Jeremiah 7:1-8 (NIV) This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2  “Stand at the gate of the can be assured of recognizing the true church— and no one ought to be separated from it Summary Jeremiah Jeremiah lived in a time when temple worship was at the center of his society. Dig Deeper The message God had Jeremiah proclaim to those who showed up at the temple was simple. The message God gave Jeremiah thousands of years ago remains just as relevant today.

Summary "The word of the LORD came to me," writes Jeremiah. We do know that Jeremiah was young when this occurred, if only because Jeremiah tries to use his youth Of course the LORD didn't come to consult Jeremiah's opinion about the situation. Before Jeremiah's unfortunate response, God told him that Jeremiah's prophecy had been planned for long God gives him something much more powerful: He gives Jeremiah His Word.

Summary Chances are you have Jeremiah 29:11 inscribed on something in your house, whether it's a piece Even so, the Word He brought through Jeremiah still holds true: He will gather you, His covenant child

Jeremiah, who penned the letter, did his duty as a messenger of God's Word. Jeremiah does just that.

God gave the same promise to Jeremiah that He gave to Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and many others.

you look at the context today's passage comes in, you'll immediately notice how dark and depressing Jeremiah's Sadly, Israel ignored Jeremiah. What will you do with him?

Can you trust your friends & family? Are you sure? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 112 Q. What is God’s will for you in the ninth commandment? A. God’s will is that I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join in condemning anyone without a hearing or without a just cause. Rather, in court and everywhere else, I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind; these are devices the devil himself uses, and they would call down on me God’s intense anger. I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And I should do what I can to guard and advance my neighbor’s good name. Summary Sometimes the best way to know something is to study its opposite. In other words, if we want to understand what it means to "love the truth and speak it candidly," we can begin by examining the consequences of doing the opposite: what happens when people who "taught their tongues to lie... and in their deceit refused to acknowledge the Lord (v5-6)?" As we see so often in scripture, there's a direct link between your tongue and your overall actions. The truthfulness of your words is directly correlated to the honesty of your daily living. As God describes it, a life steeped in deceit has terrible consequences: trust is shattered and slander abounds. Even as the people "all speak cordially to their neighbors, in their hearts they set traps for them (v8)." Israel's descent into falsehood left God no choice. "What else can I do?" asks God in v7, "I will refine and test them." He continues, "Should I not punish them for this? ...Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" In many ways, the constant lies and deception you are bombarded with - both from the media and from the people around you - are nothing new. But be on guard: Know that God will punish people severely, both in this life and the next, who continually exchange the truth for a lie. Dig Deeper Truth is much more than giving an accurate accounting or a correct definition. Truth is a bedrock upon which a solid community can be built, but that solid bedrock quickly turns to shifting sand when truth is replaced with deception. When that happens, you can't trust even your friends or family, because no one speaks the truth (v4-5). Although deception can take many forms, it always springs from the same source. God refers to this source twice in today's passage: "in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me (v3, 6)." When people lose their knowledge of God, they lose their grip on truthfulness, and it doesn't take long after that for entire societies to implode. The best way to reverse our own society's implosion is to restore people's knowledge of God so that they turn to Him in repentance and once again find solid footing in the bedrock of truth. And the best way for you to restore other people's knowledge of God is to continue building up your own! You can't stop other people from sliding unless you're firmly planted in the truth! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD God, who will punish those who do not acknowledge Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your knowledge of God will increase so that your influence will cause others to find the bedrock of truth once again; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 9

Faithlife.com Nehemiah has heard that those who've returned from exile to Jerusalem Nehemiah 1:4–11 (ESV) 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and Instead of wallowing in despair, Nehemiah turns to the LORD in prayer. Like a lot of other biblical prayers, Nehemiah begins by telling God about God. Doing so, of course, helps Nehemiah (and us) to put everything into perspective.

But notice what it is that brings Jeremiah relief. In other words, Jeremiah knew his theology well. Jeremiah writes that the compassions of our covenant God never fail . Dig Deeper Jeremiah's tremendous confidence was based on his theology, but even though Jeremiah was that Jeremiah knew about God's faithfulness, he only knew a fraction of God's love.

Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem’s broken walls and mourned, fasted, and prayed before the LORD. Despite opposition, mockery, threats, and internal injustice among the people, Nehemiah led with prayer Nehemiah 8:1–12 (ESV) 8 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah Even so, Nehemiah encourages the people not to weep, but to have joy, to celebrate, for the joy of the