20080731

Romans 11 - Outline

v1-5
there's a remnant of Israel, saved by grace
v6-10
the rest were blinded
v11-16
to provoke them to jealousy
v17-22
be not highminded, but fear
v23-32
God is able to graff them in again
v33-36
glory to God forever

20080730

return with whole heart

Jeremiah 24

v7

And I will give them an heart to know me, that I [am] the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Jeremiah 24 compares people to very good figs, and figs that are so bad they can't be eaten. We should return to the Lord with our whole heart. Then we can be "good figs" :-)


20080729

speak His Word faithfully

Jeremiah 23

v28

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

Speaking the Lord's Word faithfully can cause people to turn and be saved. When the Lord gives us His Word to speak, we should speak it faithfully.

20080728

making people trust in a lie

Jeremiah 28

v15

Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.

Don't be telling people that the Lord says something, unless He really did... or you'll be sorry!

20080727

your neighbour's service

Jeremiah 22

v13

Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

If someone provides a service for us, we shouldn't wrongly use their work without paying them. When we're working on a project, we should build it by righteousness, not by wrong.

20080726

Execute judgment in the morning

Jeremiah 21

v12

O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.

We should do what's right early in the day, and in the morning.

20080725

He has delivered

Jeremiah 20

v13

Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

We should sing to the Lord and praise Him today.

20080724

because they wouldn't hear

Jeremiah 19

v15

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

This chapter talks about serious judgment for serious sin. We shouldn't be stubborn and uncaring about what the Lord says. We should be diligent to keep examining ourselves, and repent from our sins.

20080723

return ye now every one

Jeremiah 18

v11

Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

We should look at our lives, and consider what we need to change, in order to repent from our sin and walk closely with the Lord.

20080722

getting riches, not by right

Jeremiah 17

v11

[As] the partridge sitteth [on eggs], and hatcheth [them] not; [so] he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

I've been doing much work and school lately. This verse warning about getting riches by doing what's not right, is a good reminder again to make sure I'm painfully honest with my work.

20080721

Luke 18a - Key

v9

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

We shouldn't be like that.

Application

When I pray, I'll try to not brag about my righteousness or say bad things about other people.

20080720

imagination of an evil heart

Jeremiah 16

v12

And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

Don't imagine evil things or act from evil imaginations. Listen to the Lord.

20080719

rejoice in the Lord's Word

Jeremiah 15

v16

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

In a situation where it's difficult to rejoice, we should listen to the Lord's Word. We should rejoice to read the Bible and think about it.

20080718

Romans 10 - Key

v15

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

We should be glad about the gospel.

Application

I'll work on preaching the gospel cheerfully.

20080717

Romans 10 - Outline

v1-7
righteousness is not by the law
v8-13
the word of faith which we preach
v14-15
we should preach the gospel
v16-21
besides hearing the gospel, we must also obey it

20080716

acknowledge your wickedness

Jeremiah 14

v20

We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, [and] the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

When we get punished, we should repent and acknowledge our sin.

20080715

Luke 18 - Key

v39

And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on me.

The people rebuked the blind man for calling on the Lord. Sometimes when we set out to do something for the Lord, don't we turn back at the first little sign of adversity? Don't we actually feel relieved, like "Now I don't have to do that any more" because our heart wasn't really in it in the first place? That's not how the blind man responded.

We should be persistent.

Application

I'll pray persistently.

20080714

Luke 18 - Outline

Outline

v1-8
people ought to pray all the time and not faint
v9-14
we shouldn't trust in ourselves that we're good, or despise other people
v15-17
let little children come to the Lord
v18-30
leave riches and everything for the kingdom
v31-34
Jesus told about his suffering, death, and resurrection
v35-43
'your faith has saved you'

20080713

the imagination of their heart

Jeremiah 13

v10

This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

This chapter teaches that we shouldn't forget the Lord or trust in falsehood. We should glorify Him and not be proud.

This verse teaches that we shouldn't refuse to hear His Words. Especially, today I'll work on my imagination. We do we think about? We shouldn't walk in the imagination of our hearts.

20080712

this is nothing, comparatively

Jeremiah 12

v5

If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

When we have a hard time in our current situation, we should stand firm and not grow weary. The Lord may be preparing us for something in the future, maybe even harder. Maybe He's preparing us for the persecution at the end of the world.

If having a little trouble wears you out, in this nice gentle situation you have now, what are you going to do when there's real trouble?

20080711

rising early and protesting

Jeremiah 11

v7

For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day [that] I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, [even] unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.

We should pay attention to what the Lord says to us in the morning, and remember it.

20080710

beware of idolatry

Jeremiah 10

v2

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

We shouldn't learn to practice idolatry like people do who don't know the Lord.

20080709

know the Lord

Jeremiah 9

v24

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these [things] I delight, saith the LORD.

This chapter talks about knowing the Lord, and not knowing the Lord. Those who wouldn't know the Lord were speaking dishonestly, and not listening to what the Lord said or following it. The Lord is good, and we should know Him. That's worth being glad about, more than having wisdom, might, and riches is worth being glad about.

20080708

Luke 17 - Key

v15

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

We should learn from the 10 lepers, to remember to thank the Lord when He does something for us.

Application

When I'm not feeling content, it will help to thank the Lord for good things He's done for me. I'll work on that.

20080707

Luke 17 - Outline

v1,2
it's very bad to sin against a child
v3,4
rebuke, and many times forgive
v5,6
even if we only have a little bit of faith, we can do impossible things
v7-10
obeying the Lord isn't doing something special, it's just our duty
v11-19
only 1 out of 10 people came back to say thanks
v20-24
everyone will know for sure when the Lord returns
v25-33
the day will come suddenly and surprisingly, don't look back
v34-37
one person will be taken, and another person will be left behind

20080706

no man repented

Jeremiah 8

v6

I hearkened and heard, [but] they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Besides Jeremiah himself, and Ebedmelech, if he counts, (see Isaiah 39), wouldn't you think that somebody, at least one person, would repent? Out of the many thousands, or however many people there were in Judah at the time, I thought somebody would throw himself on the ground and weep and pray to God for mercy and forgiveness at least for himself. But no man repented. That's amazing.

Just because nobody else is repenting doesn't mean there's not a need for it. When the Lord speaks to convict of sin, you and I should be willing to be the only one person or few people that are willing to repent, if we need to be.

20080705

imagination of an evil heart

Jeremiah 7

This chapter starts out talking about the Lord's house. We can't trust in having a place where the Lord's name is, and say, "We will be fine" even though we do horrible things just because we have that place. The Lord has destroyed places He put His name, with horrible destruction, because of their sin.

The chapter continues to talk about sacrifices, and how doing sacrifices to the Lord wouldn't do the people any good. That's because they were doing sacrifices, thinking that would help them, but they weren't listening to the Lord or following Him! They were walking in sin. Originally, the Lord didn't command the sacrifices, but He commanded obedience. (v23)

v24

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels [and] in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Maybe I'm not stealing or killing, or things like that, but have I had evil imaginations in my heart? That's sin. We should make sure our thoughts are right.

20080704

delight in the Word

Jeremiah 6

v10

To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear [is] uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

We shouldn't be like the people of Jerusalem in this period of time. They had no delight in the Word of the Lord. We shouldn't look at the Word of the Lord like something boring we have to study. We should have delight in it.

20080703

faces harder than a rock

Jeremiah 5

v3

O LORD, [are] not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, [but] they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Have you every seen little children stubbornly refusing to receive correction? Doesn't it seem foolish? But we could refuse to repent the same way. We shouldn't be stubborn like that.

20080702

seek the Lord

Jeremiah 4

v8

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

We should seek the Lord to deliver us from the judgment for our sins.

20080701

Luke 16 - Key

v10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Instead of being glum because of my circumstances, and often thinking about how they could be better, I should do the best I can with what I have. When the Lord sees me being faithful with what I have, then He might give me more.

Application

I'll work on being diligent with my schedule and not wasting time.

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