…falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord. —Jeremiah 9:3 Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity. Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the Lord. —Jeremiah 9:5-6 In October of 2012 if was reported that 20% of Americans claimed no religion compared to 15 percent five years previously (http://www.alternet.org/belief/number-atheists-us-spikes-protestants-minority-first-time). “The growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans – sometimes called the rise of the “nones” – is…

“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. —Jeremiah 8:8 How many people in your local church are really disciples of Jesus Christ? These would be people who are growing and sharing their faith, being obedient to the Lord. I was with a church with about 100 people recently and I asked that question. The leadership told me, “Probably 10 and that is on the high side.” On top of that many people in this church were following TV personalities that are teaching false doctrine. That church is…

“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. —Jeremiah 7:16 They were in a life or death situation when they made the phone call. “Please, please, someone pick up the phone,” but nobody did… There is a time when the Lord does not want us to pray because He will not answer. In the case above Judah had crossed a line and the Lord told Jeremiah not to pray for them. The people were doing their own thing and would not listen to what the prophet Jeremiah had…

…for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. —Jeremiah 2:13 Take your pick. Drink water from an icy cold, cascading mountain stream or from a bucket with holes in it that cannot hold any water. As soon as you put water in the bucket it immediately runs out and is empty. Why is it that when people have the choice to “drink” of the Lord they rather “drink” from other empty things that cannot quench their inner thirst? It is because of spiritual blindness, satanic influence, pride, selfishness, rebellion…

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” —Jeremiah 1:4-5 The builder knew what he was going to do before he began the construction. Even before the building was completed he set it apart for special purposes. He then appointed the building to be the special place of relaxation for him and his family. This had been planned for years and now it had come to pass. The verses above make it very clear. It is the Lord God Almighty who forms…

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. —Zephaniah 1:18 Climate change is going to destroy the earth! Or, is it global warming and the world is going to bake? Or were they right in the 1970’s that it was global cooling and we were going to freeze http://denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf. One thing is for sure according to the verse above is that no amount of money will deliver mankind from…

The workers labored faithfully. —II Chronicles 34:12 When the boss was around they did their work as they were supposed to, but when the boss was not around they slacked and fooled around. They did not faithfully do their work when he was not directly overseeing them. They were slackers! What about us? Are we faithful in the work the Lord has given to us? Whether we are in school at any level or in the workplace, at home or among His people, the church, are we faithfully laboring for the Lord Jesus? The context of the verse above is when King Josiah sent workers to repair and restore the…

Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts… —Nahum 3:5 The recent targeting of conservative groups by the IRS illustrates how the powerless can be at the mercy of the powerful. In the case of the IRS, they used their power in a very abusive way. Anyone who gets a notice from them is truly concerned, especially when they are against those who do not line up with their values. Power— it can be used abusively or under control to carry out specific purposes. If the verse above there are words that nobody should want to hear the Lord say—“I am against you.” The Lord God Almighty does…

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” —Psalm 46:10 Wars, terrorism, nations coming against nations, crime and the lack of love around the world can unsettle a person or they just ignore what is going on because it does not directly affect them. Others see everything as impending doom and a crisis to be dealt with right now. The verse above encourages us just to stop and consider Who really is in control. Do you truly know that He is God and that He is Sovereign? Then you can experience a quietness and peace that…

But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit… —Isaiah 63:10 Parental hearts are grieved over the rebellion of a child. None but a parent can experience such pain as they observe their offspring making wrong choices which bring upon themselves the natural consequences of those choices. For a child to make the choice to live a worldly life instead of being a godly follower of Jesus is a heartache no godly parent wants to experience. Yet, it is quite possible for a follower of Jesus to grieve the Holy Spirit of God as well. We are told in Ephesians 4:29-32, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your…