Read the Bible in a Year (22AUG19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, August 22’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 35-37.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, August 23’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 38-41. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

JEREMIAH MOMENT – (22AUG19) “This is the message the Lord gave Jeremiah when Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah: ‘Go to the settlement where the families of the Recabites live, and invite them to the Lord’s Temple. Take them into one of the inner rooms, and offer them some wine’” (Jeremiah 35:1-2). The Lord had given Jeremiah a command to invite the Recabite family to the Lord’s temple to have some wine, but this was not the Lord’s idea of a social gathering. The Lord had a lesson in mind that He wanted to teach His children. During the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, the Lord told Jehu that he would be appointed king and he was to destroy the whole house of Ahab. The Bible says, “So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel’” (2 Kings 9:6-8).

Jehu carried out the Lord’s command, but during that time, as he was completing his mission, he came across Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, who had come to meet him. Jehu greeted him and allowed him to ride in the chariot with him after ensuring that he was on his side. Some biblical scholars believe that when Jehonadab saw the house of Ahab being destroyed because of their idolatry and rebellion against the Lord, that was when he made a radical decision for his way of living. He instructed his family and their descendants to avoid wine, the building of houses, and planting crops. They were to live in tents to possibly separate them from those who operated in wickedness. Therefore, in keeping with the instructions of their forefather, the Recabites declined Jeremiah’s offer of wine. The Bible says, “So we have obeyed him in all these things. We have never had a drink of wine to this day, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters. We haven’t built houses or owned vineyards or farms or planted crops. We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed all the commands of Jehonadab, our ancestor” (Jeremiah 35:8-10).

The lesson that the Lord wanted to teach Judah and Jerusalem was that if this one family could be obedient to their ancestor, then Israel should have been obedient to Him throughout the generations. Unfortunately, they did not have this type of dedication to the Lord, and despite how many messengers He sent to them, they remained defiant. Therefore, they were going to receive the judgments that were due them.

The Lord is still sending messengers to sound the alarm for Him today. He is calling the world to repentance, but few are listening. He has given us so much time to make things right with Him, but many seek after the soothsayers instead of the true messages from the Lord’s messengers. Time is running out, and one day, the minute-hand will tick no more. Our prayer should be for the salvation of the unsaved before it is too late. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (22AUG19) Why are so many people discarding the warnings of God for repentance? Do they think that God will forget the more they have a disregard for them? “Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up. Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard. Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he wouldn’t listen” (Jeremiah 36:23-24). The Lord instructed Jeremiah to write down the warnings that He had given to him throughout the course of time. God had this done in hopes that the people would repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jeremiah dictated the words to his scribe, and Baruch read them at the temple in the presence of the people. The news reached the king, but when he heard the words of Jeremiah, he burned sections of the scroll as the attendant was reading them. This, however, did not stop God. The Lord had Jeremiah to repeat the process, but this time, he was to include a warning to the king and let him know that his dead body would be on display in the heat of the day and during the frost at night in utter disgrace.

Many people disregard the Holy Spirit’s check in their lives when they are doing wrong. They ignore Him and feel that as long as they do so, they are not responsible for repentance. Yet, this type of behavior does not change the Lord’s mind regarding His plans for those in defiance of Him. They only do so to their own harm and detriment. The Lord is longsuffering, but eventually, His patience will run out. The Bible says, “Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years’” (Genesis 6:3). Man’s lifespan was cut short due to his wickedness, and one day, the period of grace will be over, and those who have not accepted the Lord into their hearts will be lost forever. The Bible says, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11). Something to ponder….

 

JEREMIAH MOMENT – (22AUG19) “Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, ‘Is there any word from the Lord?’ ‘Yes,’ Jeremiah replied, ‘you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon’” (Jeremiah 37:16-17). Jeremiah had been falsely accused of trying to enter the Babylonian side, so the official, Irijah, had him beaten and imprisoned. Jeremiah and his words of warning did not make him popular in the land, so this was an opportunity for his enemies to carry out their vengeance on him. Despite what he had encountered, when summoned by the king to get a Word from the Lord, Jeremiah remained steadfast in the Word that the Lord had given to him concerning the judgments that were at hand. The king may have thought that Jeremiah would have changed his message because of the harsh treatment and conditions that he was in, but Jeremiah remained faithful to being a messenger of truth for the Lord.

Countless believers in the body of Christ have become compromised for what is deemed politically correct. Pastors, evangelists, prophets, prophetesses, lay members, and others have traded the Truth for mere lies to appease their pockets, greed, desire for fame, power, and other selfish ambitions. Because teaching an end time’s message is not popular, many stay away from teaching on things that would call the nation to repentance and accountability. Some leaders who started out biblically solid, sold God out for extra zeros to be added at the end of their checks. The Bible says, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Many souls are at stake when we fail to warn them about what’s coming to a world who does not repent. It is our job to evangelize the gospel to the whole world. You may not hold the office of an evangelist, but you have a responsibility to still evangelize to the lost. Just simply sharing about your love for Christ and what He has done in your life is being a witness to others. We all have a role to play in the Kingdom of God. No role is too big or too small. We can all do something to help usher the lost to Christ by being unyielding in our stance for Him just as Jeremiah was. May we all do what we can, while there is still time, because for someone, their time has just expired by the time you have completed reading this sentence. Something to ponder….