Without faith it is impossible to please Him…[Hebrews 11:6]Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried.[He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R]Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 20-21; 2 Timothy 4
Jeremiah 20:1 Now when the cohen Pash’chur son of Immer, chief official in the house of Adonai, heard Yirmeyahu prophesying these things, 2 he had him flogged and put him in the stocks at the Upper Binyamin Gate of the house of Adonai. 3 The following morning, when Pash’chur led Yirmeyahu out of the stocks, Yirmeyahu said to him, “Adonai no longer calls you Pash’chur but Magor-Missaviv [terror on every side]. 4 For this is what Adonai says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, while you watch. I will hand over all of Y’hudah to the king of Bavel, and he will carry them off captive to Bavel and put them to the sword. 5 Moreover, I will hand over everything stored in this city, all its valuables, all its wealth, indeed all the treasures of the kings of Y’hudah, to their enemies, who will plunder them, take them and carry them to Bavel. 6 And you, Pash’chur, along with your entire household, will go into captivity; you will go to Bavel, where you will die and be buried — you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
7 You fooled me, Adonai; I have been your dupe.
You overpowered me, and you have prevailed.
All day long I’m a laughingstock;
everyone makes fun of me.
8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out;
I shout, “Violence!” and “Destruction!”
Thus the word of Adonai becomes for me
the cause of reproach and derision all day!
9 But if I say, “I won’t think about him,
I won’t speak in his name any more,”
then it seems as though a fire
is burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I wear myself out
trying to hold it in,
but I just can’t do it.
10 I have heard many whispering their plot:
“‘Terror in every direction’?
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
Even all my close friends
are watching for me to make a false step —
“Maybe he can be tricked,
then we’ll get the better of him,
then we’ll take our revenge on him.”
11 But Adonai is with me like a dreaded warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble, defeated,
greatly ashamed because of their failure;
their lasting disgrace will not be forgotten.
12 Adonai-Tzva’ot, you who test the righteous
and see people’s hearts and thoughts,
let me see you take vengeance on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
13 Sing to Adonai! Praise Adonai!
For he rescues those in need
from the clutches of evildoers.
14 A curse on the day I was born!
The day my mother gave birth to me —
let it not be blessed!
15 A curse on the man who brought the news
to my father, “A son has been born to you!” —
thus making him very happy.
16 Let that man be like the cities
Adonai overthrew without mercy!
Let him hear cries of alarm in the morning
and the sound of battle at noon,
17 because God did not put me to death in the womb
and let my mother become my grave,
her womb forever filled with me.
18 Why did I have to emerge from the womb,
just to see toil and sorrow,
and end my days in shame?
21:1 This is the word that came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai when King Tzidkiyahu sent to him Pash’chur the son of Malkiyah and Tz’fanyah the son of Ma‘aseiyah with this message: 2 “Please consult Adonai for us, because N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel is making war on us. Maybe Adonai will perform a miracle for us and cause him to withdraw.”
3 Yirmeyahu answered them, “Here is what you are to tell Tzidkiyahu: 4 ‘This is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will make the weapons of war that you have in your hands ineffectual in your fight against the king of Bavel and the Kasdim who are outside the walls besieging you. Instead, I will gather them inside this city; 5 and I myself will fight against you with my hand stretched out and with a strong arm, in anger, rage and great fury. 6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, humans and animals alike, and they will die of a terrible plague. 7 Afterwards,” says Adonai “I will hand over Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, his servants, the people, and anyone remaining alive in this city after the plague, war and famine, to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to their enemies, to those who seek their lives; and he will put them to the sword. He will not spare them; he will have no pity, no compassion.”’
8 “And here is what you are to tell this people: ‘Adonai says: “Look! I am presenting you with the way of life and the way of death. 9 Anyone who stays in this city will die by sword, famine and plague. But he who leaves and surrenders to the Kasdim besieging you will stay alive; his own life will be his only ‘spoils of war.’ 10 For I have determined absolutely that this city will have evil, not good,” says Adonai. “It is going to be handed over to the king of Bavel, and he will burn it to the ground.”’
11 “To the royal house of Y’hudah say: ‘Hear the word of Adonai; 12 house of David, this is what Adonai says:
“Judge fairly every morning,
rescue the wronged from their oppressors;
or my fury will lash out like fire,
burning so hot that no one can quench it,
because of how evil your actions are.”
13 Adonai says, “I am against you, [Yerushalayim,]
situated in a valley like a rock on a plain.
You who say, ‘Who can come down against us?
Who can enter our lairs?’ —
14 I will punish you,” says Adonai,
“as your deeds deserve.
I will set its forest on fire,
and it will devour everything around it.”’”
2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: 2 proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. 4 Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.
5 But you, remain steady in every situation, endure suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should, and do everything your service to God requires.
6 For as for me, I am already being poured out on the altar; yes, the time for my departure has arrived. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 All that awaits me now is the crown of righteousness which the Lord, “the Righteous Judge,” will award to me on that Day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for him to appear.
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, because he has fallen in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone off to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia; Titus has gone to Dalmatia — 11 only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, because he is a very useful helper in my work. 12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the coat which I left with Carpus in Troas, also the scrolls and especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm; the Lord will render to him according to his works;[2 Timothy 4:14 2 Samuel 3:39; Psalms 28:4; 62:13(12); Proverbs 24:12] 15 and you should guard against him, because he bitterly opposed everything we said.
16 The first time I had to present my defense, no one stood by me; everyone deserted me — may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me power to proclaim the full message for all the Goyim to hear, and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.[2 Timothy 4:17 Psalm 22:22(21); Daniel 6:21(20), 23(22)] 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus has remained in Corinth, and Trophimus I left ill at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
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My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom "Substitution" by Oswald Chambers for Saturday, 29 October 2016
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.[2 Corinthians 5:21]
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3
7 You fooled me, Adonai; I have been your dupe.
You overpowered me, and you have prevailed.
All day long I’m a laughingstock;
everyone makes fun of me.
8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out;
I shout, “Violence!” and “Destruction!”
Thus the word of Adonai becomes for me
the cause of reproach and derision all day!
9 But if I say, “I won’t think about him,
I won’t speak in his name any more,”
then it seems as though a fire
is burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I wear myself out
trying to hold it in,
but I just can’t do it.
10 I have heard many whispering their plot:
“‘Terror in every direction’?
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
Even all my close friends
are watching for me to make a false step —
“Maybe he can be tricked,
then we’ll get the better of him,
then we’ll take our revenge on him.”
11 But Adonai is with me like a dreaded warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble, defeated,
greatly ashamed because of their failure;
their lasting disgrace will not be forgotten.
12 Adonai-Tzva’ot, you who test the righteous
and see people’s hearts and thoughts,
let me see you take vengeance on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
13 Sing to Adonai! Praise Adonai!
For he rescues those in need
from the clutches of evildoers.
14 A curse on the day I was born!
The day my mother gave birth to me —
let it not be blessed!
15 A curse on the man who brought the news
to my father, “A son has been born to you!” —
thus making him very happy.
16 Let that man be like the cities
Adonai overthrew without mercy!
Let him hear cries of alarm in the morning
and the sound of battle at noon,
17 because God did not put me to death in the womb
and let my mother become my grave,
her womb forever filled with me.
18 Why did I have to emerge from the womb,
just to see toil and sorrow,
and end my days in shame?
21:1 This is the word that came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai when King Tzidkiyahu sent to him Pash’chur the son of Malkiyah and Tz’fanyah the son of Ma‘aseiyah with this message: 2 “Please consult Adonai for us, because N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel is making war on us. Maybe Adonai will perform a miracle for us and cause him to withdraw.”
3 Yirmeyahu answered them, “Here is what you are to tell Tzidkiyahu: 4 ‘This is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will make the weapons of war that you have in your hands ineffectual in your fight against the king of Bavel and the Kasdim who are outside the walls besieging you. Instead, I will gather them inside this city; 5 and I myself will fight against you with my hand stretched out and with a strong arm, in anger, rage and great fury. 6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, humans and animals alike, and they will die of a terrible plague. 7 Afterwards,” says Adonai “I will hand over Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, his servants, the people, and anyone remaining alive in this city after the plague, war and famine, to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to their enemies, to those who seek their lives; and he will put them to the sword. He will not spare them; he will have no pity, no compassion.”’
8 “And here is what you are to tell this people: ‘Adonai says: “Look! I am presenting you with the way of life and the way of death. 9 Anyone who stays in this city will die by sword, famine and plague. But he who leaves and surrenders to the Kasdim besieging you will stay alive; his own life will be his only ‘spoils of war.’ 10 For I have determined absolutely that this city will have evil, not good,” says Adonai. “It is going to be handed over to the king of Bavel, and he will burn it to the ground.”’
11 “To the royal house of Y’hudah say: ‘Hear the word of Adonai; 12 house of David, this is what Adonai says:
“Judge fairly every morning,
rescue the wronged from their oppressors;
or my fury will lash out like fire,
burning so hot that no one can quench it,
because of how evil your actions are.”
13 Adonai says, “I am against you, [Yerushalayim,]
situated in a valley like a rock on a plain.
You who say, ‘Who can come down against us?
Who can enter our lairs?’ —
14 I will punish you,” says Adonai,
“as your deeds deserve.
I will set its forest on fire,
and it will devour everything around it.”’”
2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: 2 proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. 4 Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.
5 But you, remain steady in every situation, endure suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should, and do everything your service to God requires.
6 For as for me, I am already being poured out on the altar; yes, the time for my departure has arrived. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 All that awaits me now is the crown of righteousness which the Lord, “the Righteous Judge,” will award to me on that Day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for him to appear.
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, because he has fallen in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone off to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia; Titus has gone to Dalmatia — 11 only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, because he is a very useful helper in my work. 12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the coat which I left with Carpus in Troas, also the scrolls and especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm; the Lord will render to him according to his works;[2 Timothy 4:14 2 Samuel 3:39; Psalms 28:4; 62:13(12); Proverbs 24:12] 15 and you should guard against him, because he bitterly opposed everything we said.
16 The first time I had to present my defense, no one stood by me; everyone deserted me — may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me power to proclaim the full message for all the Goyim to hear, and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.[2 Timothy 4:17 Psalm 22:22(21); Daniel 6:21(20), 23(22)] 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus has remained in Corinth, and Trophimus I left ill at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
-------
My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom "Substitution" by Oswald Chambers for Saturday, 29 October 2016He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.[2 Corinthians 5:21]The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6).[The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L]Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3
Jeremiah 18:1 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: 2 “Get up, and go down to the potter’s house; there I will tell you more.” 3 So I went down to the house of the potter; and there he was, working at the wheels. 4 Whenever a pot he made came out imperfect, the potter took the clay and made another pot with it, in whatever shape suited him.
5 Then the word of Adonai came to me: 6 “House of Isra’el, can’t I deal with you as the potter deals with his clay? — says Adonai. Look! You, house of Isra’el, are the same in my hand as the clay in the potter’s hand. 7 At one time, I may speak about uprooting, breaking down and destroying a nation or kingdom; 8 but if that nation turns from their evil, which prompted me to speak against it, then I relent concerning the disaster I had planned to inflict on it. 9 Similarly, at another time, I may speak about building and planting a nation or kingdom; 10 but if it behaves wickedly from my perspective and doesn’t listen to what I say, then I change my mind and don’t do the good I said I would do that would have helped it.
11 “So now, tell the people of Y’hudah and those living in Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says:
‘I am designing disaster for you,
working out my plan against you.
Turn, each of you, from his evil ways;
improve your conduct and actions.’
12 “But they will answer, ‘It’s hopeless!
We will stick to our own plans;
each of us will stubbornly follow
his own evil desires!’
13 “Therefore, Adonai says this:
‘Ask among the nations
who has heard anything like this.
The virgin Isra’el has done
a most horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of the L’vanon
disappear from the mountain crags?
Do the cold waters of foreign lands
ever run dry?
15 No, but my people have forgotten me
and offer incense to nothings.
This causes them to stumble
as they walk the ancient paths;
they leave the highway
to walk on side-trails.
16 Thus they make their land an object of horror
and ongoing ridicule.
Passers-by shake their heads,
appalled, every one.
17 Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them
before the enemy.
I will see their back, not their face,
on their day of disaster.’”
18 Then they said, “Let’s develop a plan for dealing with Yirmeyahu. Torah won’t be lost from the cohanim, or counsel from the wise, or words from the prophets. So come, let’s destroy him with slander; and meanwhile, we won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
19 Pay attention to me, Adonai!
Listen to what my opponents are saying!
20 Is good to be repaid with evil?
For they have dug a pit [to trap] me.
Remember how I stood before you
and spoke well of them,
in order to turn your anger
away from them?
21 Therefore, hand their sons over to famine,
hurl them into the power of the sword,
let their wives be made childless and widows,
let their husbands be slain by disease,
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle,
22 let screams be heard from their houses
when you bring raiders on them without warning.
For they have dug a pit to catch me
and have laid snares for my feet.
23 Nevertheless, Adonai, you know
all their plans against me to stop me.
Do not forgive their crime,
do not blot out their sin from your sight;
but let them be made to stumble before you;
deal with them when you are angry.
19:1 Adonai then said, “Go; buy a clay jar from the potter; take some of the people’s leaders and some of the leading cohanim; 2 and go out into the Ben-Hinnom Valley, by the entry to the Potsherd Gate. There you are to proclaim the words I am about to tell you. 3 Say: ‘Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Y’hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim! This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I am about to bring disaster on this place that will make the ears of whoever hears about it ring. 4 This is because they have abandoned me and alienated this place. In it they have offered to other gods that neither they nor their ancestors have known, nor the kings of Y’hudah. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5 They have built the high places of Ba‘al, in order to burn up their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Ba‘al — something I never ordered or said; it never even entered my mind.
6 “‘“Therefore the time is coming,” says Adonai, “when this place will no longer be called either Tofet or the Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 I will nullify the plans of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim in this place. I will have them fall by the sword before their enemies and at the hand of those seeking their lives, and I will give their corpses as food for the birds in the air and the wild animals. 8 I will make this city an object of horror and ridicule; everyone passing by will be horrified and will ridicule it because of all its wounds. 9 I will cause them to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters; everyone will be eating the flesh of his friends during the siege, because of the shortage imposed on them by their enemies and those set on killing them.”’
10 “Then you are to smash the jar in front of the people who went with you, 11 and say to them, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says that this is how I will break this people and this city, just as one smashes a potter’s vessel beyond the possibility of repair. The dead will be buried in Tofet, because there will be no space left for burial [anywhere else]. 12 That is what I will do to this place,’ says Adonai ‘and to its inhabitants; I will make it like Tofet. 13 The houses of Yerushalayim and those of the kings of Y’hudah will be defiled like this place Tofet — yes, all the houses on whose roofs they have offered to all the stars in heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’”
14 Then Yirmeyahu returned from Tofet, where Adonai had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of Adonai’s house and said to all the people, 15 “This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I am bringing on this city and all its surrounding villages all the disaster I have pronounced against it; because they have stiffened their necks and refused to pay attention to my words.’”
2 Timothy 3:1 Moreover, understand this: in the acharit-hayamim will come trying times. 2 People will be self-loving, money-loving, proud, arrogant, insulting, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, uncontrolled, brutal, hateful of good, 4 traitorous, headstrong, swollen with conceit, loving pleasure rather than God, 5 as they retain the outer form of religion but deny its power.
Stay away from these people! 6 For some of them worm their way into homes and get control of weak-willed women who are heaped with sins and swayed by various impulses, 7 who are always learning but never able to come to full knowledge of the truth. 8 In the same way as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moshe, so also these people oppose the truth. They are people with corrupted minds, whose trust cannot pass the test. 9 However, they won’t get very far; because everyone will see how stupid they are, just as happened with those two.
10 But you, you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose in life, trust, steadfastness, love and perseverance — 11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings that came my way in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 And indeed, all who want to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.
14 But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; 15 and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; 17 thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.[Romans 5:10]
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2
5 Then the word of Adonai came to me: 6 “House of Isra’el, can’t I deal with you as the potter deals with his clay? — says Adonai. Look! You, house of Isra’el, are the same in my hand as the clay in the potter’s hand. 7 At one time, I may speak about uprooting, breaking down and destroying a nation or kingdom; 8 but if that nation turns from their evil, which prompted me to speak against it, then I relent concerning the disaster I had planned to inflict on it. 9 Similarly, at another time, I may speak about building and planting a nation or kingdom; 10 but if it behaves wickedly from my perspective and doesn’t listen to what I say, then I change my mind and don’t do the good I said I would do that would have helped it.
11 “So now, tell the people of Y’hudah and those living in Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says:
‘I am designing disaster for you,
working out my plan against you.
Turn, each of you, from his evil ways;
improve your conduct and actions.’
12 “But they will answer, ‘It’s hopeless!
We will stick to our own plans;
each of us will stubbornly follow
his own evil desires!’
13 “Therefore, Adonai says this:
‘Ask among the nations
who has heard anything like this.
The virgin Isra’el has done
a most horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of the L’vanon
disappear from the mountain crags?
Do the cold waters of foreign lands
ever run dry?
15 No, but my people have forgotten me
and offer incense to nothings.
This causes them to stumble
as they walk the ancient paths;
they leave the highway
to walk on side-trails.
16 Thus they make their land an object of horror
and ongoing ridicule.
Passers-by shake their heads,
appalled, every one.
17 Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them
before the enemy.
I will see their back, not their face,
on their day of disaster.’”
18 Then they said, “Let’s develop a plan for dealing with Yirmeyahu. Torah won’t be lost from the cohanim, or counsel from the wise, or words from the prophets. So come, let’s destroy him with slander; and meanwhile, we won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
19 Pay attention to me, Adonai!
Listen to what my opponents are saying!
20 Is good to be repaid with evil?
For they have dug a pit [to trap] me.
Remember how I stood before you
and spoke well of them,
in order to turn your anger
away from them?
21 Therefore, hand their sons over to famine,
hurl them into the power of the sword,
let their wives be made childless and widows,
let their husbands be slain by disease,
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle,
22 let screams be heard from their houses
when you bring raiders on them without warning.
For they have dug a pit to catch me
and have laid snares for my feet.
23 Nevertheless, Adonai, you know
all their plans against me to stop me.
Do not forgive their crime,
do not blot out their sin from your sight;
but let them be made to stumble before you;
deal with them when you are angry.
19:1 Adonai then said, “Go; buy a clay jar from the potter; take some of the people’s leaders and some of the leading cohanim; 2 and go out into the Ben-Hinnom Valley, by the entry to the Potsherd Gate. There you are to proclaim the words I am about to tell you. 3 Say: ‘Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Y’hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim! This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I am about to bring disaster on this place that will make the ears of whoever hears about it ring. 4 This is because they have abandoned me and alienated this place. In it they have offered to other gods that neither they nor their ancestors have known, nor the kings of Y’hudah. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5 They have built the high places of Ba‘al, in order to burn up their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Ba‘al — something I never ordered or said; it never even entered my mind.
6 “‘“Therefore the time is coming,” says Adonai, “when this place will no longer be called either Tofet or the Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 I will nullify the plans of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim in this place. I will have them fall by the sword before their enemies and at the hand of those seeking their lives, and I will give their corpses as food for the birds in the air and the wild animals. 8 I will make this city an object of horror and ridicule; everyone passing by will be horrified and will ridicule it because of all its wounds. 9 I will cause them to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters; everyone will be eating the flesh of his friends during the siege, because of the shortage imposed on them by their enemies and those set on killing them.”’
10 “Then you are to smash the jar in front of the people who went with you, 11 and say to them, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says that this is how I will break this people and this city, just as one smashes a potter’s vessel beyond the possibility of repair. The dead will be buried in Tofet, because there will be no space left for burial [anywhere else]. 12 That is what I will do to this place,’ says Adonai ‘and to its inhabitants; I will make it like Tofet. 13 The houses of Yerushalayim and those of the kings of Y’hudah will be defiled like this place Tofet — yes, all the houses on whose roofs they have offered to all the stars in heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’”
14 Then Yirmeyahu returned from Tofet, where Adonai had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of Adonai’s house and said to all the people, 15 “This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I am bringing on this city and all its surrounding villages all the disaster I have pronounced against it; because they have stiffened their necks and refused to pay attention to my words.’”
2 Timothy 3:1 Moreover, understand this: in the acharit-hayamim will come trying times. 2 People will be self-loving, money-loving, proud, arrogant, insulting, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, uncontrolled, brutal, hateful of good, 4 traitorous, headstrong, swollen with conceit, loving pleasure rather than God, 5 as they retain the outer form of religion but deny its power.
Stay away from these people! 6 For some of them worm their way into homes and get control of weak-willed women who are heaped with sins and swayed by various impulses, 7 who are always learning but never able to come to full knowledge of the truth. 8 In the same way as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moshe, so also these people oppose the truth. They are people with corrupted minds, whose trust cannot pass the test. 9 However, they won’t get very far; because everyone will see how stupid they are, just as happened with those two.
10 But you, you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose in life, trust, steadfastness, love and perseverance — 11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings that came my way in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 And indeed, all who want to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.
14 But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; 15 and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; 17 thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.
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My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom "Justification By Faith" by Oswald Chambers for Friday, 28 October 2016
My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom "Justification By Faith" by Oswald Chambers for Friday, 28 October 2016If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.[Romans 5:10]I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.[The Place of Help]Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2
Jeremiah 15:1 Then Adonai said to me, “Even if Moshe and Sh’mu’el were standing in front of me, my heart would not turn toward this people! Drive them out of my sight, get them out of here! 2 And when they ask you where they should go, tell them that this is what Adonai says:
‘Those destined for death — to death!
Those destined for the sword — to the sword!
Those destined for famine — to famine!
Those destined for captivity — to captivity!’
3 “I will assign them four kinds [of scourges],” says Adonai, “the sword to kill, dogs to drag away, birds in the air and wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of M’nasheh the son of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, because of what he did in Yerushalayim.
5 “Who will take pity on you, Yerushalayim?
Who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me,” says Adonai.
“You are heading backward.
So I am stretching out my hand against you;
tired of sparing you, I am destroying you.
7 With a winnowing fork I am scattering them
to the wind at the gates of the land;
I am bereaving them, destroying my people,
because they will not return from their ways.
8 Their widows increase in number
more than the sand of the seas;
At midday I am bringing the destroyer
on the mothers of young men,
causing anguish and terror
suddenly to fall upon her.
9 The mother of seven sons grows faint,
panting in despair;
her sun has gone down while it’s still daytime;
she is left disgraced and bewildered.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword,
to their enemies,” says Adonai.
10 Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth,
a man who is the object of strife
and controversy throughout the land!
I neither lend nor borrow,
yet all of them curse me.
11 Adonai said, “I promise to release you for good, I promise to make your enemies appeal to you when calamity and trouble come.
12 “Can iron break iron and bronze from the north? 13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, and you will not be paid for them, because of all your sins throughout your territory; 14 and I will make you pass together with your enemies into a land you do not know. For my anger has become a blazing fire, and it will flare up against you.”
15 Adonai, you know. Remember me, think of me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Because you are patient, don’t banish me;
know that for your sake I suffer insults.
16 When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words made me glad, they gave me joy;
because, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
you had me bear your name.
17 I have never kept company with merrymakers,
I could not celebrate;
with your hand on me I sat by myself,
for you filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you be for me like a deceptive vadi,
which is only sometimes filled with water?
19 This is Adonai’s answer:
“If you return — if I bring you back —
you will stand before me.
If you separate the precious from the base,
you will be my spokesman.
It will then be they who turn to you,
not you who turn to them.
20 Toward this people I will make you
a fortified wall of bronze —
they will fight against you
but not prevail against you;
for I am with you to save you
and rescue you,” says Adonai.
21 “I will free you from the grasp of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the ruthless.”
16:1 This word of Adonai came to me: 2 “You are not to marry or have sons and daughters in this place. 3 For this is what Adonai says concerning the sons and daughters born here, as well as their mothers who gave birth to them and their fathers who conceived them in this land: 4 ‘They will die terrible deaths without being mourned or buried; they will be left on the ground like dung. They will die by the sword and by famine, and their corpses will be food for the birds in the air and the wild animals.’
5 “For here is what Adonai says: ‘Do not enter any house where there is mourning; don’t lament them, and don’t grieve for them; for I have removed my shalom from this people, as well as my grace and compassion,’ says Adonai. 6 ‘Great and small alike will die in this land; they will not be buried, people will not lament them; nor will they cut their flesh or shave their heads for them. 7 No one will prepare a meal for those in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; and no one will give them a cup to drink, to console them for their father or mother.’ 8 And you are not to go into any house where there is celebrating to sit with them, eating and drinking. 9 For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘In this place, while you are still alive, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bridegroom and bride.’
10 “When you tell this people all that I have said, and they ask you, ‘Why has Adonai decreed all this terrible disaster against us? What is our iniquity, what is our sin, that we have committed against Adonai our God?’ 11 then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors abandoned me, says Adonai, and went after other gods, serving and worshipping them, but abandoned me and did not keep my Torah. 12 And you have done worse than your ancestors, for — look! — each of you lives according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me. 13 Therefore I am thrusting you out of this land into a land you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.’
14 “‘Therefore,’ says Adonai, ‘the day will come when people will no longer swear, “As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt,” 15 but, “As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land to the north and out of all the countries where he drove them”; for I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their ancestors.
16 “‘Look,’ says Adonai, ‘I will send for many fishermen, and they will fish for them. Afterwards, I will send for many hunters; and they will hunt them from every mountain and hill and out of caves in the rocks. 17 For I see all their ways; they are not hidden from me; their crimes are not concealed from my eyes. 18 First, I will pay them back double for their crimes and sins; because they have defiled the land which is mine; they have filled my heritage with the corpses of their horrors and abominations.’”
19 Adonai, my strength, my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble,
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, saying,
“Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies,
futile idols, completely useless.”
20 Can a person make himself gods?
(In fact they aren’t gods at all.)
21 “Therefore, I will make them know,
once and for all, I will make them know
my power and my might.
Then they will know that my name is Adonai.
17:1 “Y’hudah’s sin is written with an iron pen;
with a diamond point it is engraved
on the tablet of their hearts
and on the horns of your altars.
2 As they remember their children,
so they remember their altars
and their sacred poles by the green trees
on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the field, your wealth
and all your treasures will be plundered;
because of the sin of your high places
throughout your territory.
4 You will relinquish your hold
on your heritage which I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know.
For you have kindled my fiery anger,
and it will burn forever.”
5 Here is what Adonai says:
“A curse on the person who trusts in humans,
who relies on merely human strength,
whose heart turns away from Adonai.
6 He will be like a tamarisk in the ‘Aravah —
when relief comes, it is unaffected;
for it lives in the sun-baked desert,
in salty, uninhabited land.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Adonai;
Adonai will be his security.
8 He will be like a tree planted near water;
it spreads out its roots by the river;
it does not notice when heat comes;
and its foliage is luxuriant;
it is not anxious in a year of drought
but keeps on yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is more deceitful than anything else
and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?
10 I, Adonai, search the heart;
I test inner motivations;
in order to give to everyone
what his actions and conduct deserve.”
11 A partridge hatches eggs it did not lay;
like this are those who get rich unjustly:
in the prime of life their wealth will desert them;
in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 Throne of Glory,
exalted from the beginning!
Our Holy Sanctuary,
13 Hope of Isra’el, Adonai!
All who abandon you will be ashamed,
those who leave you will be inscribed in the dust,
because they have abandoned Adonai,
the source of living water.
14 Heal me, Adonai, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for you are my praise.
15 They keep asking me,
“Where is the word of Adonai?
Let it come now.”
16 As for me, I have not run away
from being a shepherd who follows you;
you know I didn’t want this fatal day;
what came from my lips has been clear to you.
17 So do not be my ruin,
you, my refuge on the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be ashamed, not me;
let them be terrified, not me.
Bring on them the day of disaster,
destroy them with double destruction.
19 Then Adonai said this to me: “Go, and stand at the People’s Gate, where the kings of Y’hudah go in and out, and at all the gates of Yerushalayim; 20 and say to them: ‘Kings of Y’hudah, all Y’hudah and all living in Yerushalayim who enter through these gates, hear the word of Adonai! 21 Here is what Adonai says: “If you value your lives, don’t carry anything on Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Yerushalayim; 22 don’t carry anything out of your houses on Shabbat; and don’t do any work. Instead, make Shabbat a holy day. I ordered your ancestors to do this, 23 but they neither listened nor paid attention; rather, they stiffened their necks, so that they wouldn’t have to hear or receive instruction. 24 However, if you will pay careful heed to me,” says Adonai “and carry nothing through the gates of this city on Shabbat, but instead make Shabbat a day which is holy and not for doing work; 25 then kings and princes occupying the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses. They, their princes, the people of Y’hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim will enter; and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come from the cities of Y’hudah, from the places surrounding Yerushalayim, from the land of Binyamin, from the Sh’felah, from the hills and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, frankincense and thanksgiving sacrifices to the house of Adonai. 27 But if you will not obey me and make Shabbat a holy day and not carry loads through the gates of Yerushalayim on Shabbat, then I will set its gates on fire; it will burn up the palaces of Yerushalayim and not be quenched.”’”
2 Timothy 2:1 So then, you, my son, be empowered by the grace that comes from the Messiah Yeshua. 2 And the things you heard from me, which were supported by many witnesses, these things commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also. 3 Accept your share in suffering disgrace as a good soldier of the Messiah Yeshua. 4 No soldier on duty gets involved with civilian affairs, since he has to please his commanding officer. 5 Also an athlete can’t win a contest unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The farmer who has done the hard work should be the first to receive a share of the harvest. 7 Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will enable you to understand everything.
8 Remember Yeshua the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, who was a descendant of David. This is the Good News I proclaim, 9 and for which I am suffering to the point of being bound in chains — but the Word of God is not bound in chains! 10 Why do I persevere through it all? For the sake of those who have been chosen, so that they too may obtain the deliverance that comes through the Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a statement you can trust:
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him.
12 If we persevere,
we will also rule with him
If we disown him,
he will also disown us.
13 If we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. 16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; 18 they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people’s faith. 19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:
“The Lord knows his own,”[2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:5; Nahum 1:7]
and,
“Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord
stand apart from wrongdoing.”[2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:26]
20 In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work. 22 So, flee the passions of youth; and, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. 23 But stay away from stupid and ignorant controversies — you know that they lead to fights, 24 and a slave of the Lord shouldn’t fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. 25 Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, 26 come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.
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‘Those destined for death — to death!
Those destined for the sword — to the sword!
Those destined for famine — to famine!
Those destined for captivity — to captivity!’
3 “I will assign them four kinds [of scourges],” says Adonai, “the sword to kill, dogs to drag away, birds in the air and wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of M’nasheh the son of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, because of what he did in Yerushalayim.
5 “Who will take pity on you, Yerushalayim?
Who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me,” says Adonai.
“You are heading backward.
So I am stretching out my hand against you;
tired of sparing you, I am destroying you.
7 With a winnowing fork I am scattering them
to the wind at the gates of the land;
I am bereaving them, destroying my people,
because they will not return from their ways.
8 Their widows increase in number
more than the sand of the seas;
At midday I am bringing the destroyer
on the mothers of young men,
causing anguish and terror
suddenly to fall upon her.
9 The mother of seven sons grows faint,
panting in despair;
her sun has gone down while it’s still daytime;
she is left disgraced and bewildered.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword,
to their enemies,” says Adonai.
10 Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth,
a man who is the object of strife
and controversy throughout the land!
I neither lend nor borrow,
yet all of them curse me.
11 Adonai said, “I promise to release you for good, I promise to make your enemies appeal to you when calamity and trouble come.
12 “Can iron break iron and bronze from the north? 13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, and you will not be paid for them, because of all your sins throughout your territory; 14 and I will make you pass together with your enemies into a land you do not know. For my anger has become a blazing fire, and it will flare up against you.”
15 Adonai, you know. Remember me, think of me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Because you are patient, don’t banish me;
know that for your sake I suffer insults.
16 When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words made me glad, they gave me joy;
because, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
you had me bear your name.
17 I have never kept company with merrymakers,
I could not celebrate;
with your hand on me I sat by myself,
for you filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you be for me like a deceptive vadi,
which is only sometimes filled with water?
19 This is Adonai’s answer:
“If you return — if I bring you back —
you will stand before me.
If you separate the precious from the base,
you will be my spokesman.
It will then be they who turn to you,
not you who turn to them.
20 Toward this people I will make you
a fortified wall of bronze —
they will fight against you
but not prevail against you;
for I am with you to save you
and rescue you,” says Adonai.
21 “I will free you from the grasp of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the ruthless.”
16:1 This word of Adonai came to me: 2 “You are not to marry or have sons and daughters in this place. 3 For this is what Adonai says concerning the sons and daughters born here, as well as their mothers who gave birth to them and their fathers who conceived them in this land: 4 ‘They will die terrible deaths without being mourned or buried; they will be left on the ground like dung. They will die by the sword and by famine, and their corpses will be food for the birds in the air and the wild animals.’
5 “For here is what Adonai says: ‘Do not enter any house where there is mourning; don’t lament them, and don’t grieve for them; for I have removed my shalom from this people, as well as my grace and compassion,’ says Adonai. 6 ‘Great and small alike will die in this land; they will not be buried, people will not lament them; nor will they cut their flesh or shave their heads for them. 7 No one will prepare a meal for those in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; and no one will give them a cup to drink, to console them for their father or mother.’ 8 And you are not to go into any house where there is celebrating to sit with them, eating and drinking. 9 For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘In this place, while you are still alive, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bridegroom and bride.’
10 “When you tell this people all that I have said, and they ask you, ‘Why has Adonai decreed all this terrible disaster against us? What is our iniquity, what is our sin, that we have committed against Adonai our God?’ 11 then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors abandoned me, says Adonai, and went after other gods, serving and worshipping them, but abandoned me and did not keep my Torah. 12 And you have done worse than your ancestors, for — look! — each of you lives according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me. 13 Therefore I am thrusting you out of this land into a land you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.’
14 “‘Therefore,’ says Adonai, ‘the day will come when people will no longer swear, “As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt,” 15 but, “As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land to the north and out of all the countries where he drove them”; for I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their ancestors.
16 “‘Look,’ says Adonai, ‘I will send for many fishermen, and they will fish for them. Afterwards, I will send for many hunters; and they will hunt them from every mountain and hill and out of caves in the rocks. 17 For I see all their ways; they are not hidden from me; their crimes are not concealed from my eyes. 18 First, I will pay them back double for their crimes and sins; because they have defiled the land which is mine; they have filled my heritage with the corpses of their horrors and abominations.’”
19 Adonai, my strength, my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble,
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, saying,
“Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies,
futile idols, completely useless.”
20 Can a person make himself gods?
(In fact they aren’t gods at all.)
21 “Therefore, I will make them know,
once and for all, I will make them know
my power and my might.
Then they will know that my name is Adonai.
17:1 “Y’hudah’s sin is written with an iron pen;
with a diamond point it is engraved
on the tablet of their hearts
and on the horns of your altars.
2 As they remember their children,
so they remember their altars
and their sacred poles by the green trees
on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the field, your wealth
and all your treasures will be plundered;
because of the sin of your high places
throughout your territory.
4 You will relinquish your hold
on your heritage which I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know.
For you have kindled my fiery anger,
and it will burn forever.”
5 Here is what Adonai says:
“A curse on the person who trusts in humans,
who relies on merely human strength,
whose heart turns away from Adonai.
6 He will be like a tamarisk in the ‘Aravah —
when relief comes, it is unaffected;
for it lives in the sun-baked desert,
in salty, uninhabited land.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Adonai;
Adonai will be his security.
8 He will be like a tree planted near water;
it spreads out its roots by the river;
it does not notice when heat comes;
and its foliage is luxuriant;
it is not anxious in a year of drought
but keeps on yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is more deceitful than anything else
and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?
10 I, Adonai, search the heart;
I test inner motivations;
in order to give to everyone
what his actions and conduct deserve.”
11 A partridge hatches eggs it did not lay;
like this are those who get rich unjustly:
in the prime of life their wealth will desert them;
in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 Throne of Glory,
exalted from the beginning!
Our Holy Sanctuary,
13 Hope of Isra’el, Adonai!
All who abandon you will be ashamed,
those who leave you will be inscribed in the dust,
because they have abandoned Adonai,
the source of living water.
14 Heal me, Adonai, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for you are my praise.
15 They keep asking me,
“Where is the word of Adonai?
Let it come now.”
16 As for me, I have not run away
from being a shepherd who follows you;
you know I didn’t want this fatal day;
what came from my lips has been clear to you.
17 So do not be my ruin,
you, my refuge on the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be ashamed, not me;
let them be terrified, not me.
Bring on them the day of disaster,
destroy them with double destruction.
19 Then Adonai said this to me: “Go, and stand at the People’s Gate, where the kings of Y’hudah go in and out, and at all the gates of Yerushalayim; 20 and say to them: ‘Kings of Y’hudah, all Y’hudah and all living in Yerushalayim who enter through these gates, hear the word of Adonai! 21 Here is what Adonai says: “If you value your lives, don’t carry anything on Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Yerushalayim; 22 don’t carry anything out of your houses on Shabbat; and don’t do any work. Instead, make Shabbat a holy day. I ordered your ancestors to do this, 23 but they neither listened nor paid attention; rather, they stiffened their necks, so that they wouldn’t have to hear or receive instruction. 24 However, if you will pay careful heed to me,” says Adonai “and carry nothing through the gates of this city on Shabbat, but instead make Shabbat a day which is holy and not for doing work; 25 then kings and princes occupying the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses. They, their princes, the people of Y’hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim will enter; and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come from the cities of Y’hudah, from the places surrounding Yerushalayim, from the land of Binyamin, from the Sh’felah, from the hills and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, frankincense and thanksgiving sacrifices to the house of Adonai. 27 But if you will not obey me and make Shabbat a holy day and not carry loads through the gates of Yerushalayim on Shabbat, then I will set its gates on fire; it will burn up the palaces of Yerushalayim and not be quenched.”’”
2 Timothy 2:1 So then, you, my son, be empowered by the grace that comes from the Messiah Yeshua. 2 And the things you heard from me, which were supported by many witnesses, these things commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also. 3 Accept your share in suffering disgrace as a good soldier of the Messiah Yeshua. 4 No soldier on duty gets involved with civilian affairs, since he has to please his commanding officer. 5 Also an athlete can’t win a contest unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The farmer who has done the hard work should be the first to receive a share of the harvest. 7 Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will enable you to understand everything.
8 Remember Yeshua the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, who was a descendant of David. This is the Good News I proclaim, 9 and for which I am suffering to the point of being bound in chains — but the Word of God is not bound in chains! 10 Why do I persevere through it all? For the sake of those who have been chosen, so that they too may obtain the deliverance that comes through the Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a statement you can trust:
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him.
12 If we persevere,
we will also rule with him
If we disown him,
he will also disown us.
13 If we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. 16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; 18 they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people’s faith. 19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:
“The Lord knows his own,”[2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:5; Nahum 1:7]
and,
“Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord
stand apart from wrongdoing.”[2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:26]
20 In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work. 22 So, flee the passions of youth; and, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. 23 But stay away from stupid and ignorant controversies — you know that they lead to fights, 24 and a slave of the Lord shouldn’t fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. 25 Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, 26 come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.
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My Utmost for His Highest © 1927 in the U.K. by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
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