To Understand And Know God

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Chapters: Jeremiah 7-9
Message: To Understand And Know God

Hello My Friend,

When you read through the prophecy books with an open heart you cannot help, but think about our current state and feel deep sorrow over what is about to come to our nations and even the world. It truly is sad to see how corrupt and immoral society has become, and I am not talking about fornication and adultery, I am talking about nine year old girls dressing like prostitutes, and nine year old boys smoking and drinking. Just this week a bunch of kids were rushed to the hospital after side effects of eating brownies laced with marijuana. This is how corrupt our society is getting, and all I see is a bubbling brew of lava getting hotter and hotter until God has had enough and lets it tip over, as judgment is poured upon the earth.

“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” - II Thessalonians 1:7-9.

I had a mother tell me not to explain to her daughter the plan of salvation, in her eyes as long as her daughter was obeying her she thought she did not need to be saved. This is the perception of all those who have the mind set that their good works are what get them into heaven. I get a little sad every time I watch a movie or show that teaches people that heaven is obtainable as long as you are good. While it is true that being good is what is necessary to get to heaven, God does not nor ever has quite worked that way. Why? Because our good will never match up to what God sees as good. Even if the Jews obeyed every one, but one of the six-hundred and thirty commands they had it would send them to hell. Salvation has always been about confessing of sin and the giving a sacrifice, Jesus just made it permanent. Teaching a false doctoring or hiding the truth from others does not save them, it is true today as well as before Christ. Through Jeremiah, God upbraids those trusting the lies of man rather than the truth of His Word.

“Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.” - Jeremiah 7:8-12,15,16.

“Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.” People do not want to hear the truth, they want the tickling of their ears, their sins sugar coated for them, and they want peace that allows them to keep living the lives they live with no consequence. Let me tell you, the truth does hurt sometimes, especially if we are doing something we ought not be doing, this is actually the Holy Spirit trying to get our attention. Yes, God speaks to us many times before we actually listen to Him and come to know Christ as our Saviour, but there are some people who are oblivious to that fact. As God continues explaining why He was judging Judah, the ones who were supposed to know Him.

“But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.” - Jeremiah 7:23,24,30-32.

“but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart,” We all think that the choices we make will not make much of an impact, but the truth is, they not only impact us individually, they impact those around us as well. Take for instance a man that is having an affair, he not only acts out in his guilt others act out at his acting out, and when it is found out, and they are always found out, the repercussions are endless, and the same is true for the woman consenting in the affair, even if she had no idea what she was doing. None of us are perfect, but if we allow sin to creep in, it will eventually overtake us. Of all the creatures God created, we who are made in His image are the hardest to tame, and the reason why, that sin nature. God continues explaining His reason for the judgment, and by the way, God never needs to explain anything.

“Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.” - Jeremiah 8:7-10.

“but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.” Do you know how many people there are in the world that are “saved”, but do not know the judgments of God? I hate to see the countless people who have died having believed a false doctrine. There are churches proclaiming Christ, yet none of them tell them that unless they admit they are a sinner and confess to Jesus that they need Him to save them from their sins they will not be saved. This goes back to the little girl that never got told the truth because her mother would not allow it. Ignorance does not save us, only Jesus does.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” - Romans 3:10-12,23,24.

“there is none that doeth good,” This does not mean that everything we do is bad, to understand this we have to know what the meaning of word good means, Complete or sufficiently perfect in its kind. No one is complete, no one is perfect, which is why we need Jesus. The people during Jeremiah's day may not have known Jesus Christ personally, but they did know God, and right well knew He was the only way to salvation. The things Jesus spoke were the exact same things God spoke through all the prophets. God warns us over and over again not to trust in our own understanding, but His.

“Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them. Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” - Jeremiah 9:20-24.

“that he understandeth and knoweth me,” As much as we like to think that our own righteousness or wisdom is the an option, it is not, there is only one way, one truth, and one life, and that is Jesus Christ. You know, the great thing about the Bible is that we can learn millions of things, all by reading one line of Scripture, and while I am set in my ways, I know I must leave my heart open to learn from other godly men and women who tell of God’s truths. We must also learn to discern truth from lies, while anyone can tell you the Gospel in truth and lead someone to Christ (interestingly Jesus allows this), not everyone teaches the truth beyond that. For the life of me I will never get where some people make up their own conclusions and drag thousands of people into it, but that is why we face judgment today. Nevertheless, God will use anyone to preach His Son, and then it is up to us to discern whether or not the rest of the doctrine is true, if any church or religion gets away from the truth that, then get away from it fast.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” - Romans 16:17,18.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.” - Jeremiah 8:14. Jesus was given gall to drink before He died, it was a symbol that Jesus had taken on all the sin of man to the cross with Him.

Today's Prayer: God, You make it simple to understand You, and Your ways, we do not need thousands of books written by man, we just need Your Word and the Holy Spirit, He will direct us to the truth, will even guide us to dictionaries and other men and women who know it. Lord, keep me in Your Word so I can discern Your truths from the lies, and not only that, live through it so I can be a witness and testimony that brings the lost to Your Son, who is the only way, truth, and life that brings us to You. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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