was sent first to call them to repentance. God never judges a nation unless he first sends his prophet/s to call the nation back to Him. Jeremiah warned them of what would happen if they didn’t repent and what God thought of their abominations. He foresaw the whole land devastated and spoiled but prayed it wouldn’t be. God called them sottish children that didn’t know how to do good. In 4:23-25 God took Jeremiah back to Genesis One when he created the earth. God created the earth in the first verse and men inhabited the land. During that time, Satan rebelled in heaven and wanted to usurp God’s throne. God threw him to earth and turned the light out. Earth went into the Ice Age and everything froze and died. God came back in verse two and recreated it and took dominion back. God spoke life back on the earth but our enemy wanted it back. He deceived Eve and got the title deed to the earth. Jesus conquered Satan on the cross and gave that title deed back to the Church. We now have dominion over the earth but don’t exercise our rights. We need to recognize our authority and rule it.
In Jeremiah 5, God tells Jeremiah to go through the streets and see if there is any man who executes judgment or seeks truth. If he could find such a man, God would pardon the land. Jeremiah couldn’t find one man who fit this description; they were all deceived and wicked. This is a picture of the end. God has to rapture his people out of the earth before he can bring total judgment. This should be a comfort to us and a catalyst to make us want to work harder to bring in the harvest. The fruit have to be harvested before the judgment.
Lord, let us not be a nation that refuses to hearken to the sound of the trumpet but let us repent and turn to you!
Jeremiah was sent first to call them to repentance. God never judges a nation unless he first sends his prophet/s to call the nation back to Him. Jeremiah warned them of what would happen if they didn’t repent and what God thought of their abominations. He foresaw the whole land devastated and spoiled but prayed it wouldn’t be. God called them sottish children that didn’t know how to do good. In 4:23-25 God took Jeremiah back to Genesis One when he created the earth. God created the earth in the first verse and men inhabited the land. During that time, Satan rebelled in heaven and wanted to usurp God’s throne. God threw him to earth and turned the light out. Earth went into the Ice Age and everything froze and died. God came back in verse two and recreated it and took dominion back. God spoke life back on the earth but our enemy wanted it back. He deceived Eve and got the title deed to the earth. Jesus conquered Satan on the cross and gave that title deed back to the Church. We now have dominion over the earth but don’t exercise our rights. We need to recognize our authority and rule it.
In Jeremiah 5, God tells Jeremiah to go through the streets and see if there is any man who executes judgment or seeks truth. If he could find such a man, God would pardon the land. Jeremiah couldn’t find one man who fit this description; they were all deceived and wicked. This is a picture of the end. God has to rapture his people out of the earth before he can bring total judgment. This should be a comfort to us and a catalyst to make us want to work harder to bring in the harvest. The fruit have to be harvested before the judgment.
Lord, let us not be a nation that refuses to hearken to the sound of the trumpet but let us repent and turn to you!
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