Month: August 2025

Oh Sovereign Lord why did you choose Ezekiel to tell of the sin of your people in such graphic terms? Is this how you view our/my sin as well? You chose in eternity past to speak of your purity, your love and compassion but we, like the Israelites, have taken that and destroyed it with our sin. As Ezekiel wrote these words, did tears drip from his eyes as they do mine? Father, Sovereign Lord, forgive us, cleanse us and draw us back to your side. 

At times like this, repeat the Lord’s Prayer as a way of drawing us back to You and to your kingdom. Father, you look down from heaven, may we remember to hallow or keep holy your name. May your will be done here as it is in heaven. As Proverbs author wrote, give us only what we need lest we prove ourselves unworthy and unthankful. Wrap us in your Word so we are kept from the serpent’s fangs of death in the temptations he in his desire to seek,kill and destroy. 

As Samuel said, speak Lord for we are listening. Cleanse us and make us fit for your kingdom. Make us holy as You are holy. 

Have you spoken to someone about their need of salvation and heard these words: I have done all I need to do, I go to the same church as my parents, I offer my prayers as they have done. I am safe before the Lord. Listen you who feel safe; the Lord only hears the prayers of those seeking Him and only those who seek His righteousness. All your words, all your prayers, all your attendance at the house of worship are not negotiable in the eyes of the Lord. 

God reminded Ezekiel as spoke to the men of Israel in Babylon. They were expecting God to save them because they were of the house of Israel, they had gone to the Temple to offer their sacrifices, they had put their coins in the collection plate. God told Ezekiel to tell them that “if Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their ownrighteousness they could only deliver themselves,” He is saying you cannot expect to be saved just because of someone else’s salvation. Salvation is by faith and Jesus alone and is dependent on your heart alone! Another thing the Lord said was to look into your hearts. Have you set up idols in your heart? Cleanse your heart so God can hear your prayers.

Take today to search your heart. Are you expecting to be saved just because of someone else’s salvation. Salvation is individual and you alone must atone for your sin. 

God spoke to Ezekiel of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. He is overcome, as we would be, of what God commanded to be accomplished. God’s message is this from the word given to Paul for the Galatians. God will not be mocked, what you sow, you shall reap.The inhabitants of Jerusalem had sown the seeds of dishonor and disobedience to His commands and now they will reap their sin in death, famine and plague.

If this message was given to us, how would we respond? Ezekiel is a model of grief. He pours out his heart to God.He weeps over the sins of the people. He reveals what God reveals and that is a lesson for us. 

Today our country is in an upheaval with the sins of our people.God has shown us the consequences of our sin through His Word. Are we responding like Ezekiel? Today, pour out your heart to God for His mercy. Pray for deliverance from the sins that are many. Speak to those you meet with words of warning and remind them to repent. 

Have you ever felt the Lord saying to you;speak to this or that person? You could be in a crowded mall, in a neighborhood chat or even in your family? How do you respond? Ezekiel had that experience with a warning. God said, speak to them whether they listen or not. God would hold him responsible for them because if he did not speak they would suffer the consequences of their sin. 

Today we have avenues whereby we can speak for God. We have TV where preachers tell of God and His ways. We have the internet and along with that the new Ai. What is keeping us from speaking? Perhaps that warning that God gave Ezekiel might be our clue. Speak whether they listen or not. Your job is  speak. Watch for those divine appointments God sends your way. God told Ezekiel to not fear and we should not fear as well. 

Pray for His divine opportunities that He will send your way today and every day.

Some time ago when newspapers were the staple of every household, there was a one comic character called Dennis the Menace. No matter what Dennis did, he was found complaining to his parents about their choice of punishment. Maybe you can relate when you might be caught with your hand in the cooky jar. That seems to the case for the residents of Jerusalem and Jeremiah reminds them: “Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins?” [Jer 3:39] 

Jeremiah has hit the people with the very thing they were doing about their sin against God. He has repeatedly reminded them to obey Him and to listen to His Word. Yet, like Dennis the Menace, they just complained instead of turning from their sin. How like us! 

Think back to a time when God spoke clearly to you about your sin. How did you respond?  Did you do as the Israelites did? Think now what can you do instead of complaining. Could you choose another way of handling God’s rebuke? Could you choose to accept the course God has planned for you to return to Him? The answer is yes to all of those questions. Today choose to pray for forgiveness. Choose to obey in all our ways. 

Some time ago when newspapers were the staple of every household, there was a one comic character called Dennis the Menace. No matter what Dennis did, he was found complaining to his parents about their choice of punishment. Maybe you can relate when you might be caught with your hand in the cooky jar. That seems to the case for the residents of Jerusalem and Jeremiah reminds them: “Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins?” [Jer 3:39] 

Jeremiah has hit the people with the very thing they were doing about their sin against God. He has repeatedly reminded them to obey Him and to listen to His Word. Yet, like Dennis the Menace, they just complained instead of turning from their sin. How like us! 

Think back to a time when God spoke clearly to you about your sin. How did you respond?  Did you do as the Israelites did? Think now what can you do instead of complaining. Could you choose another way of handling God’s rebuke? Could you choose to accept the course God has planned for you to return to Him? The answer is yes to all of those questions. Today choose to pray for forgiveness. Choose to obey in all our ways. 

As we have been walking through the OT prophets we now come to the personal book of Jeremiah (presupposed to be the author). He predicted the fall of Jerusalem, but when it really happens then it is overwhelming grief. This is where we find the author as he pours out his heart in the midst of national suffering recognizing that all the warnings from God have been disregarded. How often does God remind us of His authority and His desire for His people to repent, but pride overrules and now sin’s consequences have fallen. 

With each book we look for lessons to glean for our personal lives, our nations and our religious institutions. Lamentations falls into all those categories. How do you handle overwhelming grief when you realize that it was because of your sin this has occurred? Tears? Mourning cries? Tearing of clothes? What do you do?

The author reminds us that in the times of deep grief we must return to the Lord for His compassion and seek His forgiveness and healing of our heart knowing this is eternally true. “The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end, They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! “ [Lam 3:22-23]

God in His everlasting mercy reveals His plans for Ammon and Edom. Their nations will be ravaged until there is nothing left except for the widows and orphans. How hard it is to read these chapters when you realize that death and destruction are allowed by God which is totally contrary to what the world says. They will be destroyed and their destiny is assured. God has demonstrated mercy long enough. People today say, God is love and He loves and no matter who you are or where you live or what you have done, your destiny is assured as heaven. These chapters in Jeremiah contradict that philosophy in spades! Yet, listen to the words of Jeremiah to those who are left behind as the enemies scourge the lands.

God is a God of hope for the most precious of people, the widows and orphans. James reminds us what true religion is, to visit the widows and orphans in their distress. Here in Jeremiah we read: “Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive: Here was a glimmer of hope for Edom, even with the devastation to come. God invited the remnant remaining – made up of fatherless children and widows – to trust in Him.”

How hard it is to trust when you experience such devastation but God is the God of hope both then and now. If you are a widow or an orphan, trust God to preserve you for His work. 

God gave Jeremiah a picture of the nations that surrounded His people. They would rise but in later times they would each fall victim of their own sins. First, God showed Jeremiah about Babylon, then the Philistines and lastly Moab. Each of these cultures were wicked and idolatrous. They presented the Israelites with a temptation to give up the Sovereign Lord and worship idols. Unfortunately, the Israelites fell for that temptation and their nation suffered at the hands of these wicked nations. There is a lesson here for us that comes straight out of James where he tells the Israelites who were dispersed throughout the remnant of these nations. The lesson is this: temptations come and offer what sounds and looks good. We are drawn to them and enticed by them. We often blame Satan for the outcomes, but in reality it is our own wicked hearts that draw us away. We have only to look at our hearts and see this and the blame lies directly on us and Jeremiah reminded the Israelites of that fact. Our hearts are desperately wicked and in need of a spiritual change. 

When we read chapters such as these, we should stop and consider if we are convicted or is our heart so wicked it blames others for our sins. God alone can change the heart. The Israelites were unwilling to repent and change, but how about us? 

Jeremiah the prophet has given the Israelites message after message of the destruction of Judah. All of what he has said has come true so now as we listen to some of the remnant who were not enslaved by the Babylonians we recall this warning from Moses. “Deu 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.” The people asked well how do we tell who is speaking from God and who is not? The NT churches also had that same question.How can we tell the true from the false? The clear test for the OT prophets is to listen and observe. A true message from God through an OT prophets must come true and Jeremiah’s words prove that he was truly sent from God for each word he spoke came true. 

So why is this chapter so important for us today? First, the remaining remnant did not stay in the land but went to Egypt even after Jeremiah told them not to.

Secondly, the remaining remnant came to him and asked him to pray for God’s direction. So we read: “Pray that the Lord your Godwill tell us where we should go and what we should do.” However, after God revealed to Jeremiah what to do how did they respond? Fast forward to chapter 43 we read the response of the people: “You are telling a lie! The Lord our God did not send you to tell us, ‘You must not go to Egypt and settle there.’

Are we like this? God says you must have faith to be saved but instead we say I have to do this work or that work. We decide to totally ignore what God has said in His Word and the consequence is the same for us as it was for the remnant. They died just as Jeremiah said and if we choose to ignore God’s Word, we too will die in our sins.