SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 3/9/2014
My
Worship Time Focus: Ignoring God’s Warnings
PT-VIII
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah 13:24-25
Message of the verses: Today’s SD will be the last one for the
thirteenth chapter of the book of Jeremiah which is the last chapter of study
in Dr. Wiersbe’s fourth chapter of his commentary on Jeremiah. Just a little update and that is that we will
take a short break from the book of Jeremiah to begin a study in the books of 1
& 2 Thessalonians as that is the book I believe the Lord wants us to look
at in the pattern that I have been following and that is to study another book
one chapter at a time. There is a lot of
material in these two NT letters of Paul and so it may be at times when we will
not totally get through a chapter and so we will maybe only take half a chapter
and the next month finish the chapter. I
have been reading a commentary written by John MacArthur along with listening
to sermons from 1 Thes. that MacArthur has of which I believe that there are
around 38 messages on 1 Thessalonians alone.
One thing I don’t want to do is to hurry through the book and miss some
of the nuggets that are found in it that will help us to continue to grow in
the Lord.
The Blown Chaff (Jeremiah 13:24-25): “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.”
“24
“I’ll blow these people away—like wind-blown leaves. 25 You have it coming to
you. I’ve measured it out precisely." GOD’s Decree. "It’s because you
forgot me and embraced the Big Lie, that so-called god Baal.” (The Message)
First
let us look at Psalm 1:1-4, and particularly at verse four: “1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked, Nor
stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in
His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams
of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.”
Next we will look at Matthew 3:12 “"His
winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing
floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire.’”
I
remember looking at a combine going through a field of wheat as it gathers the
wheat and puts it into a compartment of the combine where it will be
transferred to the truck and then to the market place to be sold so that the
wheat can be used to produce bread and other things that we can eat. However in the back of the combine we see the
dusty chaff coming out and going onto the ground. Compared to the wheat the chaff is
useless. In the times when the Bible was
being written the people would cut the stalks of wheat and then take them to
the threshing floor and would actually throw the wheat into the air and because
it was heavier than the chaff it would fall back to the ground and the chaff
would blow away.
God
is saying in these two verses that Judah was like the chaff and therefore would
be punished by the Lord, but remember that there is always a true remnant that
comes from Israel and so they would go on, but the wicked ones would be done
away with like the worthless chaff. The
people of Judah had forgotten the Lord because of the false teachers that they
listened to and so they would be done away with like chaff.
Dr.
Wiersbe finishes his commentary on this section by writing “How patient the
Lord was with His people, and how patient His servant was to minister to
them! Jeremiah was willing to walk alone
and ‘vote with God’ so his people might have an opportunity to be saved, but
they spurned his message.
“God
is still ‘longsuffering to us-ward, not will that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9 KJV). Unlike the people of Judah, let us listen to
His Word and obey Him; for only then can we escape His discipline and enjoy His
blessings.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is easy to miss reading and studying the
Word of God and to miss going to Church, but it is not profitable for me to
miss either. I need to stay in the Word
of God each and every day so that I can grow and so that I can listen to how
the Spirit of God wants to move me, to guide me so that I am in His will.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to grow through the Spirit and the Word.
Memory verses for the week: Philippians 2:5-9
5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in
Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the
form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross. 9 For this reason also, God
highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every
name.
Answer to yesterdays Bible question: “490 times” (Matthew 18:22).
Today’s Bible question: “What did Jesus advise if thy right eye
offends thee?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/9/2014 1:12 PM
Answer to todays question....... Pluck it out.
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