Category Archives: Consequences of Sin

Am I on the path?, Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Guide, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Slow to Anger

Live According to God’s Righteousness: A Message from Jeremiah 22

The message of Jeremiah 22 is dramatic. God is not pleased with His people and how they have been living without righteousness… His righteousness.

I am sure they felt they were living right. To every man, his way seems right. However, God judges based on His instructions for how to live, based on His righteousness. We do not get to decide what is right and pleasing to the LORD.

Do not assume just because you call upon the LORD that He is pleased regardless of what you do and how you live. Seek to live according to His righteousness.

Jeremiah 22

Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall

      1Thus says the LORD, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3‘Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4“For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. 5“But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”

6For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you like a wilderness,
Like cities which are not inhabited.

      7“For I will set apart destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will cut down your choicest cedars
And throw them on the fire.

      8“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?’ 9“Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”

      10Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep continually for the one who goes away;
For he will never return
Or see his native land.

      11For thus says the LORD in regard to Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; 12but in the place where they led him captive, there he will die and not see this land again.

Messages about the Kings

13“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness
And his upper rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And does not give him his wages,

      14Who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house
With spacious upper rooms,
And cut out its windows,
Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’

      15“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.

      16“He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?”
Declares the LORD.

      17“But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain,
And on shedding innocent blood
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”

      18Therefore thus says the LORD in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
“They will not lament for him:
‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’
They will not lament for him:
‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’

      19“He will be buried with a donkey’s burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

      20“Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from Abarim,
For all your lovers have been crushed.

      21“I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your practice from your youth,
That you have not obeyed My voice.

      22“The wind will sweep away all your shepherds,
And your lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will surely be ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.

      23“You who dwell in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when pangs come upon you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!

      24“As I live,” declares the LORD, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; 25and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26“I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27“But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it.

      28“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been hurled out
And cast into a land that they had not known?

      29“O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the LORD!

30“Thus says the LORD,
‘Write this man down childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man of his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”

Avoid the trap of assuming that if you call upon the name of the LORD, He is pleased and satisfied with you. He expects more from His children than just “lip service”. He calls us to live according to His righteousness, according to His word. This is what is pleasing to Him.

Take time to pray and reflect. What changes should you make in your life to live more in tune with God’s instructions?

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

The Broken Jar: The Consequences of Forsaking God’s Path

God shared an important message with His people through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 19. It was not an encouraging message, but a warning and an indication of the punishment to come because God’s people had turned from Him to other gods and other ways of living.  It is not hard to imagine God sharing this same message with His people around the world today. Many who proclaim Jesus are not living according to how God calls us to live. They look more like the culture of the world than like the example of our Messiah or His teaching on how we should live.

Pay attention. Apply this to your own life and pray for God’s people to repent.

Jeremiah 19

The Broken Jar

      1Thus says the LORD, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests. 2“Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you, 3and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. 4“Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent 5and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind; 6therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter. 7“I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 8“I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters. 9“I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”’

      10“Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you 11and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial. 12“This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the LORD, “so as to make this city like Topheth. 13“The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”

      14Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’S house and said to all the people: 15“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”

Take a few minutes to pray and give God thanks for His word. Thank Him that it can shine a light for us on how we need to live still today. Praise Him for who He is and ask Him to show you what changes you should make in your life to live more according to His ways and less blending with the culture around you. We should stand out as a holy people and not blend in.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Obeying God, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Returning to God: Rediscovering His Ways for a Blessed Life

The first 18 verses of Jeremiah 17 bring attention to how Israel had turned away from the LORD. They were doing their own thing. They were not living unto the LORD and obeying His instructions. In that context, Jeremiah was to proclaim the Sabbath with a warning to obey and experience blessing or disobey and experience discipline.

God wanted the hearts of the people turned back toward Him. He wants this still today! Too many of us have turned away to go our own way or follow what everyone else is doing. We have lost much of what God calls us to do, including truly observing the Sabbath as one example. Sabbath was more than simply resting, it was a sign between God and His people (Ezekiel 20:20).

Jeremiah 17:19-27

The Sabbath Must Be Kept

      19Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: 21‘Thus says the LORD, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22“You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23“Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.

      24“But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the LORD, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26“They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD. 27“But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”’”

Challenge yourself to seek out God’s ways. Do not judge based on church norms or cultural norms. Dive into the Bible and study to see how God has instructed us to live. What guidance has He given His people? The Sabbath is one example. God instructs us to observe the Sabbath and tells us it was made for our benefit.  As one who grew up ignoring the Sabbath and has not started observing it for over 10 years, I can say that I see tremendous benefit that I did not know I was missing. The same is true for instructions He has given. Let us rediscover God’s ways and apply them in our lives.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Grace / Forgiveness, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Loving / Kind, Traditions / Holidays

The Ultimate Act of Love: Reflections on Memorial Day

As we recognize Memorial Day, it is a good time to reflect on and appreciate those who have laid down their lives for the rest of us to be able to live free in the United States of America. It is a good time to pray for those who are actively serving, have served, or are surviving family of those who have died in service to our country. God gave us this unique nation based on Judeo-Christian values and heritage. Many have served and died protecting it.

Yeshua demonstrated and taught that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. He laid down His life for all those who choose to follow Him and submit to Him. We can be thankful for sure that our sins can be forgiven because of Him. We could never pay that debt.

Yeshua also encouraged His disciples to show this kind of love for one another as well… to lay down their life for one another. So, too, are we encouraged to lay down our lives for one another. At times, we may face a situation where we literally must make that choice in an instant. Other times we lay down our lives by how we live for others rather than living for ourselves.

As we read, we should not overlook that Yeshua said that “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” This is clearly important, but a different context in our relationship with Him vs. relationships with each other that we may consider friends. We should obey Yeshua to be His “friend”. We do not need to obey each other to be friends.

John 15:12-17

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

12“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14“You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17“This I command you, that you love one another.

Take time to pray for those who risk their lives or lose them for others. Pray also for their families. Of course, not everyone in uniform is righteous or acts with righteous motives, but many have sacrificed none the less to protect our country and our freedom. Pray also for the leadership in our government so that they would lead well and not recklessly. Further, pray for the people of our nation that they would hold in high regard those that serve to protect our nation and risk their lives to do so.

Take time to also pause and reflect on our Savior, Yeshua, who laid down his life for us so we could be forgiven and reconciled with the Father. Give thanks to him. Do not let that offer be wasted. Rather, submit to him, turn from your sin, and seek him. Let him be Lord of your life. You will find greater joy and peace in this world and after.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You that You sent Yeshua to lay down His life for me, so that I could be forgiven and reconciled to You. Thank You for the people that have sacrificed personally to protect and build up our nation as a free nation built on individual liberty and not dominated by tyrants or a ruling class that controls the people. Please help protect and maintain that nation based on Your principles and ideals from those who would change it for something else, like socialism or simply giving up more and more individual freedom to government control. Please raise up the righteous and bring restoration to the land that we would be a light for the world to bring You glory. 

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Compassionate, Discipline / Guidance From God, Faithful, Grace / Forgiveness, Justice / Judgment

God’s Faithfulness in Discipline and Restoration: Insights from Jeremiah 16

Even as the LORD plans distress on His people to discipline them and turn them back to Him, He also looks ahead to restoration. I appreciate the insight in Jeremiah 16 as we see this principle laid out for us. The people are disciplined, according to verse 12, because each one is “walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.”

Yes even as God disciplines them, he already plans a path to restoration.

Jeremiah 16

Distresses Foretold

      1The word of the LORD also came to me saying, 2“You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” 3For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land: 4“They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.”

      5For thus says the LORD, “Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the LORD, “My lovingkindness and compassion. 6“Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them. 7“Men will not break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8“Moreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

      10“Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the LORD declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11“Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. 12‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. 13‘So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’

God Will Restore Them

      14“Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

      16“Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17“For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18“I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”

      19O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,
And my refuge in the day of distress,
To You the nations will come
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,
Futility and things of no profit.”

      20Can man make gods for himself?
Yet they are not gods!

      21“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—
This time I will make them know
My power and My might;
And they shall know that My name is the LORD.”

Even when God may have you in a difficult time or situation, remember that He already knows how He plans to get you through it and out of it. He is not “winging it” or waiting to figure it out. He already knows how He will do it. Draw near to Him. Trust in Him.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Guidance From God, Justice / Judgment, Loving / Kind, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin

Do Not Blame God When He Disciplines His People

God will at times discipline His people severely for turning from Him and following false gods and man’s ways. Many often struggle then with God because he provides discipline. Surely He has given plenty of opportunity for grace and mercy, but still, His people disobey. Even as they call upon His name, the continue in their disobedience in that they have not repented of what they are doing wrong.

Take care not to blame God for being harsh when He disciplines His people. Do we not discipline our children when they disobey continually? We do it because we love and care for them. I do not discipline someone else’s children, but my own.  Do not blame the parents for discipline, but the children for disobedience.

Do we not hold criminals accountable with what may seem like harsh punishments? Do not blame those arresting and convicting the criminals, but rather blame the criminals who break the law.

Jeremiah 14

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

      1That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah in regard to the drought:

      2“Judah mourns
And her gates languish;
They sit on the ground in mourning,
And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

      3“Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
They have come to the cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with their vessels empty;
They have been put to shame and humiliated,
And they cover their heads.

      4“Because the ground is cracked,
For there has been no rain on the land;
The farmers have been put to shame,
They have covered their heads.

      5“For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,
Because there is no grass.

      6“The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyes fail
For there is no vegetation.

      7“Although our iniquities testify against us,
O LORD, act for Your name’s sake!
Truly our apostasies have been many,
We have sinned against You.

      8“O Hope of Israel,
Its Savior in time of distress,
Why are You like a stranger in the land
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

      9“Why are You like a man dismayed,
Like a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet You are in our midst, O LORD,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not forsake us!”

      10Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.” 11So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12“When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”

False Prophets

      13But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” 14Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds. 15“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! 16“The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

      17“You will say this word to them,
‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,
With a sorely infected wound.

      18‘If I go out to the country,
Behold, those slain with the sword!
Or if I enter the city,
Behold, diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest
Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”

      19Have You completely rejected Judah?
Or have You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?
We waited for peace, but nothing good came;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

      20We know our wickedness, O LORD,
The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

      21Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory;
Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

      22Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?
Or can the heavens grant showers?
Is it not You, O LORD our God?
Therefore we hope in You,
For You are the one who has done all these things.

We also get a fresh reminder that not everyone who claims to bring a message in God’s name is speaking for Him. This may be prophets, pastors, or any others.

In all this, however, the right answer is still to repent and seek God, asking for mercy… but admitting your wrongdoing.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross

Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Justice / Judgment, Unteachable / Foolish, Worldliness, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Don’t Be Like a Ruined Waistband to God

God calls His people to be in a relationship with Him and not with false gods, to live as He calls us to rather than pursuing false beliefs and customs. If we reject Him and go our own way, it is very displeasing to the LORD. There are usually consequences to us as well. Do not grow complacent in your walk with the LORD. Remain vigilant and seek Him diligently. Turn away form worldly ways.

Jeremiah 13

The Ruined Waistband

      1Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist. 3Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, 4“Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me. 6After many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.

      8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9“Thus says the LORD, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10‘This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. 11‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

Captivity Threatened

      12“Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! 14“I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”

      15Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,
For the LORD has spoken.

      16Give glory to the LORD your God,
Before He brings darkness
And before your feet stumble
On the dusky mountains,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into deep darkness,
And turns it into gloom.

      17But if you will not listen to it,
My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

      18Say to the king and the queen mother,
“Take a lowly seat,
For your beautiful crown
Has come down from your head.”

      19The cities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been carried into exile,
Wholly carried into exile.

      20“Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?

      21“What will you say when He appoints over you—
And you yourself had taught them—
Former companions to be head over you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?

      22“If you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the magnitude of your iniquity
Your skirts have been removed
And your heels have been exposed.

      23“Can the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.

      24“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert wind.

      25“This is your lot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the LORD,
“Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.

      26“So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,
That your shame may be seen.

      27“As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,
The lewdness of your prostitution
On the hills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean?”

Spend time in prayer. Thank God for the message He  is bringing to your heart through this scripture. Ask Him to show you any areas where you need to repent and change your ways to turn back to Him.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Consequences of Sin, Curse, Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Obeying God, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin

Why Has the Way of the Wicked Prospered?

It seems so common that God’s people are far from Him, living in rebellion despite acknowledging Him with their lips. We experience this still today. God wants restoration. God wants to be in a relationship with His people. However, when the people choose to reject Him, there are consequences.

This is true as a nation but also as individuals. Consider the theme carefully as you read. Apply it to our nation and also to your life as an individual. If there are any areas where you need to submit to God, do so. Ask Him to show you. Surrender your life completely to Him.

Sometimes when God is addressing the mistakes of His people, it makes it look like the wicked are prospering with God’s favor, but it is really all about God’s relationship with His people.  God is not blessing the wicked. God is disciplining His children in hopes they will return to Him.

As a side note, I greatly appreciate that God allows us to seek answers from Him, to be genuine and honest with Him, when we don’t understand things we see going on or things we are experiencing. Jeremiah was able to have a honest conversation with God without fear of condemnation for asking about what did not make sense to him.

Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah’s Prayer

1Righteous are You, LORD, when I plead my case with You;

Nevertheless I would discuss matters of justice with You:

Why has the way of the wicked prospered?

Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

2You have planted them, they have also taken root;

They grow, they have also produced fruit.

You are near to their lips

But far from their mind.

3But You know me, LORD;

You see me

And examine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,

And set them apart for a day of slaughter!

4How long is the land to mourn,

And the vegetation of the countryside to dry up?

Due to the wickedness of those who live in it,

Animals and birds have been snatched away,

Because people have said, “He will not see our final end.”

5“If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,

How can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the thicket by the Jordan?

6“For even your brothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have called aloud after you.

Do not believe them, though they say nice things to you.”

God’s Answer

7“I have forsaken My house,

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have handed the beloved of My soul

Over to her enemies.

8“My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has roared against Me;

Therefore I have come to hate her.

9“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the birds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the animals of the field,

Bring them to devour!

10“Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard,

They have trampled down My field;

They have made My pleasant field

A desolate wilderness.

11“It has been made a desolation;

Desolate, it mourns before Me;

The whole land has been made desolate,

Because no one takes it to heart.

12“On all the bare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For the sword of the LORD is devouring

From one end of the land even to the other

There is no peace for anyone

13“They have sown wheat but have harvested thorns,

They have strained themselves [k]to no profit.

So be ashamed of your produce

Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

14This is what the LORD says concerning all My wicked neighbors who do harm to the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel: “Behold, I am going to drive them out of their land, and I will drive the house of Judah out from among them. 15And it will come about that after I have driven them out, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16Then, if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17But if they do not listen, then I will drive out that nation, drive it out and destroy it,” declares the LORD.

God wants to be in relationship to us, His people, as individuals and as a whole group. However, we get to choose. Will we pursue Him in holiness or live our own way? More to the point, what will you do as an individual? Pray that He would show you any areas where you need to make changes in your life and then do it.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Consequences of Sin, Curse, Discipline / Guidance From God, Idols / False Gods

Cursed Is the Man Who Does Not Follow God’s Instructions

Do not expect to put your faith in something or someone other than God and then call out to Him and have Him save you. Especially if you are one of His children, He knows you have the opportunity to know better. Sometimes if we turn our back on Him, we will have to face consequences. Of course, the answer is still the same, as quickly as possible, repent and turn back to Him and ask forgiveness.

At the very least, we can see that God is very displeased when we put our trust in other things or people besides Himself. He has laid out for us instructions by which He wants us to live and He wants us to follow them and not go our own way or the way of the pagans.

Jeremiah 11

The Broken Covenant

      1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “Amen, O LORD.”

      6And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7‘For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.” 8‘Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”

      9Then the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10“They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” 11Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 12“Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. 13“For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

      14“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

      15“What right has My beloved in My house
When she has done many vile deeds?
Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,
So that you can rejoice?”

      16The LORD called your name,
“A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire on it,
And its branches are worthless.

17The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

18Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it;
Then You showed me their deeds.

      19But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;
And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
And let us cut him off from the land of the living,
That his name be remembered no more.”

      20But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,
Who tries the feelings and the heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You have I committed my cause.

      21Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die at our hand”; 22therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”

Ask yourself what areas you have in your life in which you are following the world’s ways instead of God’s ways. Ask Him to show you clearly and give you courage to change. Follow God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Justice / Judgment, Wickedness / Evil, Worldliness

Behold, I Will Refine My People (for Disobedience)

God finds it sad and frustrating to see His people living apart from Him. They may identify with Him in name, but do not live according to His ways or in relationship to Him. As we would with our children whom we love, so He also will consider discipline and correction to draw us back and to hold us accountable.

This is true in our lives still today. It is not just something to read about in “ancient Israel”. God is still moved to grief by our lack of obedience.

Jeremiah 9

A Lament over Zion

1Oh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people!

      2Oh that I had in the desert
A wayfarers’ lodging place;
That I might leave my people
And go from them!
For all of them are adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.

      3“They bend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD.

      4“Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
Because every brother deals craftily,
And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

      5“Everyone deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth,
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves committing iniquity.

      6“Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

      7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Behold, I will refine them and assay them;
For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

      8“Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

      9“Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD.
“On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?

      10“For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,
And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge,
Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;
Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

      11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
A haunt of jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

      12Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13The LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” 15therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16“I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

      17Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

      18“Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,
That our eyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.

      19“For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion,
‘How are we ruined!
We are put to great shame,
For we have left the land,
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

      20Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a dirge.

      21For death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To cut off the children from the streets,
The young men from the town squares.

      22Speak, “Thus says the LORD,
‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”

      23Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.

      25“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

Ask God to show you any areas where you need to make a change and for Him to help you embrace that change rather than resist it.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.