Jeremiah 7:27 (ESV), “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you,” encouraged me to simply obey the Lord, to use whatever platform He gives me to speak the truth in love, and then leave the results in His hands. We live in a culture that makes choices based on whether something works, whether it produces the desired results … rather than whether it is right or wrong.
Which reminds me of a hotly contested topic that many people want to avoid: whether a woman should be allowed (or dare I say encouraged) to abort a child diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome.
Take a look and listen to something I posted earlier today for my thoughts on the matter:
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
Jeremiah 3:12-14 ESV
This reminded me of the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told in Luke 15:17-20 ESV
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Jeremiah 1:7 ESV
“But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”
Jeremiah 1:17-19 ESV
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When Everyone is Against You – FormerAtheist58
Goodness of God – Sounds like Reign
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I learned this great way to memorize scripture using both sides of blank index cards. It works GREAT for me. (I also love using my Bible Memory app) Check it out!
Interested in joining me in memorizing Colossians 3:1-17 ESV for the next few months? Leave a comment!
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
An EASY WAY to MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE with Index Cards. Colossians 3 ESV – FormerAtheist58
Your Words are Wonderful – Sovereign Grace Music
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Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 144, Isaiah 19-21
GOD CALLS FOR A FAITHFUL WATCHMAN.
He did it in Isaiah’s day, and in Ezekiel’s day, and I think He’s still doing it today. Are we faithfully watching and speaking? Are we trustworthy ambassadors for the kingdom of Christ?
For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees. When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.”
Then he who saw cried out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights. And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”
O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.
Isaiah 21:6-10 ESV
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”
Ezekiel 33:1-9 ESV
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20 ES
God Calls for a Faithful Watchman – FormerAtheist58
House of the Lord – Phil Wickham
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Read the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 143, Isaiah 17-18
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
Isaiah 17:10a ESV
I have a terrible memory. Ask my husband. Ask my children. Ask my sister. I have to make lists and take photos and set alarms. But I don’t want to forget about my good, good Father!
Satan does not need to make us bank robbers or murderers to destroy us. It is quite enough to simply make us forget. We can forget because of sleepiness, we can forget because of a lack of attention, we can forget because we are distracted. Satan doesn’t care much about how he does it, but he does want us to forget the God of our salvation.
David Guzik
Here are a few ideas from my own life.
Tips for REMEMBERING the God of Your Salvation – FormerAtheist58
My Life is Proof of What Jesus Can Do – Stephen McWhirter
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 74, Psalm 19
This semester, I’m memorizing Psalm 19 with our local Community Bible Study group. Psalm 19:10 says that God’s Word is to be desired MORE THAN gold, MORE THAN much FINE GOLD, which reminded me of something I learned when I was in Ohio this fall at a training conference for LifeWise program directors. They mentioned that one reason it’s hard to ask people for financial support is because our nation idolizes money; therefore, we treat it like an idol, tiptoeing around it and fearful of getting too close to it. Ouch.
In his book, “The Watchmen,” Mark Cahill wrote, “People traveled all across America to get to the West Coast for the Gold Rush, but would you walk two steps over to your bookcase and crack open the eternal Word of God which is more precious than gold?” Double ouch.
How often do we choose the pursuit of money over the pursuit of God?
Which reminds me of Revelation 3:15-18, a passage I memorized last year with Community Bible Study, during our study of Revelation.
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Would you like to work on hiding God’s Word in your heart, too? Here are some graphics I created for Psalm 19:7-10 to help me (and the youth) commit it to memory.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Psalm 19:7a
Psalm 19:7b
Psalm 19:8a
Psalm 19:8b
Psalm 19:9a
Psalm 19:9b
Psalm 19:10
If you’d like a printable PDF of all the graphics, you can download it here.
Let’s pursue the TREASURE of God’s precious Word, faithfully and diligently storing it up in our heart, that we might not sin against Him.
If you’d like to support my local LifeWise program, I’d certainly appreciate it. Click here for my local program, or click here to find a program in your area.
Psalm 19 – Sounds like Reign
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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 5; Joshua 1
Growing up, I fought a persistent battle with fear, especially fear of death. As an atheist, my life was the mere result of random chance. I thought I was the master of my own fate, and I knew I was not a very good master. I was just one of five billion people in the world, weak in both the physical and moral sense of the word.
Fear is the natural by-product of a lack of faith in a good, all-powerful God.
As God prepares Joshua for his new job as leader of the Israelite nation, God is so kind to remind Joshua that He is going with him and that He is a promise-keeping God.
Friends, if you are a child of God, God is with you, too. He will not leave you or forsake you. He is with you WHEREVER you go. But you need to be strong and courageous to do the things He has called you to do.
If he wants to reach the Promised Land, Joshua will have to step into the rushing Jordan River. Likewise, if you want to follow God, you will have to take that first step of obedience.
That first step is often the scariest. Speaking up when it’s easier to be silent. Knocking on a new neighbor’s door. Saying goodbye to a boyfriend who’s no good for you. These are hard things, but if we never take that first step we will never see where the road leads. And taking that first scary step is oh so much less frightening when you know that the Lord has called you to it, and that He is with you.
I’m praying for you.
Heavenly Father, please help us to take that first step of obedience, to strike out into the unknown. Help us to be strong and courageous, believing without a doubt that You will never leave us or forsake us, that You are with us wherever we go. Please guide us by Your Holy Spirit. Convict us of our sin, our sins of unbelief, cowardice, and complacency. Help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. For the glory of Your Name, and in the power of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
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