January 2022 – Church, Discipleship, and Missions

Obeying God When It Doesn’t Make Sense: Year Two Day Thirty-One Devotional

Passage: Jeremiah 32-33
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 24

Jeremiah 32:25

Yet You have said to me, Lord God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”

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What God asks of us does not always make sense. As Jerusalem neared collapse under siege, God told Jeremiah to buy a field. As the kinsman redeemer, it was Jeremiah’s obligation, but he could have refused. He bought it because God told him to do so. Thus, he sought an explanation from God.

His prayer revealed why he could obey. He knew God’s power to do anything, so he trusted God to have a purpose even if he could not see it. Jeremiah’s faith was not blind and irrational. He based his trust in God on God’s power, work, and revelation.

What God asks of us today may not make sense. Our circumstances may be chaotic, and we do not see God’s hand in them. Still, we can obey because He is God, and He has us and everything around us in His hand.

Lord, I trust You even when my life or what You asks of me doesn’t make sense.

Psalm 24:1 (NASB)

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it.

Not the God We Want: Year Two Day Thirty Devotional

Passage: Jeremiah 30-31
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 23

Jeremiah 30:1-3

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’”

Jeremiah’s hearers often accused him of preaching only bad news. It would have been worse to preach that they could live in sin and God not care. Such a view would have meant that they could oppress the poor and vulnerable, and justice would never come. They could live however they wanted, and it wouldn’t matter to God. That may have been the message they wanted, but it wouldn’t be good news. The good news was that God wasn’t what they assumed they wanted. The god they thought they wanted would not be loving, kind, or worthy of their worship.

God was holy and would purge them of their sin even if it meant war and exile. He loved them enough not to let them destroy themselves. And He promised after he cleansed them, He would restore them. They would still be His people, and He would be their God.

Such a God is worthy of worship. He has not changed.

Lord, I thank You for not being the god I thought I wanted but instead doing what I really needed in my life. Please, continue to do so in my life. Give me hope during these dark times.

Psalm 23:4 (NASB)

A posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

The Place Where You Live: Year Two Day Twenty-Nine Devotional

Passage: Jeremiah 29
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 22

Jeremiah 29:7

Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its ^[prosperity will be your prosperity.’

In God’s instructions to the exiles in Babylon, we find principles Christians may live by in our present society and culture.

Seek its welfare—contribute in positive ways to our culture and society. Be productive. Obey laws as long as they don’t contradict God’s laws.
Pray for it—pray for leaders and the people. Pray for God to bless the place where You live.

Father, bless our town, county, state, and country. Give wisdom to leaders at every level. Turn the hearts of the people to You.

Psalm 22:30-31 (NASB)

A posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

The God Who Rules: Year Two Day Twenty-Eight Devotional

Passage: Jeremiah 27-28
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 21

Jeremiah 27:4-7

Order them to go to their masters, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “This is what you shall say to your masters: ⁵‘I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. ⁶And now I have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have also given him the animals of the field to serve him. ⁷All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.

The primary view of the day was that wars between nations were wars between gods, and the most powerful god won. The Lord asserted something very different. He alone is Lord and Creator. He alone is God. Therefore, He alone rules the nations and all that happened, including the defeat of His people, was according to His will.

Father, help Your church be faithful to proclaim the gospel as it is.

Psalm 21:13 (NASB)

Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.

An Uncompromised Message: Year Two Day Twenty-Seven Devotional

Passage: Jeremiah 26
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 20

Jeremiah 26:4-6

And you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My Law which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”

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Just in case the people would repent, God sent Jeremiah to the temple to preach and prophecy once again. The desire for a favorable did not change the message. It was as harsh and direct as ever. Binded by religious pride and nationalism, many wanted to kill Jeremiah.

The gospel, which defies our cultural value of self-reliance and confronts our sin, will not grow in popularity in the West. Still, we must proclaim it as it is. The desire for favorable responses must never soften the message.

Father, help Your church be faithful to proclaim the gospel as it is.

Psalm 20:1 (NASB)

May the Lord answer you on a day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!