The Weeping Prophet, Day 21 What do we deserve? Read Jeremiah chapter 21. In these verses, we see the people of Israel make a decision to come and ask God to save them. The king and the leaders recognize that they have nothing to stand on to be able to ask God for such a thing, but they ask him anyway. However, their sin has been so great that God tells them he’s going to give them what they deserve. So often we think about the idea of what we deserve. We have this notion that we deserve to have good things happen to us, like positive experiences and results…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 20 Must share God’s message. Read Jeremiah chapter 20. Jeremiah has been beaten. God has delivered a message of destruction to Jeremiah’s captor. However, Jeremiah is still deeply frustrated and tired of being the one to share news of judgment all the time. Jeremiah complains to the Lord explaining his frustrations and how tired of this message he is. Jeremiah tells God that he doesn’t like the message and he doesn’t like sharing it anymore. However, Jeremiah recognizes that he can’t not share. It sounds like he even has tried to not share, but the message inside him overwhelms him and is bursting forth from him.…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 19 The people are stiff-necked. Read Jeremiah chapter 19. The Lord continues to give Jeremiah another message. This time, Jeremiah again gives a demonstration along with the words of God to explain what he is doing. After showing the people the demonstration, God explains that he is going to bring the destruction that he has mentioned because the people are stiff necked and will not make the changes or repentance needed. Are we open to the messages of God? Are we willing to be moved by what we read in his word and hear from his word? Do we make change based on his word? The…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 18 God has the right to remake us. Read Jeremiah chapter 18. God shares with Jeremiah a very important picture. The Potter had the right to make the clay into whatever he deemed was appropriate based upon the best use of the clay. In exactly the same way, God has the right to make and remake us into exactly what he desires us to be. In some cases, some of us tend more towards certain projects or purposes and others to other things. God knows the very best way that he can be glorified through the life of each and every one of us. Our job…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 17 Who do we trust? Read Jeremiah chapter 17. In this chapter, God contrasts the difference between trusting in man and trusting in God. Most people put their trust in what they can see and what they can experience for themselves. They put their trust in themselves or in their own abilities. God understands that we are all flawed. We are all sinful. So the question becomes, do we want to put our trust into something that will fail, or do we want to put our trust in God? God reminds the people that he is perfect and holy. He’s the one worthy of our trust.…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 16 Lessons from the Lord. Read Jeremiah chapter 16. As we see Jeremiah sharing, we understand that the Lord has more to teach us. As Jeremiah continues to share about the upcoming judgment, the Lord explains the importance of learning from him. We do not know what we should do. Sometimes it can be hard to admit that but we are not born knowing or understanding how to please God. We are born sinful. God is the one who teaches us how we can better follow him follow him. Are we seeking to learn from the Lord the Lord no matter what the circumstance? Do we…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 15 The opinions of others. Read Jeremiah chapter 15. Through this chapter we see yet again God’s description of judgment on his people. However, we get some interesting insight into Jeremiah in this chapter. Jeremiah has been sharing God’s word. He has been telling the people everything that God told him, and he loved God’s word and cherished it more than anything else. We see that in verse 16. However, Jeremiah was struggling. The people hated him. This verse that is highlighted here, we see that people hated him even more than they would have hated someone that owed them money. Jeremiah was a disgrace to…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 14 We are sinful. Read Jeremiah chapter 14. The Lord continues to speak to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah continues to answer. However, there have been a multitude of false prophets telling the people that everything’s OK. That they have nothing to worry about and they’re not bad people. However, the Lord reminds the people that they are, in fact, extremely sinful. Those prophets that are sharing false messages are going to end up suffering for their sin. The real question then becomes how do the people view their own sin? As we end this chapter, we see written true repentance as Jeremiah is sharing with the people…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 13 How the Weeping Prophet gets his name. Read Jeremiah chapter 13. God continues to share with Jeremiah ways in which he can tell the people of the coming destruction. Jeremiah tries to demonstrate to the people with examples and visual aids. God is not playing around. God intends to destroy the people that have not been obedient to him. Still, Jeremiah can’t help but feel sorry and desperately wish that the people would do something different. He explains how after their destruction, he would weep and wail and moan because of all that the people have lost. What do we think about those people that…

The Weeping Prophet, Day 12 Why do good things happen to bad people? Read Jeremiah chapter 12. Jeremiah comes to the Lord and asks a question that many of us have desperately wondered about through the years. Why does God allow bad people to seem to flourish and have good things happen to them? Jeremiah is looking around at the people and he sees the evil and the wickedness of the disobedience, yet he sees how they have prospered and how good things have happened to them. God answers his question and shares with him that judgment is coming and God will utterly and completely judge the actions of others.…