The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction” (Jeremiah 16:19).

He was hated for telling the truth. He was imprisoned because of his stand for the Lord. He wept over the sins of the people of the land. His name was Jeremiah. He served well over forty years preaching to people who would not listen. How could he go without giving up? The answer is found in the verse for today. The Lord was Jeremiah’s strength, fortress, and refuge. He especially experienced this in the hard days of affliction. How will this truth affect you today? Do you know the Lord and are you discovering the Lord to be the same refuge and strength to you?

For today: How great it is to belong to the Lord. While we don’t live in denial of our problems, we do discover His wonderful power to help and hold us.

“To Whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?” (Isaiah 40:18).

Our God is awesome in every way. He is infinite (1 Kings 8:27); eternal (Isaiah 57:15); all powerful (Jeremiah 32:17, 27); everywhere present (Psalm 139:7-12); and all knowing (1 John 3:20). His ways are described as perfect (Psalm 18:30); righteous (Psalm 145:17); and not like a man’s way (Isaiah 55:8, 9). So what does all this mean to us today? If you know the Lord Jesus as your own personal Savior, you can be assured that the God to Whom you belong is too wise to make any mistakes and too loving to ever be unjust. Isaiah declared with firm conviction that God’s Word will never fail. If there were any questions in their minds, he asked “To Whom then will you liken God?” The truth simply stated is, you can never think too highly of the Lord our God.

For today: As you think about the greatness of the Lord your God, may your life be blessed today.

“I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy Word” (Psalm 119:101).

Psalm 119 is grand in its length and practical in its application. Every verse, all 176 of them depict God’s Word in various ways. In our verse for today the psalmist indicated that he was going to accept the warnings of God as revealed in the Word of God. This would have a profound impact upon the way he lived. Lester and his family were out on Lake Erie enjoying their day of boating. Suddenly over there weather radio the tone sounded and weather statement warned boaters to take shore immediately. A significant thunderstorm was starting to develop thirty miles from them. Several of Lester’s children pled with their dad to give them just fifteen more minutes on the water. Lester could not be persuaded and immediately headed for harbor. By the time they arrived and docked the boat already dark storm clouds were developing to the southwest. In the time it took those to secure their vessel and reach their car the rains were arriving and the wind were gusting as the storm began to hit. They were thankful that they listened to the weather warning. God’s Word gives us many wonderful promises as well as significant warnings. We will be wise if we heed them.

For today: How will this verse impact your life today?

“And this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6).

Jeremiah served the Lord during a very difficult time in the nation of Judah. The nation was collapsing because of turning away from God as they followed the treachery of idolatry. Jeremiah predicted that the Lord would bring the captives home from the seventy-year period of time that they would stay in Babylon. He also looked forward to the day when God will bring the people of Israel back home from all over the world. The promise is certain. The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS is Jehovah-Tsidkenu! As the nation of Judah collapsed, it must have been a great blessing to the believers of that day to remember that the Lord is right in everything He does and everything He says. I find this very comforting in my own life today. How about you?

For today: I am so glad that He is my Jehovah-Tsidkenu. I’ll be thanking Him for this today.

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).

Words from this Scripture passage are no doubt very familiar to you. Probably your pastor reads this passage of Scripture whenever your church family observes the Lord’s Supper. The Apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth that the observance of communion is very important because it is a remembrance of the Lord’s death and the shedding of His blood, as well as His victorious resurrection. The words “But let a man examine himself” are words that are very important for us not only in the communion service but every day of our lives. This examination is not focusing on our failures and beating ourselves up because of all the bad things that we have done. It is rather being sensitive before the Lord and checking out our lives to be sure that we truly are obeying His Word and following His ways. How will this passage play out in your life today?

For today: I want be sensitive to the Lord’s Word, will, and way. How about you?