SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2014
10:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The “Deceptive”
Call
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
20:7-9
Message of the
verses: “7 O LORD, You have deceived
me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a
laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. 8 For each time I speak, I cry
aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD
has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. 9 But if I say, "I
will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it
becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it
in, And I cannot endure it.”
We know from our early studies in the book of Jeremiah
that first of all God called him to do a job, and therefore would enable him to
accomplish this job for the glory of God.
We also know that Jeremiah was a very emotional man, yet he would rise
above his highs and lows to do the work that God called him to do. The Holy Spirit, the author of the Word of
God, would use men to write the Word of God, but would also use their own
personalities as they wrote what He desired for them to write. “2Pe 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an
act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes that in this following section of
Jeremiah that we are looking at (20:7-18) we will find that this is the last
recorded lament from Jeremiah, and in this lament we will find that “it’s a human
blending of grief and joy, prayer and despair, praise and perplexity.” He goes on to write “In this honest
expression of his deepest emotions, the prophet
deals with three important concerns: God’s call (vs. 7-9), his daily
peril (vv. 10-13), and his inner despair (vv. 14-18).” We will look at God’s call for our study this
morning.
In our Sunday School class we are looking at the book of
Genesis, the book of beginnings, and when you look at the different characters
in the book of Genesis, beginning with Abraham you see that God very patiently
causes them to grow, and He changes their lives through different circumstances
that He brings them to and through. Towards
the end of Abraham’s life God told him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering on an
altar. When God first called Abraham his
name was even different, and he had no children and he did not know much about
the Lord, but near the end of his life God changed his name and gave him more
severe tests to accomplish that he would never have been able to do near the beginning
of his call from the Lord. The same is
true with Jacob for God would change his name to Israel and he would not be a schemer
any longer, but had a deep relationship with the Lord. We see this same progression in the life of
Jeremiah even though in the section we are looking at he is upset with the
Lord, and I think that it may have been because of his humiliating beating and
public display of being in stocks near the temple where many people saw
him. Jeremiah was questing his call from
the Lord and even says that the Lord deceived him when he called him. This was not true for when the Lord called
him he told him that things would be hard for him. Jeremiah was growing, and growing many times
causes pains in our hearts as we serve the Lord. Jeremiah’s ministry was not only important to
the nation of Israel, and for that matter for all who have read and studied his
writings, but it was also important to Jeremiah. He will learn this as he proceeds through his
life and ministry for the Lord.
First we see that Jeremiah tells the Lord all that is on
his heart, but we must remember that he was not out in the streets of Jerusalem
talking for all to hear, but he was just talking to the Lord, and this was a
good thing for God can handle what Jeremiah is telling him, and will use it for
His glory even though Jeremiah did not realize it at this time.
Dr. Wiersbe writes:
“After you’ve told God how you feel, what do you do next? Jeremiah resolved to quit being a
prophet! He decided to keep his mouth
shut and not even mention the Lord to anybody.
But that didn’t work, because the message of God was like a burning in
his heart and a fire in his bones (see Luke 24:32). Lu 24:32 They said to one another, "Were
not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while
He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" Jeremiah didn’t preach because he
had to say something but because he had something to say, and not saying it
would have destroyed him. Paul had the
same attitude: ‘Yet when I preach the
gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ (1
Cor. 9:16 NIV).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: There have been
times in my life when I get upset with the Lord but mostly because of battles and
temptation with sin. I pray most every
day that God would not allow me to have dreams that would not bring glory to
Him, but there are times when I still have dreams that I don’t believe are
honoring to the Lord. These are
upsetting to me because God did not answer my prayer and so I have to talk with
the Lord about this. Satan is good at
what he does for he has been at it for almost 7000 years and he can tempt me in
many different ways including having dreams that are hard on me. However I know that God is sovereign, He is
in control of all things including my dreams and my prayer is that I will rise
above these temptations that these dreams bring to me and trust the Lord to use
them to help me to grow and depend on Him in a closer way.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to have my dreams glorify Him.
Memory verse for the
week: “Philippians 2:5.”
Have this attitude in
yourself which was also in Christ Jesus,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Matthew” (Matthew 10:3).
Today’s Bible
question: “What is the outstanding theme
of 1 Corinthians 15?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/12/2014 11:35 AM
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