For today, One Year Bible Online links here. This weekend I am going to be away Friday night through Sunday (October 16-18). I am going to try very hard to have my studies for the weekend done in advance. My plan is to publish Saturday’s and Sunday’s studies Friday evening before I depart. I hope this does not cause anyone a problem/
Do not visit others too often. No matter how much they like you there is a limit to how much time they want to spend with you.
Nothing and no one else is like God. They can not do the things which God does. I will praise Him as I ask Him to teach me His ways, to cause me to live according to His truth.
Paul warns against listening to false teachings or getting caught up in discussing myths and genealogies (he is not talking about tracing your family tree, he is talking about trying to establish some genealogical connection to some spiritual figure of the past). All of these things spark controversies. Such things will distract us from the truly important things: having a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. If you spend your time telling people what they can and can’t do, you have missed the point. The rules exist to show those who are rebellious and seek to defile the holy that what they are doing is wrong. Those who truly seek to do what is righteous do not need a set of rules to tell them what they should, or should not, do. God will speak to their spirit and they will know in their hearts what is wrong.
In this passage, Jeremiah is given a message against false prophets who told people what they wanted to hear rather than what God was saying. It is always a challenge for us to avoid believing that a message is from God when that message is what we would like to have happen. I believe that when God’s plans are what people want to happen He rarely sends a prophet to announce them. It is when what we want to happen is different from what He intends to do that He sends us prophets.
God has plans for us, even when we find ourselves in circumstances other than what we would wish. His plans are to do good for us and to give us a future. If we look for Him wholeheartedly, we will find Him. Let us seek His plans for our lives and He will give us hope.