THE PRIZE
Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 39-41
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
This statue of Cola Di Rienzo was erected in 1877 near Campidoglio, Italy, where he was killed. Di Rienzo was an Italian medieval politician and popular leader in the mid-14th century. As far as we know, the people of Jerusalem did not make sculptures of their most famous leaders, otherwise there would’ve been statues of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah. These men all accomplished great things, unlike the king in today’s reading who was disgraced and executed by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Jeremiah 39:18
“…For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord.
Our key verse gives us the eternal perspective of God as He sees the future deliverance of His people. This should help us to realize that when we put our trust in God, regardless of present circumstances, we’ll eventually win the “Gold.”
Chapter 39 – After 18 months of siege, the Babylonians broke through Jerusalem’s walls, burned the city, captured King Zedekiah, killed his sons in front of him, blinded him and took him to Babylon in chains, never to return to Jerusalem. Such was the end of one who had repeatedly heard the Word of God but ignored it. Zedekiah brought this on himself. God had done His best through Jeremiah to warn the King (2 Kings 25:4-7).
Chapters 40 & 41 show us why Jeremiah won God’s prize for his life. The Babylonians released him from Zedekiah’s prison and offered him position, land and freedom in Babylon, but he chose to stay home and minister to those left behind in the ruins of their country, where wicked and violent men such as Ishmael were creating continued havoc. Our choices also should be to stay where we are most needed, serving the Lord faithfully.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I pray that I will consistently do my very best to win the prize of life, here and now, as well as eternally. Lord, Your Word tells me that my works will be “revealed by fire.” The “wood, hay and straw” will be burned up, but the “gold, silver and precious stones” will remain (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). I’m asking for grace to “strive for the prize.” In the Name of the One Who has gone before me, the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I cannot help but recall the first gathering ever of the leaders of various Christian denominations in the history of communist Russia and the former 14 additional republics of the Soviet Union. Undeservedly, I was invited to be the speaker at two nights of this conference. With the help of a Finnish ministry, we had earlier released across the Soviet Union the first ever Christian-produced TV series in the Russian language on prime time television. I had the privilege on these telecasts of interviewing leading scientists, philosophers, etc. about God’s creation. The USSR was officially atheist, and our goal was to create doubt in the minds of those who believed that God did not exist. As was the case with Jeremiah, pastors had been severely persecuted. One pastor I met had badly twisted fingers on his right hand. I asked him what happened. He said that the local authorities had broken his fingers, one at a time, to try to make him deny his faith in God, but he refused. I felt like crawling under the table at which we were sitting. I was not worthy to be in his presence, let alone be the guest preacher. I weep at the memory.
Yours for striving for the “gold” that will remain through the fire,
David
P.S. Prior to the invasion of Iraq (Chaldea/Babylon) by the American coalition of nations, billboards were everywhere which pictured the brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein, with his hero, Nebuchadnezzar.
Saddam Hussein and King Nebuchadnezzar on a billboard in Iraq. This modern would-be emperor tortured and murdered tens of thousands of his people. He allowed his sons to have “rape rooms” to which they took any woman that they wanted. This was evil personified!
What an amazing opportunity David & Crossroads had at that time to put doubt re: atheistic belief in Russia. Amazing also, the pastor who suffered so severely when he would not deny Christ. I pray for that courage and commitment also. Praying for the boarder crossings in Canada(U.S. also, that The State of Emergency declared will bring solution to the chaos, in Jesus Name. Blessings all.
Agreeing with you in prayer. Amen
Agreeing with you in prayer, Doreen. Amen. 🙏
Sorry to get political, but we are living in extraordinary times in Canada…
Speaking of the “State of Emergency”, we’ve been going through it for the past 2 years. That is how the government has justified restricting Canadians rights and freedoms, supposedly guaranteed in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I wrote to Doug Ford yesterday, asking him to put pressure where it belongs – on the Prime Minister, who blames everyone but himself for the divided nation he is responsible for.
Justin Trudeau promotes the ‘values’ of unrestricted abortion, LGBTQ+ normality, legalized drugs, and using the ‘rule of law’ as he sees fit. Then he calls people who disagree with him “unCanadian.”
Father, we know that we will be judged for the things we do, so we pray for the good people who stand up against injustice. Bless them, strengthen them, and help their voices to be heard.
Help us also – give us the discernment and wisdom we need to be able to see and choose to do what is right in Your sight. Thank You for all those who chose, and choose, to sacrifice their lives for what is right, in Jesus’s name, amen
When I think of everyone’s upset about having freedoms and rights violated, I think back to elementary school. We all lined up to get the mandatory shots the government said we needed: measles, chicken pox, polio. Now everyone is furious about their rights and fighting the government and demanding they don’t need the vaccine. They are not trusting in their government. When they like who is appointed, they say “God is in charge” and it is because of God that the political leader was elected. When they don’t like who is in charge or their form of leadership, they are up in arms about their rights being violated. Where is our trust in God as Christians? Really, where is it? I am praying for everyone. I know we don’t all agree but I am starting to wonder how we are losing our trust in Him and feeling that we need to be in control of the way things work or else. Satan surely has gotten in and the only way we can stop that is by staying in our Bibles, soaking ourselves in the Word, listening to His voice, trusting in Him and praying for the peace of Christ. We have these means to overcome the evil Satan is stirring up here.
Amen
The other thing is, there are rules in life. There have always been rules and there always will be rules. When I took social work in college, there were rules then and there still are now. We all had to have mandatory shots for Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, etc. We didn’t protest and put up a huge fight because we thought we had freedoms and rights and shouldn’t be told what to do. If you didn’t take the shots, you didn’t graduate. We took the shots because it was required in that field. Many (not all) protestors are acting like children having a tantrum because they don’t like being told what to do and they hate Trudeau. Do you hear that word–hate??? Everyone is being so self centered about their rights and forgetting about their neighbours. I don’t think that’s what God would have us do. God said to love one another. To me that means just getting the shot in hopes of not spreading the virus to the person who lives next door. What about those who might negatively be affected by the choices we fail to make? People think this is all a joke that there aren’t people dying in hospitals? Where I live, two people in our church have been in ICU with Covid since Christmas. Both on ventilators. One safely home, recovering. The other just off the ventilator but still in hospital. This is very real. This isn’t just about hating the elected government or not wanting the shot. This is about people dying of a very serious virus and the government having to make decisions how best to stop the virus and protect the country as a whole. As a person who has a compromised immune system, and failing physical health, I take this very seriously. I just wish others would. How many people are still walking around unvaccinated, now? 🙏
Amen
12th day from the “Prayer Map of Canada”
1. Pray that the Lord will put a desire in the hearts of those in business to follow God’s principles and act honourably and ethically. (Proverbs 11:1)
2. Pray that the Spirit of the Lord will restrain the spirit of hatred and destruction against humanity across the world.
May God’s Will Be Done!!!!!!!!!
Amen and coming into agreement with all the comments about
Have a blessed day 😄