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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     King Nebuchadnezzar returned and conquered Jerusalem just as Jeremiah had prophesied. King Zedekiah attempted to escape in the night, but was captured. King Zedekiah was forced to watch as his sons and the nobles of Judah were executed. King Nebuchadnezzar then had King Zedekiah’s eye’s gouged out and took him to Babylon as a captive. This was the result that Jeremiah had warned King Zedekiah about if he did not surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar then sent his captain of the guard to release Jeremiah from prison and to provide his needs.
     Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the people he left in Judea and took his armies back to Babylon with most of the captives. Jeremiah chose to remain with Gedaliah rather than go to Babylon. Shortly after this Gedaliah met with the leaders of the armed bands that were in the countryside of Judea. Gedaliah promised them that Nebuchadnezzar meant them no harm and would leave them in peace if they did not rebel against him. Many of those who had fled Judea when Nebuchadnezzar began to besiege Jerusalem returned when they heard the news that Gedaliah had been appointed governor. Some of the leaders of armed bands learned that Ishmael, the leader of one of the bands, was planning to kill Gedaliah. They attempted to warn Gedaliah, but he did not believe them. Ishmael followed through on his plan and killed Gedaliah. In addition, he took captive the people who had been living under Gedaliah’s protection and started to lead them back to his camp outside of Judah. The other armed bands united and chased down Ishmael and his followers. They killed all by Ishmael and eight of his followers, freeing his prisoners. The people then began preparations to leave for Egypt because they were afraid of what Nebuchadnezzar would do when he heard that Gedaliah had been murdered.

     Once again Paul starts out his letter by emphasizing the fact that he prays for the recipient(s) frequently. By this standard, do we spend enough time in prayer? I do not know about those of you reading this, but I do not. Paul then goes on to encourage Timothy to fan the flames of the spiritual gift he has been given. We have been given a spirit of power, love and self-discipline, not a spirit of timidity and fear. We should never be ashamed to tell others about our faith in Christ, nor should we be ashamed of those who are suffering for their faith. We should be prepared to experience the same suffering, knowing that God will give us the strength to endure whatever suffering he sends our way.
     We should accept the suffering that comes our way because God saved us and called us to live a holy life. God did not do this because we deserved His attention, but because that was His plan from the beginning. We should rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to guard and remain faithful to the truth which we have learned.

     Let us remember how brief our lives are, how short the time we have to do God’s work on this earth. In that short time, let us remember that God is our refuge and place of safety. He will those who love Him and protect those who trust in Him. He will answer us when we call Him and be with us in our troubles. Let us turn to the Lord for all of our troubles in the confidence and faith that He will turn them into blessings.

     No one expects a fool to behave honorably and fools are rarely honored. I believe that there are those with the power to supernaturally curse others, but those curses will not take effect against those who are undeserving of such curses.