- I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. Jeremiah 23:21-22 – The Lord was making His message clear to His people, not all the prophets speaking to them were from Him. Judah had an abundance of prophets sharing the dreams and messages “from the Lord” that they had received. The messages though were not from the Lord, but from their own heart guided by their selfish desires. Yet because their messages were ones of peace and prosperity, no one wanted to dismiss their words. The issue was God did not send them. These prophets ran to the people saying things God never directed them to say. The Lord though said that if they had just taken time to stand before me and listened, then He would have given them His words. His words to His people. If you ever hear me preach you’ll notice I always begin with a prayer that says I want what comes out of my mouth to be God’s word to God’s people to God’s glory. What we say when speaking about the Lord to others should never be our words for our glory, but God’s words to His people for His glory alone. This is something the prophets in Jeremiah’s day got mixed up, let’s be sure the proclaimers of His word today don’t have such a mix up. Speak today God’s word to God’s people. Spend time in the council of the Lord by reading scripture and prayer, then take what He has told you and share His good news with those around you. All of God’s word needs to be shared with all people all for the glory of God. Today can be the day this starts. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3253
- Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Jeremiah 23:23 – This for us needs to be a verse that inspires us to keep moving forward in our pursuit of God. We see here that God is close to us. He’s not distant from our struggle or from our story, He’s always close and always there. The source of everything we need is always close to us. This passage though should also inspire us to live pure and holy lives. The very next verse speaks of if God is so close, how can we hide anything from Him? It’s an amazing blessing to have God and all He brings to us close to us, yet at the same time we must realize He is seeing everything we do. How then does this truth of understanding God sees all you do because He is so close make you feel? What parts need to change in your life because you thought they were hidden somehow from God’s view? Let’s make sure all that God sees from us is pure and holy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 942
- Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” Jeremiah 23:16-17 – This will most likely be a message you already know, but it’s important to be reminded of this…don’t listen to every voice that is speaking into you. Especially when it comes to those who carry the label pastor. While it shouldn’t be the case, not every pastor is preaching the fullness of God’s word like they are called to. Please as well don’t just immediately assume that means megachurch pastors either. There are pastors with thousands coming to their churches who are bringing to word so faithfully and there are pastors who have a couple dozen attending that are speaking as falsely as the prophets in Jeremiah’s time. Don’t let the size of a church be what discerns for you if they are teaching correctly. How then can you tell? Well, the very next verse can help….v.18 – “For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?” As boldly as they may be on stage they must be all the more boldly approaching the council of the Lord to hear from Him. For how vital coming before the council of the Lord is to them is how vital you should take their words. While in today’s church of online pastors it’s hard to figure this out exactly, I encourage you to approach the Lord to hear His word and then if what you’re hearing matches up with what God is speaking, then that’s a solid sign that pastor is seeking the council of the Lord too. Longer devotion today, but with how much of Jeremiah’s calling was centered around false priests and prophets, we too should be aware characters like this are still around. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2155
Daily DEVO 