SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/7/2014
8:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The
Conspiracy of the Enemy
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
18:18
Message of the
verses: “18 Then they said,
"Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not
going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to
the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give
no heed to any of his words.’”
We come to a turning point in this eighteenth chapter of
Jeremiah and what happens here is what will happen in many cases when the truth
is proclaimed to people. Jeremiah
received the Word of the Lord and was told to convey its message to the people
of Judah and they rejected the message and therefore wanted to destroy the
giver of the message. People cannot
handle the truth and one of the reasons, perhaps the main reason is that when
the light gets too close to them it shows the dirt in their lives and then
because of pride they cannot stand looking at the light so they then get angry
and want to lash out at the one giving them the truth. I have mentioned in different SD’s a verse
from the third chapter of the book of John which shows that there are only two
kinds of people in this world, those who know the Lord and those who do not
know the Lord. “36 “He who believes in
the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him.’”
There are no grey areas, only black and white.
John MacArthur writes the following in his study Bible on
verse eighteen: “Plans against Jeremiah: Plans to indict the prophet with their ‘tongues’
and then to slay him (v. 23) were based on the premise that his message of doom
was not true. The business of the
priests, the wise, and the prophets continued as usual since God made them
lasting institutions (cf. Lv. 6:18; 10:11).”
As we look at this verse we can see that the argument was
that the people of Judah had plenty of priests, prophets, and elders so they
did not need to have Jeremiah stay there and tell them what he has to tell
them. Of course they were blinded by
their sin, and that is why they wanted to get rid of him, but the Lord says in
Psalm 2:4 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”
How were these men going to attack Jeremiah? They would use the Word of God against him in
a similar way that was used against the Lord Jesus during His earthly
reign. The problem in both cases is that
both the men in Jeremiah’s day and in the days when Jesus walked the earth did
not understand the Word of God as they were supposed to. When an unbeliever reads the Word of God they
will not be able to understand it for they are reading someone else’s mail. The only way a person can understand the Word
of God is to have the Holy Spirit open their hearts to understand it.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: If I am living my
life so that it is pleasing to the Lord then I can expect trouble from the
world around me. Jesus said “In the
world you will have tribulation,” and then said “be of good cheer for I have
overcome the world.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
Memory verse for the
week: Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with
Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself up for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Boils” (Exodus 7:12).
Today’s Bible
question: “In the Christian armor, what
is the helmet?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/7/2014 8:45 AM
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