Jeremiah 14

15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.


I read this several times looking for something to say.  One interesting point is that not only the false prophets but also those they prophesy to will suffer and die.  My first thought was this doesn't seem fair, there were prophets that God had sent and it was ok to listen to them, so why penalize those that are fooled. 

But maybe its because if you knew God yourself a false prophet talking about false idolatries would be obvious.  People were turning a blind eye to that fact because they liked what the prophet had to say in good times.  Then in bad times they were all running back to God, he said too bad.

Well we are in bad times worldwide.  Are people looking for God to save us all from this pandemic?  Why would he--have we been faithful to him?

knut

Jeremiah 13

23 23 Can an Ethiopian[b] change his skin
    or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
    who are accustomed to doing evil.

No great take today.  But, this line caught my attention.  It tells me that doing good is contagious within me.....and doing wrong is the same.  It becomes a habit that is difficult to break.  If you think about it that way, when you come to point where you have to make the right or wrong decision.....its important to remember that decision isn't in isolation, and will continue to flavor how you approach the next decision.  Every choice makes a difference.  I often complain about how hard it is to follow God.  This verse tells me it becomes more difficult the more I look away from him.

tp

Jeremiah 11-12

12:5 “If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets by[b] the Jordan?


Earlier in Ch 12 he is complaining about why does God just allow losers to have so much success?  Its not fair--they are winning all the good stuff here on earth seems to be the jist.  I get that, why does bad stuff happen to good people--see Scott.  Then others dishonest crooks seem to live the good live.

In these verses I hear a response---settle down, you're worried about the wrong race.  In the end God will judge and it will be permanent.  This time of earth is small, kind of like how tiny our 'vast' oceans are when compared to the universe.  Life's daily struggles seem like a big deal now, but in the long run don't worry about the race on earth keep our focus on him because the real race is to join him in eternity.

not sure if this is making sense---its not where I thought I was going when I started typing.  I certainly saw no connection to the previous comments on the vast universe but this is where my mind and fingers went.

thank you God for talking to ME today.
knut

Jeremiah 10

 23-25 I know, God, that mere mortals
    can’t run their own lives,
That men and women
    don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.
So correct us, God, as you see best.
    Don’t lose your temper. That would be the end of us.  ...


We need His direction.  I pray as Jeremiah did for You God to give me direction.  What do you want me to do next?  I will certainly screw it up but I do want to try, so please make your direction for me clear.  Amen.

knut

Jeremiah 8-9

9:23 This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.


God could care less about the status we have achieved in our society.  In fact, he detests it when what we have on earth (that he gave us) becomes what we really value and we lose sight of him.  He says if you going to boast boast about the fact that you are have the understanding to know Him. 

Where do you find the UNDERSTANDING to know him---I think right here in this book we are studying together.  So I don't think I'll go around boasting but at least there are many mornings I am in the right place to try to learn more about him.

Hope you and your family had a Happy Easter.  Certainly a Easter that will stand out in our memories.
knut

Jeremiah 7

4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 

I didn't get a ton today.  But from this I took, be real with God he knows everything anyway.  Don't go do whatever your sinful ways desire or behave in a way that you know is not what God desires and then show up in church on Sunday and pretend like you have God in your heart.  Don't be a hypocrite.  Don't waste his time or yours--its probably not fooling other people and it certainly isn't fooling him and is leading to our own destruction.

Be real with God is my take.

knut

Jeremiah 6

Well I came up empty on this one for a couple days.  So I turned back to what we wrote in February 2015.  I came up empty that day too but ended up with some good stuff after reading my friend Tom Vs post--here's a link to what we said last time.  Still applies.

https://obrienteam.blogspot.com/search?q=JEREMIAH+6


knut