I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Jeremiah expressed his sorrow for the people of Judah, for the suffering which they would soon experience. Do we feel a similar sorrow for those around us who do not know God? Jeremiah did not gain pleasure from telling his countrymen that they had sinned and judgment was about to befall them. It broke his heart to deliver the message which God had given him. But he had no choice, because he hoped that at least a few might turn to God and thus be saved.
     Jeremiah says that he searched Jerusalem and no one was honest, they were all liars. The poor and uneducated as much as the wealthy and powerful. I read this and think about society today where I see much the same thing. There is hope for a society when the “common man” embraces honesty, even if those from the leading classed do not, because a leader might emerge from among the “common man” to bring about revival. On the other hand, there is also hope for society when the leading classes embrace honesty because they may be able to show the “common man” the way to righteousness by their honor and integrity. However, when both those who lead and those who are “common folk” hold honesty and integrity in contempt, a society is doomed. There remains but one hope, the power of the Holy Spirit. I will pray to God with all of my being that He send down His Spirit upon this world. I pray that the Spirit will light a fire in the hearts of those who are willing to listen and bring about a revival.

     Christ is the head of the Church. God chose to reconcile everything to Himself through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. We were alienated from God because of our evil behavior, but now we have been reconciled to Him through the death of Christ’s physical body. It is our obligation to continue in the faith which we received when we heard the Gospel. God’s plan of redemption is Christ living in us. The only way that we can be fully reconciled to God is to depend entirely on the power of Christ which lives within us. If we live in Christ in the same way that He lives in us, we will be reconciled to God and experience the power of His Spirit within us. I need to build my life upon Christ, extending my roots into Him so that I am firmly planted in His will.

     The psalmist speaks of his troubles being so great that he finds it difficult to even pray. He wondered if God would ever come to his rescue. Then he started thinking about what God had done in the past. As he thought about them, one after another they came to him until they filled his thoughts. In this way we learn the answer of what to do when our troubles overwhelm us and God seems distant. The answer is to remember the things which God has done in the past, the ways in which He has saved us from troubles in times gone by.

     Judges who show partiality and declare the guilty innocent will be denounced, but those who punish the guilty will be blessed.