Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images a from the group Unspoken singing their song … Call It Grace … poignantly singing of God’s grace, which often has to be consumed like bitter medicine.
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Highlight Verse: Jeremiah 7:2 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’”
… When we enter into God’s House of Worship we are to do so living in accord with His commandments.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Jeremiah 7:1-11 … USE THIS LINK …
… God thru the Prophet Jeremiah rebukes His children to live according to His commandments.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … John 14:21 …
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
… Jesus makes it clear to whom He will manifest Himself … only to those whose heartfelt desire is keep His commandments.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … Hebrews 12: 3-7 … USE THIS LINK …
… God is our Heavenly Father; and He will deal with His children as a father who loves his kids and chastens them as they need it.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Lawrence Darmani, refers to the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in teaching on living true to God’s will and His word. The ODB author writes: Jeremiah of old quizzed the people, “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury . . . follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’—safe to do all these detestable things?” (7:9–10).
… Like a bitter herb that heals malaria, his words were spiritually curative. When we hear hard words [of truth], instead of walking away, may we respond to their healing effect.
When you were a child, did you ever have to take medicine, doled out by a loving parent, which was bitter [see photo] … but was exactly what you needed for healing your ills? Well, quite often we hear a sermon, or take in God’s truth from His word, or hear a bitter rebuke from a friend, which we know, in our hearts, is needed but it’s bitter medicine at the time we take it in?
Do I sense a clear “Amen” from many reading here with me.
At times I most certainly have needed what the Prophet Jeremiah was called on to dole out in prophetic medicine to God’s children [see highlight passage]. They needed to hear of their hypocrisy and selfishness; and God gave them their bitter medicine of truth thru Jeremiah. And when we’re truly surrendered to Him, He will often have to do that for us as well.
So, if any reading here with me need to be cleansed or healed by some contrite confession [see the truth of 1John 1:9 or James 5:16], I pray we will take our healing medicine, no matter how bitter it is, to glorify the Loving Father Who gives it to us.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, give me my dose of Your love medicine today, no matter how bitter it may taste. ... Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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