Jeremiah 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: OUR HOPE FOR HOLY

Do a simple exercise with me. Measure your life against just these four standards from the Ten Commandments:

“You must not steal.” Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip? A parking space? You thief.

“You must not lie.” Those who say they haven’t just did.

“You must not commit adultery.” Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust you’ve committed adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:28).

“You must not murder.” Before you claim innocence, Jesus said anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder (Matthew 5:22).

Jesus made his position clear: “Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). So where does that leave us? Well it leaves us drawing hope from 1 Corinthians 15:3. Christ died for our sins—in place of—on behalf of! So don’t measure yourself by keeping commandments, measure yourself by the cross.

Jeremiah 8

“And when the time comes”—God’s Decree!—“I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people. They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in doglike devotion. The bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.

3 “Everyone left—all from this evil generation unlucky enough to still be alive in whatever godforsaken place I will have driven them to—will wish they were dead.” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

To Know Everything but God’s Word
4-7 “Tell them this, God’s Message:

“‘Do people fall down and not get up?
    Or take the wrong road and then just keep going?
So why does this people go backward,
    and just keep on going—backward!
They stubbornly hold on to their illusions,
    refuse to change direction.
I listened carefully
    but heard not so much as a whisper.
No one expressed one word of regret.
    Not a single “I’m sorry” did I hear.
They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly
    banging their heads against a brick wall.
Cranes know when it’s time
    to move south for winter.
And robins, warblers, and bluebirds
    know when it’s time to come back again.
But my people? My people know nothing,
    not the first thing of God and his rule.

8-9 “‘How can you say, “We know the score.
    We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”?
Look where it’s gotten you—stuck in illusion.
    Your religion experts have taken you for a ride!
Your know-it-alls will be unmasked,
    caught and shown up for what they are.
Look at them! They know everything but God’s Word.
    Do you call that “knowing”?

10-12 “‘So here’s what will happen to the know-it-alls:
    I’ll make them wifeless and homeless.
Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,
    little people and big people alike.
Prophets and priests and everyone in between
    twist words and doctor truth.
My dear Daughter—my people—broken, shattered,
    and yet they put on Band-Aids,
Saying, “It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.”
    But things are not “just fine”!
Do you suppose they are embarrassed
    over this outrage?
Not really. They have no shame.
    They don’t even know how to blush.
There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom
    and there’s no getting up.
As far as I’m concerned,
    they’re finished.’” God has spoken.

13 “‘I went out to see if I could salvage anything’”
    —God’s Decree—
    “‘but found nothing:
Not a grape, not a fig,
    just a few withered leaves.
I’m taking back
    everything I gave them.’”

14-16 So why are we sitting here, doing nothing?
    Let’s get organized.
Let’s go to the big city
    and at least die fighting.
We’ve gotten God’s ultimatum:
    We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t—
    damned because of our sin against him.
We hoped things would turn out for the best,
    but it didn’t happen that way.
We were waiting around for healing—
    and terror showed up!
From Dan at the northern borders
    we hear the hooves of horses,
Horses galloping, horses neighing.
    The ground shudders and quakes.
They’re going to swallow up the whole country.
    Towns and people alike—fodder for war.

17 “‘What’s more, I’m dispatching
    poisonous snakes among you,
Snakes that can’t be charmed,
    snakes that will bite you and kill you.’”
        God’s Decree!

Advancing from One Evil to the Next
18-22 I drown in grief.
    I’m heartsick.
Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people
    reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion?
    Has the King gone away?
Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods,
    their silly, imported no-gods before me?
The crops are in, the summer is over,
    but for us nothing’s changed.
    We’re still waiting to be rescued.
For my dear broken people, I’m heartbroken.
    I weep, seized by grief.
Are there no healing ointments in Gilead?
    Isn’t there a doctor in the house?
So why can’t something be done
    to heal and save my dear, dear people?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, August 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Peter 1:6–9

 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Insight
In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter is reinforcing an important idea that goes back to the gospel of John. In John 20:29, the risen Christ said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That includes all in our generation who have followed Jesus. While we weren’t present when He was physically on this earth, we can embrace by faith the record of Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:3–4) and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Romans 8:16) as evidence of the truth of what we’ve not seen but believed (John 16:13–15). As Paul wrote, “For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Refined in the Fire
These trials will show that your faith is genuine. 1 Peter 1:7 nlt

Twenty-four–karat gold is nearly 100 percent gold with few impurities. But that percentage is difficult to achieve. Refiners most commonly use one of two methods for the purification process. The Miller process is the quickest and least expensive, but the resulting gold is only about 99.95 percent pure. The Wohlwill process takes a little more time and costs more, but the gold produced is 99.99 percent pure.

In Bible times, refiners used fire as a gold purifier. Fire caused impurities to rise to the surface for easier removal. In his first letter to believers in Jesus throughout Asia Minor (northern Turkey), the apostle Peter used the gold-refining process as a metaphor for the way trials work in the life of a believer. At that time, many believers were being persecuted by the Romans for their faith in Christ. Peter knew what that was like firsthand. But persecution, Peter explained, brings out the “genuineness of [our] faith” (1 Peter 1:7).

Perhaps you feel like you’re in a refiner’s fire—feeling the heat of setbacks, illness, or other challenges. But hardship is often the process by which God purifies the gold of our faith. In our pain we might beg God to quickly end the process, but He knows what’s best for us, even when life hurts. Keep connected to the Savior, seeking His comfort and peace. By:  Linda Washington

Reflect & Pray
What challenges have you faced that led to your growth? How did you respond to them?

Father God, help me see how the trials of my life bring out the gold in me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 17, 2020
Are You Discouraged or Devoted?

…Jesus…said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have…and come, follow Me." But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. —Luke 18:22-23

Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.

Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have…and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed

Bible in a Year: Psalms 97-99; Romans 16

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 17, 2020
Dying of Stubbornness - #8766

Gary was a summer lifeguard on a beach in Southern California, which is kind of a nice job. During his training, he heard some information that seemed so bizarre to him he just didn't believe it. The trainers told him that most people they tried to rescue would resent and even resist their assistance. Clearly, that just didn't make sense. Anyone who was in trouble - like life-or-death trouble - would surely welcome help, right? No. Then we got to Gary's first rescue. The man who was in trouble cursed at the man who was trying to save him. He kicked, he clawed, and he did everything in his power to fight off his rescuer.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dying of Stubbornness."

We humans are pretty proud folks, right? Sometimes even when our pride could cost us our life! Jesus understands that all too well. He's been trying to rescue people from the clutches of their sin for a long time, only to find many people trying to resist Him at the expense of their own eternity.

The Bible paints Jesus' coming to earth as an urgent rescue mission. He saw that our sinful choices, our commandeering of our life from God, had left us hopelessly cut off from the God we were made for. That separation makes this life pointless and our life after death unbearable: a little hell now - all of hell later. So like a lifeguard jumping in the water to save a drowning person at the risk of his own life, Jesus jumped into our world to give us a chance to live instead of die. It wasn't just at the risk of his life, it was at the cost of His life on a cross - separated from God, paying our bill, taking our place.

He doesn't want to lose you. So now He comes to people like you and me, reaching out to rescue us. But sadly, heaven's Rescuer is often greeted with our proud resistance. "Look, I'm a good person - a religious person. I can give you a list of people who can tell you how I've helped them. I think I can get to heaven on my own, thank you." No, you can't. Or Jesus would never have gone through what He did on the cross. The Bible could not be clearer on this: "He saved us," the Bible says, "not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5). Jesus has done all He can to rescue you, but it could be you've done all you can to resist Him.

It's important to see the danger that puts you in. In our word for today from the Word of God, we watch what happened to one man who consistently refused to respond to God's messages. Pharaoh, who was the King of Egypt, continually hears God's messages from Moses. But Exodus 8:15 says, "He hardened his heart." That could be what you're doing without realizing it-letting your heart get harder to Jesus every time you ignore Him, you bypass his offer. Again, the Bible says "Pharaoh hardened his heart" (Exodus 8:32). Then comes these sobering words, "The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" (Exodus 9:12).

If you turn your back on the Lord enough times, eventually the Lord will "permanentize" the hardening of your heart. Now you'll never respond; you'll never be rescued. Ultimately, Moses, speaking for God Himself, says to Pharaoh, "I will never appear before you again" (Exodus 10:29). For Pharaoh, from that day on, it is over - forever. For you, thank God that day has not come. Or Jesus wouldn't be coming to you again today, saying, "I died for you. Here's My hand to save you." What none of us knows is when He will "never appear before us" again.

So this really is a holy moment - a precious opportunity for you to put your trust in this Rescuer who is your only hope - Jesus. This time, grab His hand. You can do that by telling Him, "Jesus, I'm sorry for my sin, for resisting Your love. I resign from running my own life. I am Yours." At that moment, the Bible says you are what's called "saved" - rescued forever.

Our website's all about how to get started in this eternity-changing relationship. Let me urge you to go visit there today. It's ANewStory.com.

Whatever's held you back just isn't worth it. There is nothing worth missing Jesus for - worth missing heaven for.