DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“Who is in Control?”
Jeremiah 29:8-9
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.
Jeremiah has been delivering some not so great news to a people who really could have used some encouragement. The Jewish exiles in Babylon were in a city where everything—the food, culture, buildings—all screamed, “Not home”! They were in Babylon because Jerusalem had been brutally conquered and ransacked, and the temple was destroyed. The royal line of David was seemingly no more. Good news in their context might have been news that Babylon was going to be punished by God, or that they would be able to return home soon.
And as we read last week, some prophets did in fact prophesy this very thing. But God makes it very clear that the good news that they are prophesying (that they would be able to return to Jerusalem in two years) was not actually from Him.
The very enterprise of prophecy requires some assumptions: first, that there is a God who can speak to us; and second, that this God is in control. While we know this, we allow our cultural, theological biases and personal needs and ambitions to skew how we hear, read and understand the will of God. We often read what we want to read, hear what we want to hear, and see what we want to see. The Jewish exiles chose to listen to these lies, because the prophets were prophesying what the exiles wanted to hear. In turn, the prophets might have been prophesying what they thought the exiles wanted to hear. When we do that, we unconsciously put ourselves, our needs, thoughts and desires, in control.
God is quite clear—He is in control and we are not. There is good news coming for the exiles (we’ll see this later in Jeremiah 29), but it’s only truly good news if it’s actually coming from the God who is in control. False prophets tell us what we want to hear; true prophets tell us what God wants us to hear.
Prayer: Father, I want to hear truly from You. As I read Your word and spend time in prayer, I ask that I would be hearing what You want me to hear, even if it doesn’t seem like good news in that moment. Give me discernment! I want to do Your will, not mine. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Esther 4
LUNCH BREAK STUDY
Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Questions to Consider
- What does it mean “to be ready in season and out of season” to preach the word?
- Looking at verse 3, what is a constant danger that people will fall into?
- How does Paul encourage us to handle this challenge?
Notes
- This means being ready to preach the word regardless of circumstances. Whatever we may feel we are going through, we need to be ready to preach the word, rather than to pursue teaching the things that just suits our needs or desires. As Jeremiah experienced, sometimes God’s word seem contrary to our needs, but still, we are called to preach His word, knowing that it truly is good, regardless of the season.
- People often just want to hear what they want to hear. Paul says that people will surround themselves with voices that affirm everything they do. We do not like to be challenged, because it disrupts our comfort. This is a challenge for us as well. What voices are we listening to? Do we ever listen to voices that challenge us in different ways? May we become a people who humbly listen to voices that challenge us in our blind spots!
- Paul says to “be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” There is a focus that is required to endure suffering. If our goal is our own comfort, we will be swayed by all voices that affirm our comfort. But when our goal is to pursue Christ, regardless of circumstance, we can endure suffering because we know that it is only temporary. We can see past the short-term pain and see the long-term joy we have with Jesus.
EVENING REFLECTION
Do you seek to control God or are you surrendered to His ways? Is your obedience or faith at all conditional upon certain circumstances or outcomes? Let’s seek to surrender those to the Lord today!
If we read God’s message to the Jewish exiles in Babylon in Jeremiah 29:1-6 and stopped there, we might think that God was telling Israel to make the most of a bad situation: “You’re going to be here for a while, so make yourself comfortable.” This, in itself, would have been bad news, especially the news that they were going to be in exile for a while. But verse 7 changes everything!
Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from August 13-19 are provided by Pastor Barry Kang, who heads Symphony Church in Boston. Barry, a graduate of Stanford University and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Sunny (an amazing worship leader, chef, and math wizard). They are the proud parents of Caleb and Micah.
Do you currently rent or own your home? Does it matter? Of course! No matter how considerate and responsible you may be, you probably won’t care as much about your home as you would if you owned it. Here’s the thing: whether we own or rent, spiritually speaking, all of us are actually exiles in a foreign land (1 Peter 2:11). We live here, but this isn’t truly our home—which naturally leads to the question: if this is all temporary, why should we care about where we live?
There’s an old John Mayer song in which the chorus says, “My stupid mouth has gotten me in trouble.” When I was in high school, I used to think how true that was, because I would often regret something I had said frivolously. I wonder if Hananiah would have thought that to himself—“My stupid mouth has gotten me in trouble.” Unfortunately, because he spoke foolishly, and there were consequences—he died.
Prophesying is a dangerous task. Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament, we read of people prophesying the word of God and paying dearly for it. Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah often were rejected by the people and faced constant threats and abuse. Proclaiming God’s truth is dangerous, because sometimes the truth is not easy to hear. And when people do not like the message of God, they turn their anger toward to one speaking His words. Prophesying truly is a dangerous task.
There is a proverbial saying that goes like this: “All that glitters is not gold”—meaning, the appearance of something does not necessarily tell you about its true nature. For example, imagine looking at a shiny new Porsche; it could look beautiful from the outside, but this does not tell you anything about the quality of its engine. It may not even work! A shiny Porsche that has a broken engine is useless!
None of us is a fan of adversity. For me, I absolutely hate having conversations with Comcast’s customer service. Or try airlines—I remember getting into a very lengthy conversation with airline personnel after a flight cancelation. It’s painful to deal with a company that really seems to wish the worst on you, and I’m sure I’m not alone in dealing with them. Then again, my taste of adversity can’t hold a candle to that which God’s people once faced.
When I graduated from college, I bought my first car. The dealership offered a warranty plan—and they assured me it was worth it—where I was guaranteed my money back on the warranty if no issues ever arose with the car after five years. In my naïveté, I bought the warranty; and five years later, having had no issues, I brought all my paperwork back to the dealership, and they said they’d be sending a check in 6-8 weeks. Eight weeks went by and no check. When I returned to the dealership, they said there must have been an issue, reassuring me a check was on its way. Time went by, still no check. I kept going back and kept being given false promises, so I eventually gave up. Sadly, I was duped by a lie.
The AMI QT Devotionals for August 5-11 are provided by Doug Tritton. Doug, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, is currently serving as a staff at Symphony Church (Boston), while pursuing a M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He is married to Cindy and they are proud parents of Audrey.
Influence fades very quickly. When Fitbits first became popular, I bought one thinking it would revolutionize my exercise habits. My friends and I all competed with each for the most steps and we all were walking more—it seemed the influence of our Fitbits and of each other was helping to keep us all healthier. Yet, after a few weeks, that influence waned and I wore it less and less. Right now, my Fitbit is collecting dust in some drawer in my house, and the Fitbits of many of my friends are suffering a similar fate.
The AMI QT Devotionals for August 5-11 are provided by Doug Tritton. Doug, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, is currently serving as a staff at Symphony Church (Boston), while pursuing a M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He is married to Cindy and they are proud parents of Audrey.
A major pillar of modern and post-modern society is the concept of “freethought”. This viewpoint contends that an individual’s thinking should be free from authority and tradition. A person should be free to make their own choices, to determine their own futures, and to form their opinions. This value is quite evident in many movies and TV shows, in which main characters are applauded for unshackling themselves from convention and authority (think: Frozen, or really any other recent Disney movies).