Day 55: Jeremiah 10:14-Jeremiah 23:8 - 90 Day Challenge

Keeping Faith by Staying in the Word


As Jeremiah continues to spread the word of God, the people of Judah and Israel begin to mock him. They don't believe what he's saying. Why? Because the other prophets in town are being deceitful. They're telling the people that they're on the right page with God, and Jeremiah is telling them that no, they are not. They're not right with God and they're ruining every chance they have by continuing to live in sin and worship other gods. 

So Jeremiah gets frustrated and asks God, "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" And God responds with a very detailed and specific answer which basically says, "They'll get what's coming to them eventually." God gives Jeremiah several metaphors to demonstrate this, including burying a linen belt and digging it up at a later date. It went in fine, but it's later dirty and decomposed. 

Then, we hear about how God will bring destruction and famine to the earth, to those who have defiled the name of  the Lord. And it all comes back to the Israelites not listening! They had the word of God available to them, but remember when no one had opened it in so long that they forgot it existed?! That's when all the corruption, sin, and evil began. It's important to read God's Word. Israel and Judah in our reading are being cut off from the Lord. Their forgetfulness and laziness is what got them there! 

Here's what we get when we spend time in the word: Jeremiah 17:7-8


"He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." 

With God, we can make it through everything. It continues in Jeremiah 17:17 to say the the Lord is our refuge in the day of disaster. As long as we are with Him, He is with us. 

But when we do mess up, Jeremiah 18:7-8 says that so long as we repent, the Lord will relent. 

Tomorrow's reading: Jeremiah 23:9-Jeremiah 33:22
Have a wonderful weekend! 
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministries
New Leaf UMC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 28: 2 Kings 15:27-2 Kings 25:30 - 90 Day Challenge

Image
Finishing Kings The Downfall of Israel and Jerusalem  We've done it! Two more books of the Bible done! 1 and 2 Kings were, to put it lightly, bizarre at times. We had several Kings who were literal   children , and in those cases, they seemed to be running things better than the adults!  I really, truly, liked today's reading. No, not about Israel being taken over and destroyed, nor about Jerusalem meeting the same fate. Rather, I loved  that two kings, one in Israel and one in Jerusalem (king of the tribe of Judah) did right by the Lord. The people who came before and after them? Evil. (As is seemingly the theme of the books of Kings).  But the way Hezekiah was unafraid to worship the Lord, and to guide the people of Israel back into peace with the only true God who delivered them from what would have otherwise been a death sentence in Egypt, was amazing to read. The way he so freely called upon the Lord and chose to seek His council when faced...
Read more

Day 87: Jude 1-Revelation 17:18

Image
The Beginning of the End  Today, we begin the final book of the Bible: Revelation. But before that, we read Jude, which serves as a bit of a warning. It implores us all to remember that although God delivered His people from Egypt, He destroyed those who didn't believe. But we must build ourselves up in the mercy of Christ that was freely given to us. We must keep ourselves in God's love.  And so, Revelation begins.  I'd like to point out that the book of Revelation begins with a blessing for each person who reads it. So that should make you feel good about the past 86 days!  The first chapter is dedicated to describing Jesus in a different way--not by his actions, but by his spirit. He was. He is. And he is to come yet again. And he is alive for ever and ever.  In chapter 2, we get this amazing verse in 2:7-- Whoever has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, ...
Read more

Day 85: Hebrews 1:1-James 3:12

Image
Finishing Strong!  I'd like to start with a brief explanation and apology for my weekend-long absence. Thursday night, while taking my dogs out on leashes to potty, my two sub-20 lb dogs were attacked by a dog which weighed 40 lbs more than I did. Both dogs are okay, though one did have to undergo surgery, but it was an extremely traumatizing experience for me, and I needed some time to decompress (and figure out how to take care of a post-surgery 11-yr-old dog, and entertain a puppy who's best friend is out of commission). All three of us are okay, and the attack could have gone very differently. I praise God for allowing us to get through it with comparatively minor damages. To those of you who knew, thank you all for your support, well wishes, and prayers.  Hebrews is a really interesting book of the Bible. And it basically does my whole job for me. It summarizes the entire Bible . (Okay well sort of. It summarizes the meaning of the Bible).  Pretty cool,...
Read more