Devotional Thoughts for Today
“Two Lives Lived Differently: Jeremiah and Pashhur”
Jeremiah 20:1-4, 6
When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord. 3 On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Lord has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. 4 For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”
In this morning’s passage, we get to see how Pashhur the priest finishes his life. Pashhur had great influence being the chief officer in the temple of the Lord. However, his role in Jerusalem did not spare him from the destruction and years of exile that Judah was about to face. After hearing of Jeremiah breaking the clay jar as a message to Judah of impending judgment, Pashhur was angry at Jeremiah and put him in prison overnight. After a painful and humiliating night, Jeremiah was released and foretold Pashhur the terrible pain he was about to experience. He would not only be taken into exile along with Judah, but he and his household would also die in exile. The main reason for a painful end to his life is that he falsely prophesied to many people while being entrusted with the role as a priest. The words he spoke stuck with many of his friends, and they also would be buried in exile.
The name Pashhur means “ease, tranquility,” and the name that the Lord is now giving him is Magor-missabib, which means “terror on every side.” Pashshur’s ministry for a length of time brought him great ease and freedom as his hearers like what he prophesied. Though his words sounded good to them, they were false prophecies resulting in blindness towards the uncomfortable, yet true words of God and the need to repent and return to the Lord. As a result of opposing God and misleading God’s people, Pashhur now faces the terror of the exile.
In contrast, though Jeremiah faced overwhelming opposition in fulfilling God’s call, he treasured God’s message in his heart and was faithful to proclaim it in his lifetime. In a previous passage, Jeremiah proclaimed to God regarding the unpopular message he would have to say to Judah, “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16). This morning, let us consider the example of Jeremiah, who persevered in following God’s call in the midst of unease and hardship.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank You that You have called me by Your name to be in a relationship with You and to fulfill a special purpose in my lifetime. Increase my strength to complete the work that You have entrusted to me, and enable me to persevere faithfully until the end. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Daniel 3
Lunch Break Study
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22: Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Questions to Consider
- Why did Paul emphatically instruct them to not quench the Spirit?
- Why is it important not to despise prophetic utterances?
- How does Paul instruct the Thessalonians to respond to those who give words of prophecy?
Notes
- Evidently, some people in the church displayed the attitude of despising prophecy. A likely reason is that some people in their midst had misused the gift in some way, leading to hardened hearts; therefore, they wanted to get rid of prophetic utterances altogether.
- When we despise or resist prophetic utterances, we quench (put out, extinguish) the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. The Holy Spirit has given prophecy as a gift to the church to build up the church.
- He instructs them to examine and to discern, instead of to reject. To discern means to recognize that there are both genuine prophetic utterances that the Holy Spirit gives to church members, but there are also utterances that are not from the Holy Spirit. The key is to discern the words in light of the truth of Scripture. If the utterances and the one speaking exudes the fruit of the Spirit, then that is “good” and we must hold fast to it; otherwise, we shouldn’t tolerate anything that doesn’t align with the truth of Scripture or reflect the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).
Evening Reflection
1 Peter 4:13: “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
One of the wisest choices my mother made for my sister and me was when she signed us up for a Divorce Care Group for kids when we were young. She told us that she did this because she was aware that we may have emotions such as anger, sadness, or disappointment that we were afraid to express to her, but she didn’t want us to harbor it in our hearts. She told us to tell it to our care group and she wouldn’t be mad about anything we said in those sessions. I remember those sessions being a safe place to share and listen, but I honestly was too young to process. However, her choice set me up well for my college years when I started to have pent up emotions about my parent’s divorce, and I knew it was permissible to grieve. In fact, allowing myself to grieve and find a counselor led to a season of healing and restoration.
After I got baptized in high school after having encountered God’s forgiveness at a youth retreat, I remember wrestling with the foundational question, “How do I actually follow Jesus now?” The more vulnerable thought was, “How do I function in the same environment I have been living in and overcome temptations and represent Christ in my life?” I was afraid to “fail” and see my baptism as just a “passing event” that didn’t lead to any difference in my life.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Tina Hsu. Tina, a graduate of Biola University and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), currently serves as a staff at the Church of Southland, Anaheim, California.
When I was a little girl, I checked out some of my mom’s expensive glassware that she had stored in a cabinet. I thought I was careful with handling glass, but I still managed to shatter one glass right in front her eyes. I had broken a lot things as a curious young girl, but this one I knew was beyond repair and no longer usable. Its shattered pieces could only be swept and thrown away. In this morning’s passage, the prophet is told to purchase a clay jar, only to break it in front of Judah’s leaders (19:10) at the valley of Ben-hinnom, as a symbolic message to the nation of the Lord’s impending judgment, for they had remained stubborn and unrepentant after many warnings. Proverbs 29:1 says, “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed–without remedy.” In speaking of Judah’s soon-to-happen exile to Babylon, Jeremiah’s prophetic act conveys that it will be a calamity in that God’s people will be “broken,” as one breaks the potter’s clay jar and throws it into the dump.
It was always very easy for me to drift into other thoughts or daydreams. The irritating part of this was that I could tune things out even in a room full of people or in the middle of a conversation. And while it may seem strange, embarrassing, and inconvenient, I have learned that it wasn’t that I was bored or did not care, but actually, it was in those moments that I was trying to make meaningful connections. It was much easier in my childhood to dream and to unabashedly wonder at inconspicuous details, but as an adult, I was ashamed of appearing “out of touch,” inattentive, or unrealistic.
The Japanese have a tradition called kintsugi, in which broken or flawed pottery is pieced back together with gold lacquer. This process began as a simple method of repair—taking plates that had been chipped and teapots that had been shattered, and gluing them back together. But over time, kintsugi became regarded as a desirable aesthetic, a form of art, and even a philosophy. The potters behind these repairs reasoned that the cracks and chips that most would hide as flaws should instead be highlighted as part of the unique history of each bowl, cup, and vase. In essence, kintsugi underscores the beauty to be found in the natural imperfection, brokenness, and restoration of everything. Broken pieces can be put together to create something intricate and whole. This idea translates easily into a metaphor for life in God: He highlights our brokenness, takes the pieces of our self, and restores us into something intricate and whole. It sounds beautiful—putting aside the pain of experiencing the true breaking of the self. And I don’t wish to downplay how impactful this imagery can be for us at times, but no metaphor is completely perfect.
I’ve never considered myself to be a workaholic. I have seen my fair share of people who prefer to be busy, or who need to have a schedule packed to the brim as to not waste a moment; but personally— whether it’s due to my personality, my location (sunny San Diego), or something deeper—I’m not like that. However, this past year brought a lot of changes and transitions in my life, and with that came a myriad of new responsibilities. As work piled up, I found myself getting busier and busier. There was always something that needed to be done or needed to be thought through—and this made it easy to forgo taking any sort of meaningful Sabbath. Why set aside an entire day away from work when that would just leave more to get back to the next day?
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Charles Graham. Charles is a new intern with Kairos, who came aboard in September of 2017. He is currently studying at Talbot School of Theology to prepare himself for a life of service and ministry.
I’m a huge sports fan; following American football and basketball the closest. I may lose some people with this, but being a SoCal native, my earliest memories of watching sports are of my family gathering around a giant CRT TV in the living room, and watching the Los Angeles Lakers. I love the Lakers, and I’ll welcome Lebron James with open arms (and no shame). Anyway, further down the road, my family moved from LA to San Diego, where I developed a love and appreciation for the (then) San Diego Chargers. Growing into a fan of the Chargers was an interesting experience. In watching and attending games, I began to observe a peculiar pattern in the behavior of most other fans; that they would love the Chargers as long as we were winning, but in down times there were serious concerns of season ticket holders abandoning their passes, or even jerseys getting disowned. As time went on, I grew to understand that these people are known as “fair weather fans,” or more commonly, “bandwagoners.”
For as long as it has existed, Christians have endured countless criticisms of the God we serve and adore. It seems God is a popular figure to constantly put on trial. Interestingly, while people seem rather comfortable with Jesus and His interactions with various people He meets during His ministry, the temperament of God in the Old Testament is often viewed as at odds with Jesus by skeptics, and is used as a constant point of attack. Outspoken atheist, Richard Dawkins, is one of many who lobs complaints his book, The God Delusion. Though not a very sophisticated critique, Dawkins pulls no punches, writing:
I read a story online about a boy who was diagnosed with a severe heart defect, only having months to live. His surgeon, a well-respected yet jaded heart specialist, told the boy, “I’m going to try to fix your heart, but when I open it up, I’m not sure what I will find.” To his surprise, the boy responded with a smile on his face, “Don’t worry, when you cut my heart open, you’ll find Jesus, because he lives there.” Even after several attempts from the doctor to warn the boy of the dangers of his surgery, the boy continued to give the same response with a smile on his face.