August 12

Today marks Mariana and my 26th anniversary. Two things have kept us together. The good Lord and a good sense humor - His and ours. Happy anniversary, Mariana...I wish you many, many more...with me. And surely it's only coincidence that today's scripture reading is regarding the Babylonian Captivity. lol

A picture taken on our 24th anniversary. Yeah, we went hiking in the smokies and camped out in a shelter. Did I tell you she's quite a woman?

Jeremiah's Prophecies Under Zedekiah (Continued) - Jeremiah 23:9-40

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

"Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;

they will fill you with false hopes.

They speak visions from their own minds,

not from the mouth of the Lord.

They keep saying to those who despise Me,

The Lord says: You will have peace."

Jeremiah 23:16

I'm thinking about this one. Thinking. Long and hard. Because I believe that God's grace reaches farther than we dream. Honestly, we need it to. Sometimes I feel the various flavors of Christianity are all a million miles from God's will, arguing about who is two inches closer. Does this make me a prophet who says "You will have peace" to those who despise the Lord? Is that what it's saying? What He is saying to me in this reading?

How would the people of Jeremiah's day have known the false prophets from the true? Well, this scripture points it out quite plainly. Of course, this scripture wasn't scripture. It was Jeremiah talking - a prophet preaching about not believing prophets. I'm sure there was confusion because even Jeremiah preached hope for Judah and Israel and the exiles. The people heard what they wanted to hear. But wouldn't they have known what Jeremiah was saying was true because of how accurately he described their relationship with the Lord, the one true God? I suppose they didn't want to hear they hadn't been following God or remaining true to the covenant. But they would have known this true, wouldn't they? Wouldn't they?

I think we should view this scripture as speaking to believers rather than condemning the rest of the world. Do we? Do we know truly what our idols are and whether are hearts are truly turned to God? How well do we truly know ourselves? Are we hearing the truth or only what we want to hear? Am I?

Lord knows.

I don't have the answer on this one but thankfully I know the one that does.