DULL HEARTED
Suggested Reading: Jeremiah 51
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
Reynold photographed a Ugandan woman winnowing. Reynold and Kathy are there at present helping to bring church leaders together in several areas to help answer the prayer of Jesus for unity (John 17). In today's reading Jeremiah says that Babylon is "like a threshing floor" (51:33). This woman is standing on such a floor where the harvest is beaten with sticks and then exposed to a winnowing process to remove the chaff. You can see a bag of charcoal in the background ready for sale.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Jeremiah 51:17a
“Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge.”
It’s apparent that Jeremiah is trying to get God’s message through, not only to his own people, but to the Babylonians also. Jeremiah is doing his best to awaken the “dull hearted” and to impart knowledge, so he writes the words of this prophecy on a special scroll. Then he arranged to have the scroll taken to Babylon, read to the exiles who were already there, such as Daniel and the others, and then, with a stone tied to the scroll, sink it to the bottom of the Euphrates River which flows through the centre of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:63, 64). This picture would probably have been in Daniel’s mind as he opened his window toward Jerusalem three times each day and prayed (Daniel 6:10).
Any of us who take the time and exercise the discipline necessary to read and study the Word of God daily are definitely not “dull hearted” and are not “without knowledge.” For example, we can have our hearts stimulated and our knowledge increased by reading Revelation 17:1 to 18:24. Here we read of a yet future Babylon which symbolically represents an “Evil Empire” (to quote Ronald Reagan) opposed to God. Again, as in the prophecy of Jeremiah, the Lord urgently calls to His people by a Voice from Heaven, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” We, as believers in Jesus, the holy Son of God, have a message for the present time, which, if our hearts are not dull, we will heed! The Apostle quotes from Isaiah 52:11 and tells all followers of Jesus to “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean.” Paul is referring to the idols of the Greeks and Romans. Read 2 Corinthians 6:11-18. He’s not telling us to enter a monastery or join the Amish. Essentially he’s telling us to be faithful to God in the midst of a Babylonian world all around us.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I pray that You will help me not to be dull hearted. May I apply myself most diligently to the “knowledge” of You as You reveal Yourself through Your thoughts which are expressed in all the Scriptures. May my heart be inundated by Your Truth, always perceiving Truth with the insight gained through the knowledge of Jesus, the One who is the “Living Word,” the true and full Expression of what You have to say to Your human family. In His Name I pray, Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I am praying fervently early each morning that God, the Holy Spirit, will use this blog to stimulate hearts (the opposite to “dull hearted”) by providing a practical daily path to “knowledge.” That fisher of men from the Sea of Galilee, Peter, gave his reason for writing his letters. He urged people to “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets” (2 Peter 3:2a). I try to put myself in his shoes by remembering that the only written Word of God Peter had was his Hebrew Bible. He may or may not have been aware that he was writing a part of the Scriptures of the New Covenant of which Jeremiah had written. The Apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable…” Join me in reading Paul’s words about his Bible (the Scriptures of the First Covenant) found in 2 Timothy 3:14 to 4:5. This speaks to me about the importance of reading even the difficult Scriptures such as Jeremiah 50 and 51.
In the 730 blogs that are taking us on a journey through all the Scriptures, we are now at 627 posts. I ask every reader to help me to get the word out about these blogs. Remember that anyone can start at any point and two years hence will have completed the entire volume of the knowledge God wants us to read from His Word, the Bible. Readers can take what I have to say as relatively unimportant compared to the actual Bible readings. I started this the day after the 50th anniversary celebrations of the ministry known as Crossroads Christian Communications (for a short video of the inspiration for this blog click here). That time of giving God all the credit for what He has done over 50 years was on June 2, 2012. God willing, I’ll do my final blog this coming June 2nd. However, I’m told that all the blogs will be there in the blogosphere somewhere (I don’t have a clue where) forever! I’m more determined not to have a “dull heart” and to gain knowledge through reading and meditating on God’s Word!
Yours as faithfully as God has given me His grace to continue,
David
P.S. It occurs to me that anyone can go back to all the earlier blogs and find any specific reading suggestion and commentary. I’m asking my son, Ron, to explain here how we can do this on our computers. For example, Ron, show me how I can find the longest recorded message of Jesus in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. I know how to find this in my Bible, but how do I find the commentaries from those blogs of almost two years ago. Thank you my son!
OK…Ron here. If you go to www.100words.ca, you can type search words into the search bar at the top right, then hit “enter.” The results will show all of the blog posts with that particular word, and at the bottom of the results page you can click “older posts” to keep going back in time for that search. HOWEVER…if you want to be specific with a phrase or specific chapter of the Bible, then add “quotation marks” around the search words. For example, to find a blog regarding the Sermon on the Mount, you could put “Matthew 5” into the search bar (using quotation marks). Then the results will show ONLY the blogs where “Matthew” and “5” are used together in combination (otherwise, without quotation marks, it will show every blog where either “Matthew” or the number “5” was written). You could also put “Sermon on the Mount” in quotation marks. Hopefully that makes sense!
I am wondering about what the woman is winnowing. I would have thought that it would be wheat and that she was separating the wheat from the chaff. Should the bag not be a bag of what, not a bag of charcoal? May God continue to bless you as you proceed with this daily meditation. You, David, are an inspiration to all who see and see you as well as to those who read your words of encouragement each day.
Tried the search feature. It is a great way to find quick scripture reading reference and David’s subject commentaries! Thanks Ron for drawing attention to this useful tool. Perhaps one day there could be a similar photo library for Reynold’s photo’s and captions. Important to remain clear-hearted around viewing our present world as containing many Babylonian facets, especially after reading the last two chapters of Jeremiah. Perhaps the destructive results of Babylon and greater Chaldea, is perhaps one reason Jeremiah has been termed, “The Weeping Prophet.” Once again, thank you for shedding light on our daily scripture reading! Blessings to all involved!
Thank you for this daily study Rev. Mainse.
The pic of the lady separating out the chaff is lovely. She might be amazed to learn how that is done in North America.
It’s obvious I wouldn’t want God angry with me. The Jeremiah readings are enough to make people fear our heavenly Father…….a bit like our earthly fathers when they get angry.
Thanks Ron for the computer knowledge also. I remember telling my husband years ago that computers were going to become a tool of the future. He still has difficulty turning one on and treats it like its alive. Computers are such a wonderful technology for young and old. God has truly blessed man with such an instrument of bringing us together. Of course there’s evil in the computer world but also in the real world. Evil needs to be dealt with in Jesus name everywhere, but God is continually with us. Sorry….starting to sound like a sermon, but that’s how I feel about computers:-)
God bless.
I have also just tried this search tool for the first time on my Android cell phone. It worked fine and will be nice to use.
Blessings, George in Sask.
Good morning!
I don’t know if anyone read my suggestion of how to help get the word out of our Lord and Savi0ur, but I had suggested a link be put on 100 W0rds.ca t0 face b00k, my space, twitter and 0ther s0cial media sites. S0me 0ne may have read my suggesti0n and perhaps I didn’t read their resp0nse. Nevertheless it was 0nly a suggesti0n. S0 I h0pe I helped s0mewhat.
I d0 app0l0gize f0r the”0″ in the w0rds I type. S0mething seems t0 be wr0ng with my keyb0ard this m0rning. Take care. Vicky
Thank you for this new “manna” for today, and for all the past days, 627 posts!!! What a faithfulness to all those who make it happen. A great big “Thank You”.
Above all giving thanks to our Lord.
Thank you Ron for helping me out with this morning’s direction regarding the computer.
May the Lord’s blessings be upon you all!
Thank you many times over for this daily “food” which you have provided for us over these past 627 days Pastor David!!! I have been the recipient of this each and every day and my life has been immeasurably blessed as a result. I have learned so much. The photographs that have accompanied the readings have been outstanding. How it brings the Bible to life!!! Thank you so much Reynold!! Thanks to Ron, Ann and everyone who has input into this blog. God bless each and every one of you. The blog-buddies are like family. We don’t know each other but we can share with each other and build each other up!! What a blessing!!!!
Amen!
Hi….I started in Aug./12…and it’s been the ” best ever” starting my day before everything else…thank-you David and your wonderful family…and my wonderful fellow bloggers:-)
2 Timothy 4:3-5
Preach the Word
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Is indeed what is happening now in most places all over the world.
Lord please give us the knowledge to distinguish between the false and true teachings. Amen
Dear Mr. Mainse,
Yes, in agreement with my blog family thanking all who are involved in making this blog.
When I first signed up to receive this blog from the very beginning, I was a quiet, shy person of faith. A person from Crossroads called for me, My husband answered the phone. They asked how I was and was there something I needed prayer for.
I was shy and embarrassed, and didn’t mean to have them feel awkward,(I did).
I apologize to whomever this person was.
Having said this, I had a remaining year of needed prayer (thank you blog family). God answered !
I have since bought my husband a bible and my dad a bible, (Please pray for them that they will read their bibles). And for my family.
I witness to who will listen.
Praise God ! I am more bold, disciplined and obedient to Him.
God Bless 🙂
Diane 🙂
Loved the hymn!!
Thank you!!
Nancy xoxoxo
Praise you Heavenly Father!
May your Holy Spirit that dwells within us continue to grow and develop so that we can reach out with confidence and faith (knowing that you are a God of Miracles) as we pray for our brothers and sisters in each of their circumstances…
We pray for relationships especially where one knows you personally and not the other… For my family I pray for total and complete healing in the relationships between my daughter and her partner as well as for my son and his wife… Not only would you heal these relationships Lord Jesus but bless them as well…
For your honour and glory – In your precious name Jesus – AMEN!
Agree in prayer, Amen!
I have been so blessed by this blog and your teaching Pastor David, so I am not looking forward to June 2/14 if it means we will no longer have you provide for us the precious words of wisdom we have received from you and THe Word. I pray God will provide something to replace this blog and keep us a family in The Lord.
Everything about our blog with you Pastor David et al has made us feel like family and so we ask that you might consider a study of a certain book of the bible in depth that we might remain saints together in The Lord. Thank you.
Dear Catherine ,
Just wanted to mention to you that June the 2nd 2014 will end the two year journey of studying the bible from Genesis to Revelation . But God willing Rev. David M. has committed to start once more another 2 year of 100 Words daily blog.
Like you I am also looking forward to more teaching and sharing with all our sisters and brothers in Christ.
God bless you.
xxxx Carole.
Heavenly Father, I pray to You diligently that my heart seek Jesus the One and Only Living Word and all this made possible by the Power of the Holy Spirit . Thank you Jesus , thank you Lord for making this possible for all of us. Amen.
Dear Rev. David M. and Ron , thank you both of you for todays insight on this wonderful blog and as well as the understanding of the computer technology, often foreign for many of us of the past generation.
God bless you all.
xxxx Carole.
Boy! Those last chapters of Jeremiah are scary. I do tell people about the blog and some are happy to know about it. I do feel concerned though, about anyone just starting and reading those last chapters. I’m so glad that you plan to go on again after the 2 year period. I look forward to it everyday. Quite a journey.
Good idea Catherine I enjoy this blog so much ,I would sure miss it
I would sure like to study any part of Bible …R…