Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Jun 16, 2024, 7:01 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 37-40
Meditation Verse: 38:17-18
Thought
If Zedekiah had humbled himself and surrendered to the king of Babylon, Jerusalem would have been spared. He had power to rescue the city and the temple. But he refused and so both were destroyed. He thought he would fare better by defending himself and the city. As often as he seemed to want to know what the Lord desired, he refused to believe and obey the Lord.
Jun 15, 2024, 7:02 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 33-36
Meditation Verses: 34:15-16
Thought
The Israelites proclaimed freedom for the slaves they had made of their fellow Israelites, finally doing something that was right in the eyes of the Lord. They should have done it for each one at the end of seven years of service, but didn't. Yet when they finally did release them, the Lord was pleased. Repentance and returning to what is right, this pleases the Lord, even if it is very late in coming.
Jun 14, 2024, 7:03 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 29-32
Meditation Verses: 32:38-41
Thought
In the previous chapter, God tells of the new covenant He will make with the house of Israel, they He will put His law in their hearts, that all will know Him and no longer need anyone to teach them about Him. Here He mentions again making an everlasting covenant with His people, to do good to them and to put the fear of Him in their hearts so they never turn away from Him.
Jun 13, 2024, 7:05 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 25-28
Meditation Verses: 28:13-17
Thought
It is interesting that God put Hananiah to death within three months of challenging Jeremiah's prophecy. There were other false prophets who didn't die, but did they take warning, at least for a short time? Worse than that, Hananiah in breaking Jeremiah's wooden yoke, made the yokes promised by the Lord into iron yokes. When we prophesy truth, even if the people don't repent, it is less hard for them than if someone preaches against the counsel of the Lord.
Jun 12, 2024, 7:06 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 21-24
Meditation Verses: 23:28-29
Thought
God is against all the prophets who speak out of their own ideas and dreams, who do not speak the Word of the Lord, but speak their own ideas and call them "the Word of the Lord." Yet neither is He afraid of their words. He tells them to carry on speaking, as much as they want, because their words are straw compared to the wheat of His Word.
Jun 11, 2024, 7:07 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 17-20
Meditation Verses: 20:7-8
Thought
This is the hard part of truly knowing the Lord and seeing as He sees. Every time Jeremiah opens his mouth, he speaks destruction and disaster and violence against his people. That's all he sees for his people, because they refuse to acknowledge and repent of their sin. That is what God has planned against them because they refuse to hear and obey His Word. They think they're safe because they have the temple and the priests and the Scriptures, but they ignore the Scriptures, the priests follow their own evil desires and lead the people astray, and the people love it so!
Jun 10, 2024, 7:13 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 13-16
Meditation Verses: 14:13-16
Thought
The Lord tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people because there is no hope for them; they will be cast out of the Lord's land. But Jeremiah sees the problem: Their prophets are telling them that everything will be all right; they will enjoy peace and prosperity, even though they sin terribly against the Lord. How can Jeremiah compete with all the false prophets? There are so many more of them and they all say the opposite of what God tells Jeremiah to proclaim!
Jun 9, 2024, 7:18 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 9-12
Meditation Verse: 11:6
Thought
Jeremiah was commanded to go through the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem proclaiming the Lord's covenant that the people had violated. City by city, town by town in Judah, and street by street in Jerusalem. There is no escaping it.
Jun 8, 2024, 7:21 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 5-8
Meditation Verse: 6:16
Thought
Ecclesiastes tells us not to ask why the former days were better than the present, for that doesn't come from wisdom. But God tells Jeremiah that we should be seeking out the former ways, the ancient paths, the good paths, for to walk in those ways is to know peace, peace with God.
Jun 7, 2024, 7:23 AM
Passage Read: Jeremiah 1-4
Meditation Verse: 1:17
Thought
Passage Read: Jeremiah 1-4
Meditation Verse: 1:17
Thought
Jeremiah is a youth, yet he is called by God to proclaim His message of judgment and warning. He is called to speak to rulers and nations and crowds of people, and God warns him not to be dismayed by them, not to fear them or be overwhelmed by them, otherwise the Lord would dismay him before them. He is not to fear the people or be intimidated by them, otherwise the Lord would confuse and confound him before all the people.