Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.[Romans 5:1]
The Bible tells the story of a man who had everything this world says one should have to feel happy and fulfilled: power, wealth, influence, and fame. But along with that came an emptiness that sent him on a search for God. As secretary of the treasury for a powerful nation, he was second only to the queen. But there was a hole in his heart, so it led him on a search to the spiritual capital of the world, Jerusalem. He did not find what he was looking for, but as he was returning home, he unexpectedly found the answer to his questions. He had an appointment with God that resulted in his conversion and complete transformation.
His story shows what happens when a person becomes a Christian. When someone truly believes in Jesus Christ, his or her life changes dramatically. This man went from emptiness and misery to overflowing joy. His story ends with the statement, "He went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). It is no exaggeration when the Bible says that we pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, when we believe in Jesus Christ. It is describing what takes place in our lives.
But we also need to recognize that not every case is identical. There are different types of people who come to faith in different ways. Some have a tremendous emotional response, while others have no emotional experience at all.
An emotional experience has little to do with the reality of a person's conversion. When I prayed and asked Christ to come into my life, I felt nothing. And because of this, I falsely concluded that God had rejected me. Thankfully, I discovered later that Christianity is a walk of faith and not of feeling.
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There are different types of people who come to faith in different ways. Some have a tremendous emotional response, while others have no emotional experience at all.
Today's Bible Reading
Jeremiah 37:1 Tzidkiyahu the son of Yoshiyahu became king, succeeding Koniyahu the son of Y’hoyakim, whom N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel had made king over the land of Y’hudah. 2 But neither he, his servants nor the people of the land paid attention to the words of Adonai, which he spoke through the prophet Yirmeyahu.
3 Tzidkiyahu the king sent Y’hukhal the son of Shelemyahu and Tz’fanyahu the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the cohen, to the prophet Yirmeyahu with the message, “Please pray to Adonai our God for us.” 4 At that time Yirmeyahu was mixing freely with the people, because they had not yet put him in prison. 5 At the same time Pharaoh’s army marched out of Egypt; and when the Kasdim besieging Yerushalayim heard about them, they lifted the siege from Yerushalayim.
6 Then this word of Adonai came to the prophet Yirmeyahu: 7 “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to me to consult me: ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to ASSIST you; but they will return to Egypt, to their own country. 8 The Kasdim will return, attack this city, capture it and burn it to the ground.’ 9 Here is what Adonai says: ‘Don’t deceive yourselves by thinking that the Kasdim must withdraw from you, because they will not withdraw. 10 Even if you were to strike the entire army of the Kasdim fighting against you, to THE DEGREE that only their wounded were left, they would still rise up every man from his tent and burn this city to the ground.’”
11 Then, at the time when the army of the Kasdim had lifted the siege of Yerushalayim out of fear of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Yirmeyahu left Yerushalayim to go to the territory of Binyamin to receive his share of an inheritance there. He was passing through the crowds 13 and had reached the gate leading toward Binyamin when a guard commander there named Yir’iyah the son of Shelemyah, the son of Hananyah, seized Yirmeyahu the prophet, shouting, “You’re deserting to the Kasdim!” 14 Yirmeyahu answered, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Kasdim”; but Yir’iyah wouldn’t listen to him. So he arrested Yirmeyahu and brought him to the officials. 15 The officials, furious with Yirmeyahu, had him beaten and jailed in the house of Y’honatan the secretary, which had been made over into a prison. 16 The cistern had been made into a dungeon, and Yirmeyahu was put in one of its cells; there he remained for a long time.
17 Then Tzidkiyahu the king sent and had him brought; and the king asked him secretly, in his palace, “Is there any word from Adonai?” “There is,” Yirmeyahu said. “You will be handed over to the king of Bavel.” 18 Yirmeyahu asked King Tzidkiyahu, “In what way have I sinned against you or against YOUR officials or against this people, that has caused you to put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets now, the ones who prophesied to you that the king of Bavel wouldn’t attack you or this land? 20 So now, please listen, my lord king! I beg you, approve my request — don’t make me return to the house of Y’honatan the secretary, or I will die there.” 21 At that, Tzidkiyahu the king gave the ORDER, at which they committed Yirmeyahu to the guards’ quarters and gave him daily a loaf of bread from the Bakers’ Street, until all the bread in the city had been used up. Thus Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters.
38:1 But Sh’fatyah the son of Mattan, G’dalyahu the son of Pash’chur, Yukhal the son of Shelemyahu and Pash’chur the son of Malkiyah heard these words which Yirmeyahu had said to all the people, 2 “Here is what Adonai says: whoever remains in this city will die by sword, famine and plague; but whoever leaves and surrenders to the Kasdim will stay alive; his own life will be his only ‘spoils of war,’ but he will stay alive. 3 Adonai says that this city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Bavel, and he will capture it.” 4 The leaders said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because by speaking such words to the soldiers left in this city and to all the people, he is demoralizing them. This man is seeking not to benefit this people, but to harm them.” 5 Tzidkiyahu the king said, “All right, he is in your hands; for the king can’t prevent you from doing as you please.”
6 Then they took Yirmeyahu and threw him into the cistern of Malkiyahu the king’s son, which was in the guards’ quarters; they let down Yirmeyahu into it with ropes. In the pit there was no water, but there was mud; and Yirmeyahu sank into the mud. 7 ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian, an officer in the king’s house, heard that they had put Yirmeyahu in the cistern. When the king was sitting at the gate leading toward Binyamin, 8 ‘Eved-Melekh left the palace and said to the king, 9 “My lord, king! What these men have done to Yirmeyahu the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into the cistern; and he is likely to die there where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more food in the city.” 10 Then the king ordered ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and bring Yirmeyahu the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So ‘Eved-Melekh took the men with him and entered a storeroom under the treasury in the king’s palace, from which he took some old clothes and rags. These he let down with ropes to Yirmeyahu in the cistern. 12 ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian then said to Yirmeyahu, “Use these old clothes and rags as padding between your armpits and the ropes.” After Yirmeyahu had done this, 13 they pulled Yirmeyahu up with the ropes and took him out of the cistern. Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters.
14 Tzidkiyahu summoned and had Yirmeyahu brought to him through the third entry in the house of Adonai. Then the king said to Yirmeyahu, “I want to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.” 15 Yirmeyahu said to Tzidkiyahu, “If I do say it to you, won’t you have me put to death? And if I give you counsel, you won’t listen to me.” 16 So Tzidkiyahu swore secretly to Yirmeyahu, “As Adonai lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death; nor will I hand you over to these men who want you put to death.”
17 Then Yirmeyahu said to Tzidkiyahu, “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘If you will go out and surrender to the king of Bavel’s officers, then you will stay alive — this city will not be burned down; and you and your family will live. 18 But if you will not go out to the king of Bavel’s officers, then this city will be handed over to the Kasdim; they will burn it to the ground; and you will not escape from them.’” 19 Tzidkiyahu the king said to Yirmeyahu, “I am afraid of the Judeans who deserted to the Kasdim. The Kasdim might hand me over to them, and they would mistreat me.” 20 Yirmeyahu answered, “They won’t hand you over. I beg you, listen to the voice of Adonai concerning what I’m telling you about; then it will go well with you, and you will live. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, then this is the word Adonai has shown me: 22 all the women remaining in the king of Y’hudah’s palace will be brought out to the king of Bavel’s officers, and those women will taunt you:
‘Your own close friends misled you
and took advantage of you.
Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they have abandoned you.’
23 They will bring all your women and children out to the Kasdim, and you will not escape from them. Rather, you will be captured by the king of Bavel, and you will cause this city to be burned to the ground.”
24 Tzidkiyahu said to Yirmeyahu, “Don’t tell anyone what you just said, or you will die. 25 If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king; don’t hide it from us, or we will put you to death, and also what the king said to you,’ 26 then tell them, ‘I presented my request to the king that he would not make me return to Y’honatan’s house, to die there.’” 27 All the officials did come to Yirmeyahu and asked him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they stopped speaking with him, since the matter had not been reported.
28 Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters until the day Yerushalayim was captured; he was there when Yerushalayim was captured.
39:1 In the ninth year of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, in the tenth month, N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel marched against Yerushalayim with his entire army and began to lay siege against it. 2 On the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Tzidkiyahu, they broke through into the city. 3 All the officers of the king of Bavel entered and sat at the Middle Gate — Nergal-Sar’etzer, Samgar-N’vo, Sars’khim the Rav-Saris, Nergal-Sar’etzer the Rav-Mag and all the other officers of the king of Bavel. 4 When Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, leaving the city by night through the king’s garden, exiting from the gate between the two walls, and continuing out by the route through the ‘Aravah. 5 But the army of the Kasdim went in pursuit of them and overtook Tzidkiyahu on the plains near Yericho. Upon capturing him, they brought him up to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel at Rivlah, in the land of Hamat, where he passed judgment on him. 6 The king of Bavel slaughtered the sons of Tzidkiyahu before his eyes in Rivlah; the king of Bavel also slaughtered all the leading men of Y’hudah. 7 Then he put out Tzidkiyahu’s eyes and bound him in chains to be carried off to Bavel. 8 The Kasdim burned down the royal palace and the people’s houses, and they broke down the walls of Yerushalayim. 9 N’vuzar’adan commander of the guard then deported to Bavel the remaining population of the city, the deserters who had defected to him, and the rest of the people remaining. 10 But N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard left behind in the territory of Y’hudah some of the poor people, those who had nothing, and at the same time gave them vineyards and fields.
11 Concerning Yirmeyahu, N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel gave N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard this order: 12 “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but treat him as he tells you.” 13 So N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard, N’vushazban the Rav-Saris, Nergal-Sar’etzer the Rav-Mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Bavel 14 sent to have Yirmeyahu taken out of the guards’ quarters; they committed him to the care of G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, to be brought home. There he lived among the people.
15 This word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu while he was imprisoned in the guards’ quarters: 16 “Go and tell ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian that Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘“I am about to fulfill my words about this city for disaster, not for good; when the day arrives, they will come true before your eyes. 17 But at that time I will rescue you,” says Adonai, “and I will not hand you over to the men you fear. 18 Yes, I will keep you safe; you will not fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me,” says Adonai.’”
Psalm 79:(0) A psalm of Asaf:
(1) God, the pagans have entered your heritage.
They have defiled your holy temple
and turned Yerushalayim into rubble.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds in the air,
yes, the flesh of those faithful to you
for the wild animals of the earth.
3 All around Yerushalayim
they have shed their blood like water,
and no one is left to bury them.
4 We suffer the taunts of our neighbors,
we are mocked and scorned by those around us.
5 How long, Adonai?
Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you,
on the kingdoms that don’t call out your name;
7 for they have devoured Ya‘akov
and left his home a waste.
8 Don’t count past iniquities against us,
but let your compassion come quickly to meet us,
for we have been brought very low.
9 Help us, God of our salvation,
for the sake of the glory of your name.
Deliver us, forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Let the vengeance taken on your servants’ shed blood
be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groaning of the captives come before you;
by your great strength save those condemned to death.
12 Repay our neighbors sevenfold where they can feel it
for the insults they inflicted on you, Adonai.
13 Then we, your people and the flock in your pasture,
will give you thanks forever.
From generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
2 John 1 From: The Elder
To: The chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth — and not only I but also all who have come to know the truth — 2 because of the Truth which remains united with us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and shalom will be with us from God the Father and from Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I was very happy when I found some of your children living in truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am requesting that we love one another — not as if this were a new command I am writing you, for it is the one which we have had from the beginning. 6 Moreover, love is this: that we should live according to his commands. This is the command, as you people have heard from the beginning; live by it!
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not acknowledge Yeshua the Messiah’s coming as a human being. Such a person is a deceiver and an anti-Messiah. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you won’t lose what you have worked for, but will receive your full reward. 9 Everyone who goes ahead and does not remain true to what the Messiah has taught does not have God. Those who remain true to his teaching have both the Father and the Son. 10 If someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, don’t welcome him into your home. Don’t even say, “Shalom!” to him; 11 for the person who says, “Shalom!” to him shares in his evil deeds.
12 Although I have much to write you people, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and see you and to talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your chosen sister send you their greetings.
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Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1-800-821-3300
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