Jeremiah 38 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:  THE DIVINE ARTIST

Do your days feel like a hike on an Appalachian Trail in winter? A struggle to place one foot in front of the other? If so, I urge you friend, hang on! Hang on. Don’t give up. Help is here. It may not come in the manner you requested or as quickly as you desire, but it will come. Assume that something good is going to happen. The door of tomorrow is unlocked from the inside, just turn the knob and step out.

The Divine Artist isn’t finished. The earth is his studio. Every person on earth is one of his projects. Every event on earth is a part of his great mural. He is not finished. The scripture says in Philippians 1, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” Remember, friends, you are never alone.

Jeremiah 38

From the Dungeon to the Palace

Shaphatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling the people, namely:

2 “This is God’s Message: ‘Whoever stays in this town will die—will be killed or starve to death or get sick and die. But those who go over to the Babylonians will save their necks and live.’

3 “And, God’s sure Word: ‘This city is destined to fall to the army of the king of Babylon. He’s going to take it over.’”

4 These officials told the king, “Please, kill this man. He’s got to go! He’s ruining the resolve of the soldiers who are still left in the city, as well as the people themselves, by spreading these words. This man isn’t looking after the good of this people. He’s trying to ruin us!”

5 King Zedekiah caved in: “If you say so. Go ahead, handle it your way. You’re too much for me.”

6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah the king’s son that was in the courtyard of the palace guard. They lowered him down with ropes. There wasn’t any water in the cistern, only mud. Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7-9 Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, a court official assigned to the royal palace, heard that they had thrown Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was holding court in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-melek went immediately from the palace to the king and said, “My master, O king—these men are committing a great crime in what they’re doing, throwing Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern and leaving him there to starve. He’s as good as dead. There isn’t a scrap of bread left in the city.”

10 So the king ordered Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, “Get three men and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11-12 Ebed-melek got three men and went to the palace wardrobe and got some scraps of old clothing, which they tied together and lowered down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-melek the Ethiopian called down to Jeremiah, “Put these scraps of old clothing under your armpits and around the ropes.” Jeremiah did what he said.

13 And so they pulled Jeremiah up out of the cistern by the ropes. But he was still confined in the courtyard of the palace guard.

14 Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance of the Temple of God. The king said to Jeremiah, “I’m going to ask you something. Don’t hold anything back from me.”

15 Jeremiah said, “If I told you the whole truth, you’d kill me. And no matter what I said, you wouldn’t pay any attention anyway.”

16 Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah right there, but in secret, “As sure as God lives, who gives us life, I won’t kill you, nor will I turn you over to the men who are trying to kill you.”

17-18 So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “This is the Message from God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘If you will turn yourself over to the generals of the king of Babylon, you will live, this city won’t be burned down, and your family will live. But if you don’t turn yourself over to the generals of the king of Babylon, this city will go into the hands of the Chaldeans and they’ll burn it down. And don’t for a minute think there’s any escape for you.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I’m afraid of the Judeans who have already deserted to the Chaldeans. If they get hold of me, they’ll rough me up good.”

20-22 Jeremiah assured him, “They won’t get hold of you. Listen, please. Listen to God’s voice. I’m telling you this for your own good so that you’ll live. But if you refuse to turn yourself over, this is what God has shown me will happen: Picture this in your mind—all the women still left in the palace of the king of Judah, led out to the officers of the king of Babylon, and as they’re led out they are saying:

“‘They lied to you and did you in,
    those so-called friends of yours;
And now you’re stuck, about knee-deep in mud,
    and your “friends,” where are they now?’

23 “They’ll take all your wives and children and give them to the Chaldeans. And you, don’t think you’ll get out of this—the king of Babylon will seize you and then burn this city to the ground.”

24-26 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know of this conversation, if you know what’s good for you. If the government officials get wind that I’ve been talking with you, they may come and say, ‘Tell us what went on between you and the king, what you said and what he said. Hold nothing back and we won’t kill you.’ If this happens, tell them, ‘I presented my case to the king so that he wouldn’t send me back to the dungeon of Jonathan to die there.’”

27 And sure enough, all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him. He responded as the king had instructed. So they quit asking. No one had overheard the conversation.

28 Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the palace guards until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, October 05, 2020

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Philippians 1:3–11

Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Insight
Paul reminds us that our relationship with God isn’t based on our efforts but on God’s will: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). In another of Paul’s letters, he observed how God first draws us to the good news of Jesus. He wrote, “For [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4). God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us so that we may grow to “know [God] better” (v. 17).

We enter into relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of His Son. It’s God Himself who continues the work that characterizes this relationship. Paul calls us to increase in love so that we’re “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:9–11).

Begin with the End
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I was often asked that question as a child. And the answers changed like the wind. A doctor. A firefighter. A missionary. A worship leader. A physicist—or actually, MacGyver (a favorite TV character)! Now, as a dad of four kids, I think of how difficult it must be for them to be asked that question. There are times when I want to say, “I know what you’ll be great at!” Parents can sometimes see more in their children than the children can see in themselves.

This resonates with what Paul saw in the Philippian believers—those he loved and prayed for (Philippians 1:3). He could see the end; he knew what they’d be when all was said and done. The Bible gives us a grand vision of the end of the story—resurrection and the renewal of all things (see 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 21). But it also tells us who’s writing the story.

Paul, in the opening lines of a letter he wrote from prison, reminded the Philippian church that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Jesus started the work and He’ll complete it. The word completion is particularly important—the story doesn’t just end, for God leaves nothing unfinished. By:  Glenn Packiam

Reflect & Pray
Where are you in your story? How can you trust Jesus to take the “pen” from your hand and to bring your story to completion?

Dear Jesus, You’re in charge of my story. It’s not up to me to make it happen. I surrender my life to You. Help me to trust You.

To learn more about who you are and how you can best serve God, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF108.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 05, 2020
The Nature of Degeneration

Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… —Romans 5:12

The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).

Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 23-25; Philippians 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 05, 2020

Boomeranging Satan - #8801

When I came home from my first trip to Australia, my kids were eager to see what souvenirs I brought back for them. I couldn't fit the kangaroo in my suitcase, but there was one very Australian item I did bring back - a boomerang. Those things are amazing. You know, if you throw it right, that boomerang will go out, make a U-turn, and come right back to you. It's probably a good idea, then, to pay attention after you throw your boomerang. I can just see a klutz like me throwing it, turning my back, and getting boomed with my own boomerang!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Boomeranging Satan."

If you're trying to live for Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you Satan is throwing things at you, trying his best to bring you down. Maybe you're dodging some of those missiles from hell right now, and you're feeling the pressure. Here's the good news. When the devil throws his boomerang to take you down, you can duck and you can send it right back to hit him in the head; thus making him wish he had never thrown it. Would you like to do that with the stuff he's been throwing at you?

Then you might be interested in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 4 beginning in verse 1, the Bible tells us that "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end He was hungry. The devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written, man does not live on bread alone.'"

Actually, there were three boomerangs from Satan that were thrown at Jesus that day. Each time Jesus makes His choice by stubbornly standing on what the Bible says instead of falling for what Satan says. Notice the outcome a few verses later: "When the devil had finished this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the whole countryside." This is awesome! The temptations that were intended to bring Jesus down only made Him stronger and more powerful in the Holy Spirit. And Satan skulks away muttering, "I blew it!" He was hit by his own boomerang! I love it!

That's exactly what can happen to you as the devil throws his temptations at you. Probably he does to you what he did to your Lord - he waits 'till you're in a "desert," a "wilderness," until you're vulnerable. Then He pushes the buttons that appeal to some deep need you have: to be loved, to be noticed, to be accepted, to be successful, to stop hurting, or to get some relief.

Your enemy, of course, is expecting you to fall for what he's throwing at you. He can use this to get you discouraged, or maybe to get you to compromise, to make you focus on yourself again, to mess with your priorities, to get you to lash out, or turn back, or just give up.

But God says if you "resist the devil," he will "flee from you" (James 4:7). First, you have to recognize who these feelings and who this pressure is coming from. Then, you have to make a conscious choice that says, "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this! I am taking my stand against the devil's schemes!" (Ephesians 6:10)

Finally, you stand stubbornly on what God says and you make your choice based on God's Word, whether you feel like it or not, not on Satan's lies. What will Satan do? Is he going to fight you? Well, the Bible says He's going to flee from you if you resist him. Every time you pass the test like this, you become stronger and you become more confident in Christ.

The thing that was supposed to bring you down just ended up making you more powerful spiritually than you were before because you've tasted victory in Christ! And Satan? I suspect he's going to wish he never threw his boomerang your direction. It misses you and hits him!