July 27th

Jeremiah 5

 ²⁰ “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob
   and proclaim it in Judah:
²¹ Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,
   who have eyes but do not see,
   who have ears but do not hear:
²² Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD.
   “Should you not tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
   an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
   they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
²³ But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
   they have turned aside and gone away.
²⁴ They do not say to themselves,
   ‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains in season,
   who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’
²⁵ Your wrongdoings have kept these away;
   your sins have deprived you of good.


God says, "Should you not fear me?"  He is all powerful, but they and we don't take Him seriously.   Most people in America do not fear God.   They have come to think of Him as some fictitious white haired man in the sky that is an invention of the weak minded.   The last verse really gets me.  Our sins deprive us of the good that the Lord wants to do for us.  Oh that we would just be obedient!

July 26th

Jeremiah 3
 ¹ “If a man divorces his wife
   and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
   Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—
   would you now return to me?”
            declares the LORD. 
What must the Lord think about our Hollywood and all that goes on there and elsewhere across the nation.  God punished Israel with lack of rain and other hardships.   I know that they were in a covenant with God, but I wonder if God might not also treat us to the same doses of discipline.  Seems likely.

July 25th

Jeremiah 2

In verse 10-12 God makes the assertion that even the pagan nations around Israel were more faithful to their gods that Israel was to the one true God.  How very sad!

July 24th

Zephaniah 1

 ¹⁷ “I will bring such distress on all people
   that they will grope about like those who are blind,
   because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
   and their entrails like dung.
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold
   will be able to save them
   on the day of the LORD’s wrath.”

   In the fire of his jealousy
   the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
   of all who live on the earth.

We recently visited Pompeii.  The terrible destruction was palpable.  There was one man that died trying to escape with a bag of gold and silver coins.  They laid with his bones for centuries and weren't any help at all.  So it is with all of us who trust in our riches rather in God.

July 23rd

I love Josiah.  He was a person who came into power and had the guts and moral courage to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  God bless him!

July 21st

Isaiah 65:

   I will create a new heaven and earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind!

What a promise!

Isaiah 64:

We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hands.  ...don't remember our sins forever!

July 20th

What a glorious time to live in the year of the Lord's favor!  Isaiah prophesied it, Jesus announced it.  We witness to it.

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, 
   because the LORD has anointed me 
   to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
   to proclaim freedom for the captives 
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a] 
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor 
   and the day of vengeance of our God, 
to comfort all who mourn, 
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion— 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty 
   instead of ashes, 
the oil of joy 
   instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise 
   instead of a spirit of despair. 
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
   a planting of the LORD 
   for the display of his splendor.