October 17

Jeremiah 30:1-31:26, 1 Timothy 2:1-15, Psalm 87:1-7, Proverbs 25:18-19



Pray: Lord God, You are my strength. Hold my hand in my weakness and teach my heart to fly. With You, there’s nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Hold me tight in Your embrace, so that I can be stronger than the challenges in my life. Amen.

Read: Jeremiah 30 gives us God’s promises to His chosen people as they live in captivity. We read yesterday that God told the Israelites to not live as though they were in captivity, but to make the most of their time in a foreign land… build houses, have children, pray for their captors…Today He continues these instructions and God tells the Israelites not to stand around in misery because in the end, they will be saved! Verse 8 says, “For in that day, says the Lord Almighty, I will break the yoke from their necks and snap their chains.” God wins! This is a truth that is relived over and over throughout Scripture.  Why do we live as though we are slaves when the reality is that God is ultimately in control and that He is triumphant? 

Edify: I wonder if the Israelites would have lived the same way if they knew what was going to happen in the New Testament with God coming to earth and ultimately dying and resurrecting? I wonder if they would have lived the same way if they knew that there was victory in Jesus? (You started singing that song didn’t you… be honest… you did.) The Israelites, once again, found themselves as slaves in a foreign land and are faced with wondering what they were to do with themselves while there. Scripture tells us that the men stood around looking miserable… like they were about to give birth, but God reminds them through the prophet Jeremiah that God will deliver them in time. I think we often live the same way… so caught up in our own captivity that we forget that God has already delivered us and that we have victory in Him. Don’t live as a slave, live today as a victor in Christ!

Practice: Reflect on what is keeping you from living into the victory that Christ offers… maybe it's finances, maybe it’s a broken relationship, maybe it's unhappiness in a job situation. Whatever it is, commit today to taking steps toward being able to live into the victory that Christ has for you by taking the necessary steps to overcome those circumstances that have you in bondage. Today may mean establishing a budget, making a phone call of reconciliation or having a conversation with your boss. Whatever it is for you, commit to it today and begin to move toward victory.