Mon.’s Devo - Praise the Lord!

Read: Lamentations 4:1-5:22; Hebrews 2:1-18; Psalm 103:1-22; Provers 26:23 The wealthy of Jerusalem didn’t prepare for their future. They enjoyed their wealth and sinful life-styles refusing to hear the warnings of the prophets. So they didn’t change their ways and it cost them everything. They were once healthy and satisfied, only to end up starving and killing their own children to stay alive themselves. They only lived for the moment. They could not see Jerusalem being taken in their wildest dreams. No one could except God’s prophets. They were guilty of shedding innocent blood and now their blood was required. They were scattered to other nations who despised them. No matter where they hid, their enemy found them. They had trusted in their king but he was not able to protect them. They had been reduced to slaves of their own sins. Every age was punished and shamed. Jeremiah cried out for God to remember them and restore them back to him. Hebrews reminds us that the angels were punished when they left heaven and came to hearth in Genesis 6 and took wives of the women on the earth. They were punished, so what makes us think we will escape punishment if the angels didn’t. Our sin would be ignoring the great salvation that God sent to us through Jesus. It is not angels that are going to rule the future world, but humans who were faithful to God in this life. Jesus went through the suffering he endured for the promise of glory to come. We have the same Father as Jesus. Jesus became a man to reconcile us from God and to break the power of death over us. Jesus became our High Priest making a sacrifice once and for all for us. His sacrifice was his own body to take away the sins of the whole earth. Our Psalm tells us that God forgives our sins, heals all our diseases, redeems us from death and crowns us with love and mercy. He fills our lives with good things and renews our youth. He gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. We have a very good God! Lord, we praise you for your love and tenderness towards us. Though we don’t deserve your love, you freely give it to us. Help us not to neglect or forget the price of our salvation. Give us opportunities to share this great news with others today.

Sun.’s Devo - Suffering

Read: Lamentations 3:1-66; Hebrews 1:1-14; Psalm 102; 1-28; Proverbs 26:21-22 Today we read the third elegy of Jeremiah’s. We could put Isaiah 53 right beside it and it would read similar. Jeremiah compares his personal suffering with the suffering of the whole nation and the future suffering of Christ. This elegy was also in the order of the Hebrew alphabet starting with Aleph and ending in Tau. Even in his affliction and crying he declares that the Lord is good for those who wait for him. When God is discipling his children, it doesn’t last forever. Once they have learned their lesson, he shows compassion because he is love. God will repay our enemies if we wait for him to act. No one knows for sure who wrote Hebrews. Some think Paul and others Luke, but we do know that the purpose was to teach the superiority of the new covenant of grace above the old covenant of the law. God had spoken in the past through the law and the prophets but in the new covenant he spoke through his son, Jesus who was with Him in the beginning creating the universe. The Son revealed to man the glory of God. He was the express image of God. He came and cleansed us of our sin then rose to sit with God in the heavens. He is much greater than any of the angels and was given a greater name than they. All the angels worshipped Jesus at his birth. Jesus’ rule was one of justice. Jesus laid the foundation for the earth and made the heavens in the beginning but they will one day perish and wear out. Jesus will fold them up and discard it for a new one. No angel has the power that Jesus has. They are servants to care for God’s people. The words of Hebrews are repeated from our Psalm today. Lord, thank you for the new covenant of grace and salvation. Thank you for angels that are servant to your people. May we reflect your glory as Christ did to the world.

Sat.’s Devo - Forgiveness

Read: Lamentations 1:1-2:22; Philemon 1:1-25; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 26:20 Lamentations was written by Jeremiah in five parts or elegies with 22 verses in each elegy. The first part is in alphabetical order according to the Hebrew language and the others in a pattern also of 22 verses. Most scholars believe it was written after the death of Josiah as he was the last of the righteous kings. Josiah had repented when the Word of the Lord was read to him in contrast to Jehoiakim who cut up God’s message and threw it in the fire. Judah experienced the last great revival during the reign of Josiah and he repaired the Temple to celebrate the Passover. When Josiah died the whole nation mourned his death. Lamentations is Jeremiah’s cry of mourning for the fall of Jerusalem. All Judah’s “friends”, the Egyptians and Philistines and any other nation she could pay to be her ally had all turned against her. She had sinned so greatly against the Lord, there was no hope for her. She had been turned over to her enemies with no one to help her. Now the Lord was against her and had planned her destruction. Her false prophets were all liars; her kings and leaders had been exiled along with the elite of Judah. Her children have been left lying on the streets. Philemon was a letter written by Paul who was in prison, to Philemon in Colosse. It was also addressed to Apphia who is believed to be Philemon’s wife and Archippus who was a leader in the church as well as a relative of Philemon’s. The subject of the letter was a former slave of Philemon’s named Onesimus. Onesimus had fled Colosse from his owner, Philemon, who he had defrauded in some way. He met up with Paul in Rome and was converted to the Lord and became one of Paul’s trusted disciples. Paul was sending this letter in his hand to give to Philemon asking him to forgive Onesimus and to see hm not as a former slave but a fellow brother in the Lord. Paul offered to pay Philemon any debt that Onesimus might owe him reminding Philemon that he owed Paul his very soul. (I’m sure Philemon forgave Onesimus any debt he owed.) Paul asked this for God’s sake and for Philemon’s. The proof that we are Christians is the fact that we can forgive others. We are tested with people in our lives that are hard to forgive so that we can learn to forgive as we have been forgiven. Lord help us in our trials especially in forgiving those that have hurt us and are hard to forgive. May our hearts be clear and free to love.

Fri.’s Devo - The Last Kings of Judah

Read: Jeremiah 51:54-52:34; Titus 3:1-15; Psalm 100:1-5; Provers 26:18-19 God promises that when he punishes he repays in full and Babylon was the nation he was punishing. Her wall would be leveled and her gates burned. All the work of building the city would have been in vain. It would go down in flames. This was the message God gave Jeremiah while he was in Judah. He was told to send it to Zedekiah’s staff officer, Seraiah, who had been taken to Babylon. It was written on a scroll and he was to read it aloud to the people of Babylon. Then he was to tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River and say that this was the way Babylon and her people would sink and never rise again. This was Jeremiah’s last prophecy. Here is the history of the last kings of Judah. Josiah was the last good king. When he died, his younger brother Jehoahaz was made king by the people. The Egyptians invaded the land and deposed Jehoahaz and placed Eliakim on the throne. They changed his name to Jehoiakim. Babylonians defeated the Egyptians and then came and took Jehoiakim to Babylon along with Daniel and his three friends. The next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent Jehoiakim back to Judah to be his vassal king. Jehoiakim was evil and returned to the idolatry that Manasseh had done and God sent Jeremiah to write a message for him to repent or God would destroy Jerusalem. Jehoiakim listened to the message and cut it up and threw it in the fire. Jehoiakim rebelled and stopped obeying and paying Babylon tribute three years later. Babylon responded with an army of troops who came and killed Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar set Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin on the throne of Judah. Jehoiachin was only eight years old and reigned 100 days before he was taken captive to Babylon. His uncle Zedekiah then reigned in Judah. Young Jehoiachin grew up in Babylon and when he was 45 years old, Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon and he showed Jehoiachin favor. He gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings. He gave Jehoiachin new clothes and he was allowed to dine at the king’s table for the rest of his life. In Titus, Paul reminded them that we should be obey their government and its officials. (The government that are legally elected.) We must be humble and kind to everyone. Jesus was humble and kind to us when we didn’t deserve it. He gave us salvation and poured out his Spirit upon us giving us confidence that we will have eternal life. We should try to live our lives doing good to others, not arguing over silly disagreements about works. If people cause division, they should be warned two times and then have nothing to do with them. Their own sins will condemn them. Lord, may we walk in love and good deeds. Thank you for your Spirit that enables us to walk in righteousness.

Thur.’s Devo - God’s Revenge

Read: Jeremiah 51:1-53; Titus 2:1-15; Psalm 99:1-9; Provers 26:17 The prophecy about Babylon is about 100 verses. She is the mother of all evil and the last kingdom to fall in Revelations. Babylon means “confusion; perversion”. She is the spirit of everything that is ungodly and the opposite of god. She is the spirit that is coming down in the world right now. God’s verdict and final judgment on Babylon was complete destruction. God’s advise to all his people living in Babylon was to flee. God had finally vindicated his people and came to judge evil. God would use the kings of the Medes and the Persians against Babylon. Their king was Cyrus. The craftsmen who made the idols they worship is deemed a fraud because their idols can’t save them. But God is no idol! He is the creator of everything that exists. God would repay Babylon for all the evil they did against his people. Babylon’s army will be so afraid they won’t come out to fight. All the escape routes would be blocked and their army would panic. Babylon had filled its belly with the riches of other nations but Jerusalem cries out to make the people of Babylon pay for spilling their blood. God answers Jerusalem saying that he would be their lawyer and plead their case before the courts of heaven. God would avenge his people. God would also punish their god, Bel or Baal. He wold no longer be worshiped because his kingdom has been destined to fall. In today’s reading about Titus I found nine forms of the word “teach”. The older men, older women, young men and slaves were all to live their lives in a way that it taught others how to live. They were to teach through example. We teach others how to live as we live for the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. His life freed us from every kind of sin and cleansed us and mades us his very own people totally committed to doing good deeds. We are to encourage the believers to do the same thing and correct them when necessary. Lord, may our lives be teaching to others of how to live in your kingdom. Thank you for pronouncing judgment and delivering us from the evil in our world. May we rebuild your kingdom of righteousness and holiness. Let your light shine upon our nation once again.

Wed.’s Devo - Babylon’s Fall

Read: Jeremiah 49:23-50:46; Titus 1:1-16: Psalm 97:1-98:9; Proverbs 26:13-16 Judgment is declared against Damascus, Kedar, Elam and lastly Babylon. Damascus was destroyed by the Assyrians about five years after Jerusalem fell. Damascus was such a beautiful magnificent city. Because of this people mourned its destruction and wondered why its enemies didn’t allow it to stand. Kedar and Elam were nomadic tribes descending from the sons of Ishmael. They were both attacked by Babylon. Hazor would remain desolate forever but Elam would one day be restored. Babylon would be God’s hand of justice on the nations, then they would be judged by an enemy from the north. Babylon’s gods were Bel (Baal) and Marduk. Marduk was thought to be Jupiter and a temple was built to honor him which modeled the Tower of Babel. These gods would be destroyed when Babylon fell and no one would live in Babylon again. Israel had been scattered throughout the nations but she would be brought home to the land and to her God. Merathaim (50:21) means “double rebellion”. It was a symbolic name for Babylon. Pekod was a chief province in Assyria. Babylon fought against the Lord and lost. Babylon was described as a hammer but God shattered it. She was no match for the army of God. God used Cyrus to destroy Babylon. Cyrus dried up the Euphrates River so his army could crawl under the gates and take the city. In light of what is going on today, God sent Donald Trump to be a modern-day Cyrus for our nation. His enemy was the Deep State, the Luciferians, Kazarian mafia (Babylonians) of our day. Last week in the news I read that the Euphrates River had dried up. We are living in a day that mirrors what we are reading in Jeremiah. God is judging the nations of the world and doing something about their abominations. We are winning this war against evil and we would see that if our media would tell the truth. When this is all over God will bring his captives home to him which means we will see the greatest revival ever! Paul wrote to Titus, his son in the faith, a letter to instruct him about how to appoint elders in the towns he had influence. It is a well-defined list that needs no interpretation. He warned them of the false doctrines of “works”. He summed it up in: “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure,; but nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving.” Lord, may we walk in truth and right standing with you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who leads us in the way that we should go. Thank you for saving our nation through your power and grace.

Tues.’s Devo - Judgement of Moab, Ammon and Edom

Read: Jeremiah 48:1-49:22; 2 Timothy 4:1-22; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 26:9-12 God has a message for Moab, Amon and Edom and their lands. Moab and Ammon were descendants of the incest of Lot and his two daughters when they came out of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of Moab had always lived in peace and had never gone into exile. That was about to change. Their god was Chemosh. He was the destroyer or subduer and his statue was known as the fish-god. He rewarded his worshipers with victories over other nations if they pleased him and punished them with defeat if he was angry. He required child sacrifices and other abominable worship. Molech was the god of the Ammonites. His statue was made of bronze and was heated to receive infants as a sacrifice. All infants were shaken over its flames at birth to purify them and it was believed that this ceremony allowed them life. The Edomites came from the descendants of Esau who sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. They had many gods: Baal Asheroth, Chemosh, and Molech, including Yaweh. They were subject to Judah for a long time then rejoiced and participated in Jerusalem’s fall. God pronounced the destruction of these three nations. In Second Timothy, Paul urged Timothy to fill his followers with good teaching so they wouldn’t be deceived in the future. Paul reminded him that good teaching includes correcting, rebuking and encouraging his people in righteousness. He warned Timothy of the spiritual battle that was ahead for the minds of his people. Deception was on its way. Paul shared the ones who had deserted him and did him harm. But he finished his race and had no regrets. God strengthened him through it all and it was worth it. Lord, encourage your people when they feel hopeless and deserted. Thank you for the strength of your Holy Spirit that pushes us on to finish our race.