Scripture: Jeremiah 7.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Jeremiah 7:9-11 (NLT)
⁹ Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,
¹⁰ and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!” – only to go right back to all those evils again?
¹¹ Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

As I read a few chapters in Jeremiah this morning I felt like I was always finding negative words to share from my studies. The bottom line though, is that God does not tolerate sin, and He is bold in telling us when we are wrong. The truth is that these verses sounds so much like what the church today is practicing. Too often we act like the devil all week, with little regard for the Savior that we claim as our Lord, then when we come to worship, we dress up and become such a different person. Why do you suppose we do that? Do we think for a moment that we are changing our image because we don’t want God to see us in rare form like we were all week? If for a moment we feel like that then we are obviously saying that God must be in a little box up on or near the pulpit and that He only gets to look down on us while we are in the four walls of our church sanctuary. Friend, I don’t know about you, but my God is a lot bigger than that. I can call on Him at any time and anywhere that I may be. If He is there in my time of need, then my bet is that He is there when we mess up also. We don’t need to pretend to be a different person at church time than we are at any other time of the week. In the last part of verse 11 we are reminded that surely God sees all that is going on in our lives, yes even the evil. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we may often feel like we become perfect like God is perfect. Unfortunately, as long as we remain here on planet earth, that will not be the case. However friend, what it does mean is that we become much more aware of our sin and can immediately speak with God, ask His forgiveness and ask for guidance to help us avoid sin and its ugly affect on our lives. The longer we serve Him, read His Word and seek His guidance, the more we can become like Him.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, thank You for the reminder that my life is an open book to You. I apologize that it is not always as perfect as it should be, however I know that You are fully aware of my heart’s desire to follow Your example and therefore look more like You every day in the things that I say and the way that I may act. I pray that You may work such a miracle in my life that others may truly see and feel Your love in me and through the things that I may say or do, and that this would all be for Your ultimate glory. Please forgive me for those times that I have sinned and acted in a way that was not pleasing to You. Your guidance and ongoing leadership in my life is paramount in helping me to become more like You every day. Thank You for the assurance of knowing that You will be with me in all things and at all times.

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
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