A FIRE AND A ROCK
Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 23
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
![February 3, 2014](https://100words.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/February-3-2014.jpg)
Looking from the area on the south side of the Temple Mount you can look across the Kidron Valley and see the Mount of Olives with thousands of graves along the western slope.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
The word “oracle” is repeated eight times in today’s reading. Obviously many were claiming to be prophets of God, but they were proven to be false prophets. The dictionary defines an oracle as one who gives “a message that is typically ambiguous or obscure.” That’s quite the opposite to the message given by Jeremiah! “A hammer” and “a fire” are strong and powerful words. Here is a prayer chorus sung in some gatherings: “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. Break me! Melt me! Mould me and use me!” The Word of God, as we read it in our daily two-year blog journey through the Bible, should have that effect on us. The idea of an “oracle” was so misused by so-called prophets that God said, “Do not say, oracle of the Lord.” Why? “You have perverted the words of the living God” (Jeremiah 23:36).
The other misused word featured in Jeremiah 23 is “shepherd.” The title “pastor” denotes a shepherd in our time. For an inspiring look at what God considers that a true shepherd should be, let’s read again Psalm 23 and John 10:11-18.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I’m praying the words of the chorus I mentioned above. By the hammer and the fire of Your Word, I ask You to do whatever is necessary in me to make me all You want me to be. In and through the Person and work of Jesus Christ (Messiah) I pray. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I have often stood on one side or the other of the valley pictured above and meditated on the fact that a huge number of people are buried with their feet pointed toward the Eastern Gate in the wall of Jerusalem, the gate through which it is prophesied that the Messiah will enter into a rebuilt Temple. Most of these people expect to be given resurrected bodies, which will enable them to stand up facing the Messiah as He enters through the gate. Modern science shows that all that is needed to recreate one’s entire being is one microscopic speck of DNA dust. It’s all there! My Bible is still open to John 10 as mentioned above, and my eyes have just moved across to the opposite page where I see John 11:24-45. Jesus, the Prophet and the Son of God, spoke words that had the impact of a “Hammer” and a “Fire” when “He cried with a loud voice, ‘LAZARUS COME FORTH!’ And he who had died came out!” I don’t understand how all this happened, but years ago I made a lifetime decision to believe with childlike faith. I’ve not parked my brain! I read, ponder, and wonder. But at the same time I believe! I’m currently reading a book by a nuclear physicist who believes that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shows that time is not locked into our perception of a 24-hour day. God is outside of time (the basis of true prophecy about the future), and therefore we should not be thrown for a loop by the modern development called “quantum physics.” Well, that’s another subject.
Yours for keeping the faith and also giving it away to the whole world!
David
A prayer from Michael Youssef this morning:
“Prayer: God, thank You for Your Word that is my sword to fight against Satan, my flesh, and the darkness of the world. May I surrender to Your will in Your Word and serve as a light to the lost as I trust in You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:7-8a).”
And a question from God in Jeremiah 23:18:
“Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence
to hear what he is really saying?
Has even one of them cared enough to listen?”
Amen Rob. Draw near to God and the Satan will flee!!!! Blessings all Amen
The British statesman Edmund Burke noted:
“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.”
Jeremiah certainly did more than a little.
Blessings on all even who do just a little in Jesus name.
Amen. Thanks for sharing the prayer from Michael Youssef.
Praying for Diane and her family, may they feel your loving presence and have peace. May your healing hands be in them
Praying also for Israel and also for the USA. Praying that you will intervene and keep this war from escalating.
God bless
Thank you HJR for praying for Diane. A very difficult time for her. God bless you.
Amen to every prayer, scripture and comment above,
in Jesus’ Almighty Name, Amen.
May God bless all who trust in Him, Amen.