Good morning brothers and sisters, A few thoughts on the final meeting of these two men.  Do you remember the last time you saw a close friend before their passing especially if it was unexpected.  I was in a men's  Bible study with a guy who lived in Salem.  Everybody else was from the Groton area and we made jokes about having to pack a lunch for the trip to Salem.  Anyway, we met at his house on a Wednesday evening on the topic of eternal security.  On Saturday afternoon, he died of a heart attack.  Now we drive by the road to his house every week on our way to church.  And I still think of him. Blessings, Jeff The penny has dropped at least for Saul.  He knows that David will be king after him, so the one person who had brought him relief from the harmful spirit from the Lord is not banished.  Another step down the slope.   But Jonathan still thinks that although he is Saul's heir, he will survive and be second to David....

In some ways, this is the flip side of yesterday's devotional.  Of course, the psalms were written before Lamentations.  So Jeremiah had the psalms available to him.  This psalm focuses on the fact that the Lord will never forsake His saints.  Jeremiah was asking for restoration, the psalmist was giving assurance that the saints will never be forsaken.  Isn't it a comfort to see that while these themes seem to be in conflict, we are able to trust Him to work them out for His glory and our good. The promise of not being forsaken applies only to His saints, to those who are righteous and take refuge in Him.  The plight of Judah during the exile was due to their refusal to take refuge in Him. The promise applies in times of trouble - the righteous are not exempt from times of trouble. His is our stronghold - we are not our stronghold, all the plans of man cannot provide safety.

Good evening friends, Have you ever felt that God doesn't have a clue about the situation you are in?  This seems to be the case in the last chapter of Lamentations. Blessings Jeff The beginning of a list of the consequences of exile. I always find it interesting when an inspired writer reminds God of something.  In reality, all the things on the list are exactly what God intended Judah to experience when they went into exile.  So what do we make of this? Does prayer change God's knowledge of our circumstances? No.  Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that God knows what we need before we ask him.  Yet we are also told to ask for our daily bread.  I think the point is that our prayers remind us of our dependency on God.  Our prayers change us, not God.  In this case, as Jeremiah recounts the problems, we are reminded that all these things resulted from Judah's disobedience.  These things are happening to us because we deserve them. Does...

 Good morning fellow workers in Christ, While it is not a biblical statement, I think the idea "there, but for the grace of God, go I" comes to mind today.  We have nothing to boast about in our salvation because we had nothing to do with it.  God made us alive when we were dead in sin and trespasses.  I respond in faith because He regenerated me.  So when I see examples in scripture of people who are left in their sin and trespass, I can only thank God for saving me. Blessings, Jeff Downward slide accelerates.  Saul swears to Jonathan that David will not be killed (v6) and David is restored.  David wins a victory over Philistines (presumably more women singing about David and his 10,000s).  Harmful spirit comes upon Saul and he attempts to kill David. While David escapes, that night Saul sends men to capture him, but they are deceived by Michal. In the past, David's  music has mitigated the influence of the harmful spirit, but the Saul seems...

Good morning fellow soldiers, While Lamentations is grouped with the prophetic books, it seems to have a lot of wisdom characteristics. It answers the "why do bad things happen to good people" question.  As I sit in a comfortable chair in a comfortable apartment in Madison, Wi Jeremiah's experience is beyond my understanding.  I have to wonder if being "in Christ" is a nice theological concept of a experiential reality. Blessings, Jeff Jeremiah pouring out his heart about his experience as God's prophet.  This is the location of "great is your faithfulness" in v21-27.  But this confidence is surrounded by the lament of a man who is not at all happy with God.  The first 20 verses are like these first 3.  He sees God's relentless affliction of the man who has been a faithful prophet. It is a solemn reminder that Jeremiah saw God's faithfulness most clearly in the midst of great anguish.  The "health and wealth" message closes its ey...

Last devotion from Romans for this reading cycle. Here are v 8&9 with my comment or explanation  in parenthesis For I (Paul) tell you (Roman believers) that Christ became a servant to the circumcised (Jews of Paul's day) to show God's truthfulness (in two ways, First)  in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs (made millennia ago, not about the Promised Land, but about the Messiah) and (Second) in order that the Gentiles (today and in the future) might glorify God for his mercy. Devotional from earlier today was God's sovereignty over the specifics of Saul and David in a relative short period of time.  Here Paul is taking a much larger view of history to show God's truthfulness (He will do what He said He will do - things that only a sovereign God can do).  As a Gentile beneficiary of God's sovereignty, the only rational response is to glorify Him for His mercy.. Brothers and sisters, reflect on what Mel said in sermon today (5/16/21).  Know w...

Good afternoon fellow sojourners Well here is another example of a passage selected on weeks ago (4.24.21) that I got around to writing today (5.16.21).  Sermon this morning was "know that you know".  I think this passage is a reminder at least to me that I say God is sovereign but don't always walk in a manner that proves that I believe it. Blessings Jeff Another step in the decline of Saul and the ascension of David.   Observations: All in the plan of God.  Samuel privately anoints David as king and then David is brought into the service of Saul to calm him when the harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.  David knew that he was the next king, yet he was submissive to God's timing.  Future kings of Israel and Judah won't be so passive and will resort to assassination.  Saul loved his successor greatly.  Because David's anointing was known only to his immediate family, Saul would not have known this about David at least at this point....