221st Week, Jeremiah Chapters 45-48 (Click on title for video Introduction)

-

 
Click on Title for Video Intro


Monday, Jeremiah Chapter 45
Jeremiah 45
Verse 3
Tanya Ruden

Verse 3:  You said, “Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest;”

THOUGHT
No one said being a Christian is easy. Life is hard, and living in our world as a Christian is even harder. Baruch is whining to God and focusing on himself. 

If we begin to focus on ourselves at times when we feel life is rough, it will only get worse. God wants us to turn to Him when times get rough and ask Him for help. Don’t focus on ourselves and feel sorry for ourselves. Talk with God, share Your feelings, but keep Your focus on Him.  Only then will the desires of your heart be known.

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, so often we focus on ourselves. We look at ourselves at how great we are or how rough life is for us.  We are a very selfish people and know we are no one without our Lord.  Help us to look at our lives and all the possibilities through Your power. Help us to turn to You at all points in our life, good or bad, and keep the focus on You, not ourselves. You deserve all of the Glory and Praise for everything in our lives.  We Love You, Jesus.  AMEN.


Tuesday, Jeremiah Chapter 46
Jeremiah 46
Verse 28
Jane Jones

Verse 28:  “Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you” declares the Lord.  “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

THOUGHT
Through all of Jeremiah, God has been angry with His people for not obeying. He has told His people that if they don’t obey, bad things will happen to them. He will punish them. According to our application study guide, God punished His people in order to bring them back to Himself, and He punishes us to correct and purify us. 

No one welcomes punishment, but we should all welcome its results, correction and purity. It reminds me of some great poets, song writers, authors, and musicians that write of their hard times. Through our hard times and punished times, we grow to become the people we are today. We are strengthened and blessed.

PRAYER
We humbly come to You, Lord, to lift up all the praise and glory for the life You have given us. May we recognize that our bad times and our punishments are Your way of getting us back on the straight and narrow. Thank You so much for Your correction and purity. We love You for being our parent. We are blessed to be Your children. Through the name of Jesus we ask these things. AMEN


Wednesday, Jeremiah Chapter 47
Jeremiah 47
Verse 6
Jane Jones

Verse 6:  ‘Ah, sword of the Lord,’ you cry.
          ‘How long till you rest?’
           Return to your scabbard; cease and be still.

THOUGHT
Chapter 47 is the message about the destruction of the Philistines. Can you imagine how tired Jeremiah must be getting of all the evil that is going on around him and all the battles that are being fought and lost? I believe this quote in verse 6 is from Jeremiah. He is asking the Lord how much longer can this continue. He wants the Lord to return this sword to the place where the blade of the sword is kept.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you have asked, “How long till I can rest? How much longer, Lord?”  May we know that the Lord is always in command, and when He orders it to rest, it will.

PAYER
Lord, we look to You for Your continued guidance in our lives. We have learned in the book of Jeremiah that You are definitely in control. We ask for forgiveness for overlooking the direction You want us to take in our lives. We know that You won’t rest until we have it right, Lord. Thank You for not giving up on us. By the grace of God we are saved. Thank You for that grace.  We Love You, Jesus. May we follow Your lead through this coming week. AMEN


Thursday, Jeremiah Chapter 48
Jeremiah 48
Verse 29
Jane Jones

Verse 29:  We have heard of Moab’s pride -- her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart.

THOUGHT
This chapter tells us of the destruction of the nation of Moab. Moab was destroyed because she defied the Lord.  What stood in the way of doing it the right way or doing it the wrong way? In this case, it was pride. Pride can be an overpowering object that can control our lives. The study guide shares with us that God cannot tolerate pride because pride is taking personal credit for what God has done.  God does not condemn our taking satisfaction in what we do but he stands against overestimates of our own importance. 

Ecclesiastes 3:22 tells us, “So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot.” It is great to enjoy what you are doing as long as God comes first. It is when your work becomes your idol that we need to take heart, family, and change our ways.

Romans 12:3 teaches us to have an honest estimate of ourselves. It states, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Your importance should never come before the importance of God and others.

PRAYER
Lord, pride stood in the way of Moab, and the nation was destroyed. Lord, our family comes to You at this time to surrender all that stands between us and You. If it is pride, we pray for the power to surrender it. May we not think more highly of ourselves than we should think. You are the all-important one, and we thank You for all You have done for us. Please forgive us when we feel that we are so important. Thank You for putting us in our place at times.   Please know that You are loved by all of us. AMEN

Friday, Day of Quiet Time and Reflection and Prayer
Prayer of Praise for The Word of God 
31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers

Verse:  II Timothy 3:16-17   All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reroof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  

Heavenly Father, I glorify You for the Bible - that wonderful, written revelation of You and Your plan.  As snow and rain fall from the skies to meet our needs, so You have condensed Your thoughts - which are vastly higher than all human thoughts - into written-down form.  I'm so grateful that You cared enough to communicate with us in this clear, unchanging, always-accessible way, so that Your thoughts are now available at all times to refresh and nourish and teach me...and that You are still a communicating God, speaking these words to me as I am attentive to You, as I read and meditate with a listening heart.  What a privilege it is to store Your Word in my heart, where You can use it at any moment to bless me and guide me...to keep me from sinning against You...and to be a storehouse of inspired words that the Spirit can bring to my mind to help others.  

Thank You that in Your Word I can see Your face and hear Your voice.  I can discover Your will and Your patterns for living and serving.  I can develop deeper faith and confidence.  Thank You that the Holy Spirit inspired Your Word and uses it to enlighten and guide me, and to change me more and more into Your image, from one degree of glory to another.   AMEN














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

210th Week, Song of Songs Chapters 5-8 (Click on Title for Video Intro)

-
Image
  Click of Title for Video Intro Monday, Song of Songs Chapter 5 Song of Solomon 5  Jane Jones THOUGHT The Book of Song of Solomon is really a truly amazing, love story. Solomon was very much in love; and just the fact that it is in the Bible, I think is truly amazing. It is a for sure fact that God definitely wants love to be first and foremost in our lives, first of Him, secondly for our spouse, and thirdly for our children. Chapter 5 tells us about a bad dream that Solomon’s lover had. Part of it referred to reaching out to her lover in the night, and he was gone. It was like a nightmare to her.  I’m sure we have all experienced nightmares at one time or other about our marriages, partners, or children. No matter what the nightmare, we do wake up in the morning to find that things are okay. That God has not left or forsaken us. We all have been praying so often, so hard, and so much for the Ruden Family. Our hope was that their house would sell soon, that Alan would fi...
Read more

3rd Week, II Thessalonians

-
Image
Week Three, II Thessalonians  Monday, Introduction II Thessalonians Intro Jeanie Boldt THOUGHT This letter was written by Paul about 2 months after he had sent the first letter to Thessalonica. Many in the church were confused about the timing of Christ’s return. Many thought that He could come at any moment so they stopped working for the Lord and just waited. Adding fuel to the fire was the continued persecution of the church. Many felt that indeed this must be the “Day of the Lord”. Responding quickly, Paul sent a second letter to this young church. In it he gave further instruction concerning the second coming and the day of the Lord. The letter begins with Paul’s trademark greeting. He mentions their perseverance in spite of their persecution and trials and uses this situation to broach the subject of Christ’s return. Paul shared that at this time Christ will vindicate the righteous who endure and will punish the wicked. We are closer to Christ’s second coming than the Thessal...
Read more

201st Week, II Kings Chapters 5-9 (Click on the Title for Video Introduction)

-
Image
  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, II Kings Chapter 5 II Kings 5 Verse 13 Jane Jones Verse 13:  But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?” THOUGHT Why do we think that everything great that comes from God is huge, impressive, hard and heroic? Obedience to God begins with humility. These first five chapters have been such great lessons on humility. We must believe that His way is better than our own. We may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. We must remember that (1)God’s ways are best; (2)God wants our obedience more than anything else;  (3)God can use anything to accomplish His purposes. The only thing that Naaman had to do to have his leprosy washed away is similar to what we must do to have our sin washed away -- humbly accept God’s mercy. We need to be humbl...
Read more