datethewordtest

Tag: Jeremiah

  • Verse to DATE the Word on October 6 (10/6) is Jeremiah 10:6

    “In as much as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great,
    and Your name is great in might).” – Jeremiah 10:6
    How GREAT Thou Art

    Every now and then we need to be reminded HOW GREAT GOD IS! The word “GREAT”  can be defined as considerably above average. It really conveys preeminence. It conveys being the best. We now use the term GOAT to say one is the GREATEST OF ALL TIME. 

    I find as I write that for me to use GOAT to describe God seems weird but using today’s word – GOD IS THE GREATEST OF THE “GOATS.” He has been and always will be the GREATEST OF ALL TIME!! There is none like Him – no one and none even close to being like Him. 

    As you consider Jeremiah 10:6 know that the greatness of God is seen throughout the Bible. Here are just a few verses. 
    Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
    2 Samuel 7:22  “Therefore You are great, O LORD GOD. For [there is] none like You, nor is there any God besides You,”
    Psalm 95:3  For the LORD [is] the great God, And the great King above all gods.
    Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 
    Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite. 
    Psalm 35:10 All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like You, Deliveringthe poor from him who is too strong for him, Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?” 

    By the way, what are your BONES saying today as you consider God?  

    Not only with your bones but with your whole being I cry out HOW GREAT THOU ART!! There is no one like our GREAT GOD

    Recognizing God’s greatness should impact our praise as 1 Chronicles 16:25 says, “For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised.  It should also impact our prayers.  When Nehemiah began to pray He acknowledged that he was praying to his GREAT and awesome God.  Nehemiah 1:5 And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God.  It should also impact us as we face struggles.  As Nehemiah and the people rebuilding the wall faced enormous challenges Nehemiah told them to REMEMBER THE LORD – who is GREAT and awesome.   

    Our verse to DATE the Word on October 6 (10/6) is Jeremiah 10:6. It says, “In as much as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great in might).” 

    How does the fact that God is GREAT impact your life?  

    Continue Strong KNOWING God is good and God is GREAT,
    And remember to DATE the Word

  • Verse to DATE the Word on September 24 (9/24) is Jeremiah 9:24

    “But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am
    the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.
    For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” – Jeremiah 9:24
    HUMBLED TO BE ABLE TO KNOW GOD and GROW to KNOW HIM MORE

    To better understand Jeremiah 9:24 we need to back up to verse 23 where we read, “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  

    What do you truly value?  Being honest with ourselves we tend to focus on the wrong things as we value ourselves and compare ourselves to others.   We place a premium on academics and intelligence, on how smart we are.  We place a premium on strength, on how powerful we are.  We place a premium on wealth, on how rich we are.   Worldly standards easily become our standards for self-worth and social standing.  

    But in light of eternity, those things don’t matter.  As my grandmother would say, “They are not worth a hill of beans.”  

    From Jeremiah 9:24 we learn what really matters as God tells us that knowing Him and having a growing understanding of WHO He is should be the thing that excites us the most.  Our hearts should be filled with joy that we get to know and grow in our understanding of God.  As well it should be one of the most humbling experiences we have to even think we can know God.  As David wrote in Psalm 8:4 “What is man that You are mindful of him?”

    Focusing on the right things, the important things means focusing on things to can increase, not decrease. Don’t give yourself to things that decline.  Wealth and works and worldly wisdom and worldly pleasures don’t last.  Sooner or later there will be someone richer, someone more superior, someone smarter.  Yet when value is placed on growing in knowledge and understanding of God and who He is we find we out what our real value is and, (oh, watch this) we add value to others.  Learning about God helps us to LIVE like God!   As He delights in LOVE and JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS, we delight in showing love, doing justice, and practicing righteousness!  

    Are you growing in knowing God and what His character is? Are you excited about this precious privilege to know and understand our GOD?   Are you excited, honored as well as humbled to know Him and make Him known? 

    DATE the Word on September 24 (9/24) with Jeremiah 9:24. It says, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  

    Let us value what increases, not decreases.

    Continue Strong growing in knowing God and making Him known!  
    And remember to DATE the Word!

  • Verse to DATE the Word on September 1 (9/1) is Jeremiah 9:1

    “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might
    weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” – Jeremiah 9:1
    Weeping for a Change!

    Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet! It broke his heart to see God’s people in rebellion. In Jeremiah 13:17 he wrote, “But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.”  Here in our verse to DATE, he is basically praying that he could weep more for his people.  To see and experience the pain that God’s people were going through because of their sin, broke the heart of Jeremiah.

    WHAT BRINGS YOU TO TEARS? As you see and hear of the brokenness of this world does your heart break? As you see the brokenness of your community, and/or neighborhood/neighbors, and/or your family, and/or your country, does your heart break? Are there things you see and hear that bring you to tears – yes to weeping?  

    I am challenged by Jeremiah to weep over the sins of people.  I am challenged also by the Apostle Paul.  When we read of how he did ministry in Acts 20:31 we read of a man that shed tears for lost souls.  Acts 20:31 says, “Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears.”

    What are you shedding tears for this day? What is breaking your heart so much that you weep?  Let us remember the principle from Psalm 126:6 about the value of weeping.  Psalm 126:6 says, “He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”   Are you weeping over lost souls?

    A great prayer to pray is Lord, break my heart with the things that are breaking Your heart!  As your eyes are opened to see what is breaking God’s heart you will begin to weep and weeping will then lead you to work to make a difference for the Lord!

    Verse to DATE the Word on September 1 (9/1) is Jeremiah 9:1. It says, “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”

    Personal note: Preaching a revival years ago I was standing by the doorway to the platform as the choir members were going out in front of me.  As Mrs. Martin came by me, she paused and said with tears in her eyes, “I have been praying all day for my son to get saved.”   At the invitation, her son came forward and told me he wanted to get saved!  That mom’s weeping won her son to the Lord!  Let us be weeping for a change!

    Continue Strong weeping for lost souls to be saved,
    And remember to DATE the Word

  • Verse to DATE the Word on July 23 (7/23) is Jeremiah 7:23

    “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be
    your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have
    commanded you, that it may be well with you.” – Jeremiah 7:23
    Trust and Obey

    Our wonderful, loving, great, and glorious God looks for His people to OBEY! It is a theme spoken over and over.  The first time we see God’s call to obey Him is in Exodus as from Exodus 19:5 we read “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”  Throughout Deuteronomy, one will read of the calls to OBEY God.  Here are but a few examples:
    Deut. 12:28  “Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do [what is] good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
    Deut. 13:4  “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
    Deut. 15:5  “Only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today.

    Obedience opens doors of blessings while disobedience brings burdens accompanied by heartache and pain which sometimes comes from the discipline of God, but more often from the very consequences of the sin.  

    When it comes to how much God VALUES obedience, we only have to read what Samuel said to King Saul in I Samuel 15:22. It reads, “Then Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,..”  OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE.
     
    Our God also wants us to walk in His ways. We are not to walk the ways of the world or surely not in the selfish ways of our own hearts.   To walk in His ways is to WALK WITH HIM and to WALK LIKE HIM!

    Are you obeying His commands? Are you walking in the ways of God?

    Sometimes as I read a verse a song comes to mind and with Jeremiah 7:23 I can’t help but think of Trust and Obey.  Here is a portion of that hymn:
    When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way!
    While we do His good will, He abides with us still And with all who will trust and obey!
    Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet Or we’ll walk by His side in the way
    What He says we will do, where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey!
    Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!

    Verse to DATE the Word on July 23 (7/23) is Jeremiah 7:23. It says, “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.”

    Obedience opens doors of BLESSINGS!  Disobedience brings burdens!

    Continue Strong trusting and OBEYING GOD,
    And remember to DATE the Word