"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, August 08, 2016 with Scripture Jeremiah 23:23-29

"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, August 08, 2016 with Scripture Jeremiah 23:23-29

Jeremiah 23:

23 Am I God only when near,” asks Adonai,

“and not when far away?

24 Can anyone hide in a place so secret

that I won’t see him?” asks Adonai.

Adonai says, “Do I not

fill heaven and earth?

25 “I have heard what these prophets prophesying lies in my name are saying: ‘I’ve had a dream! I’ve had a dream!’ 26 How long will this go on? Is [my word] in the hearts of prophets who are prophesying lies, who are prophesying the deceit of their own minds? 27 With their dreams that they keep telling each other, they hope to cause my people to forget my name; just as their ancestors forgot my name when they worshipped Ba‘al.

28 “If a prophet has a dream,

let him tell it as a dream.

But someone who has my word

should speak my word faithfully.

What do chaff and wheat

have in common?” asks Adonai.

29 “Isn’t my word like fire,” asks Adonai,

“like a hammer shattering rocks?

[Complete Jewish Bible]
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What is it like to live in South Dakota? Great question! Because sometimes we develop impressions of places without ever travelling to them. South Dakota is beautiful. Aberdeen is wide open prairie with lakes and rich farmland. Writer Kathleen Norris said, "On the prairie, there is room for the soul to breathe." Here like in many ecosystems, lightning and fire help clear brush and renew the soil. It can be scary, so teams and farmers will set "controlled burns." We like that idea, but faith in God is not a controlled burn: "Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (verse 29)
We often want to control the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives with predictable worship, cultural habits and nostalgia. But when faith and love for God burn out of control, in different seasons of our lives, we are renewed, given space to breath and love unpredictably.
Spark the fire of new creation in us this day, O God. Amen.
Kevin ('07) and Amber ('10) Marten Bergeson
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Aberdeen, S.D.
Jeremiah 23:23 Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off?
24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed!"
26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back--those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart?
27 They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.
28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord.
29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?[New Revised Standard Version]
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