After completing high school, I worked as a literature evangelist for three years. One day I visited a hospital, and there I saw someone who looked familiar. I barely recognized him, but it was one of my former drinking buddies, my childhood friend. He was dying of TB and AIDS. I stared at him in … Continue reading –>
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). No doubt we can look around in nature, in human relationships, and in the marvels of the creation itself and get a view of God’s love, however much sin has damaged that creation as well as our … Continue reading –>
As we saw yesterday, whatever his fears, whatever his own emotions, Jeremiah stood firm, fully aware of the potential death that his stance could bring him. He warned the princes and the people very clearly in Jeremiah 26:15 (know for certain [NKJV], he said) that if they killed him they would face punishment for spilling … Continue reading –>
From our perspective looking back, it’s hard to believe the hardness of the hearts of the people. As we saw in yesterday’s lesson, Jeremiah’s message-however strong-was still filled with hope. If they repented, God would avert the horrific punishments that, based on the covenant promises and curses, would come upon them. If only they would … Continue reading –>
Read Jeremiah 26:1-6. What hope is the Lord offering the people here? The message here was the same as the message all through the Bible, Old and New Testament, and that is the call to repentance, to turn away from our sin and find the salvation that God offers to all. What is the message … Continue reading –>
As we have seen already, God’s people had been called out to be different from the nations around them, which were all steeped in paganism, idolatry, and false teachings. So many of the warnings in the first five books of Moses were especially against following the practices of their neighbors. Instead, the Israelites were to … Continue reading –>
In Jeremiah 9:1-26, the prophet began his lamentation because he saw the inevitable catastrophe coming to his country and people. God pronounced judgment over Jerusalem, and when God says something, He does it. What they would face wasn’t something fortuitous, not just one of those terrible and inexplicable things that happen from time to time. … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Jeremiah 9:1-26, Jer. 10:1-15, Rom. 1:25, Jeremiah 26:1-24, Acts 17:30, Acts 5:34-41. Memory Text: ‘But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord (Jeremiah … Continue reading –>
I never intended to become a Christian. I met God while enrolled in a public boarding school. Actually, I met a girl whom I wanted to date. I got up the courage to ask her out, then went to her study hall to charm her into dating me. I knew she was a Christian, but … Continue reading –>
The image of the potter and the clay, especially as seen in Romans 9:1-33, brings up the important question of how we seek to understand God’s actions. The fact is, of course, we often don’t. That shouldn’t be surprising, should it? Read Isaiah 55:8. As human beings, we simply are very limited in what we … Continue reading –>
