Jeremias 15

Jeremias 15:16

MacDonald - Eat the Word Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. —Jeremiah 15:16 The last time you had a Bible in your hands, how did you handle it? Did you casually flip it open to a suggested passage or quickly fan the pages using the headings as your guide? Maybe you had to check the table of contents—or perhaps the truth is, you held the Bible but didn’t open it. Whatever your story, do you know how to find the joy and delight promised us in Scripture? Jeremiah’s testimony can help you move from treating the Bible as just another book, to treasuring it for what it is—God’s Word. What was his approach to the Scriptures? Jeremiah said, “I ate them.” In Jeremiah’s day, God's Word was handwritten on leather scrolls and painstakingly copied. In times of spiritual decline these scrolls were sometimes misplaced. When Jeremiah wrote, “Your words were found,” he was probably remembering the incident during King Josiah’s reign when the lost books of Moses were discovered in the neglected Temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22). It’s easy to wonder, How could people actually misplace the Scriptures? The more important question is, Where is your Bible right now? An open Bible is a meal spread before you. On every page there is nourishment prepared and provided by God for you. Do you want God’s Word to become a joy and delight in your heart? Have you discovered for yourself how it can satisfy your deepest hunger? Here are some steps that will help you get increasingly more from Scripture. Discipline yourself to get into God’s Word. It may feel like you’re working out on a treadmill. In the beginning, it will take getting up earlier or altering your schedule in some way. You will have to consciously decide to open and read God’s Word attentively. Stay at it for at least thirty days. At this point, the benefits won’t always be obvious. You will mostly be aware that you are making a deliberate effort. You will know discipline is working when it gives way to desire. God is honoring your willingness to get into His Word daily. You will find yourself increasingly longing for Scripture (Psalm 42:1). If you miss a day, you will notice and wonder how you lived without it. Expect at least another thirty days in this phase. You will discover firsthand the impact of regular time in God’s Word. Beyond discipline and desire you will find delight. Jeremiah 15:16 will become your own experience. When you begin to delight in God’s Word, the time spent in Scripture will be the best part of your days. And the effects will seep into every part of your life as you find His truth running continually in the background of your thoughts. Discipline, desire, and delight could be less than 60 days away for you. These are choices you can make and steps you can take that God will use to change your life. And they never need to end—the longer you walk with Jesus Christ, the more you will find Him leading you through these stages in your lifetime, as He takes you deeper into His Word and all He has for you. Journal - What do you need to change in order to commit to the discipline of daily Bible reading for the next month, perhaps reading one of the 31 chapters of Proverbs each day? How do you think the rest of your life would be affected if you were discovering joy and delight in God’s Word? Pray - Lord, I want my experience to echo Jeremiah’s testimony. I know that joy, delight, and much more are waiting for me in Your Word. But I also recognize a pattern of inconsistency and even resistance to regular times in Scripture. Help me remember what You have promised to those who will read and apply what You have written. Remind me that the meal is before me, but I must choose to eat Your words. Give me a hunger for what You want to say to me. In Jesus’ name, amen. (Eat the Word - Devotional - James MacDonald Bible Teaching - Walk in the Word) Pastor Ed Rea - Jeremiah is saying, ‘I read your word LORD, believed You and it changed my heart.’ Several have suggested that the slang phrase, ‘soul food’ is a great picture of what God’s word really is to the believer. We recognize that God’s word provides the nourishment that disciples of Jesus need if we’re to grow. As we slowly digest and absorb the word of God through quiet reflection in our hearts, we receive needed nutrition to face the new day. Wise believers down through the ages have prayed and asked God to continually give them a increasing desire, hunger, and taste for His word. In the New Testament the Apostle Peter tells us to, ‘Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,’ (1 Peter 2:1-2) We read an old story of a Scottish pastor in a mining area, who called on a believer who was a miner. It was late in the afternoon, and the miner, having returned from the pit, bathed and changed his clothes, was busy poring over his well-worn Bible. ‘Well, John, where are you gleaning today?’ asked his visitor. ‘In Romans 8,’ was John’s reply. Several weeks later the pastor again called at the miner’s cottage and found him, as usual, studying his Bible, and still at Romans 8. ‘Why, John, you were digging into that chapter when I came to see you some weeks ago,’ he said. The miner’s reply was, ‘Aye, sir, I’m sinking a shaft here.’ Reformer Martin Luther said, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me, it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” “LORD, please give us a greater hunger for Your word this day and in the days ahead we ask in Jesus’ name.” (Pastor Ed's Devotional -- Jeremiah 15-16) Cecil Thompson - Is there a solution to overcome the problem of our heartache and despair? Well, according to today’s Scripture, joy and delight come from devouring God’s Word. That means more than simply reading His Word---we need to memorize it and meditate on it as well. Back in 1910 an evangelist by the name of Luther Bridgers was traveling to preach the Word. His wife and three boys stayed with her parents while he was away. One night while she was there, the house caught on fire and Bridger’s wife and three sons died in the flames. When word of the tragedy reached Rev. Bridgers he was crushed. He immediately went to the Lord in prayer and allowed Him to do what no human counselor could do. After a time, he felt the joy that only the Lord can give. He knew that he would see his family again when he went to be with the Lord. As he felt the healing strength of the Lord pour over him and fill him with a joy that the world can never know, he penned the words to a song that has filled many of us with hope across the years. “THERE’S WITHIN MY HEART A MELODY” There's within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low, "Fear not I am with thee, Peace, be still in all of life's ebb and flow." (Refrain) Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know. Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. Though sometimes he leads through waters deep, trials fall across the way, though sometimes the path seems rough and steep, see his footprints all the way. (Refrain) Soon he's coming back to welcome me far beyond the starry sky; I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown; I shall reign with him on high. (Refrain) Is there a melody in your heart today? Are you fractured, broken, full of suffering and pain? In the midst of the stormy seas of life there comes One who is able to give joy and peace in the midst of our turmoil. (Where's My Joy- - Jeremiah 15:16) Vance Havner - Wine or Vinegar? Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. Jeremiah 15:16. Maclaren speaks of the "perverse ingenuity… of that state of mind in which some manage to distil for themselves a bitter vinegar of self-accusation out of grand words in the Bible that were meant to afford them but the wine of gladness and of consolation." The Spirit does indeed use the Word to convict the guilty and uneasy conscience, but, on the other hand, the Accuser may so beset us that Scriptures meant to give us assurance may but make us miserable. The devil is the author of a false confidence but he also generates a false diffidence, so that we get vinegar out of what should be wine to our souls. If you have definitely committed all you are and have to God, do not be afraid to enjoy the wine of the Word. Do not cultivate a perverted taste that distils vinegar instead. Henry Blackaby - Rejoicing in God's Word - Jer 15:16 - If you were to receive a note from the leader of your country or someone famous, you would probably save it as a keepsake. How much more precious is a message from almighty God! Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances that are beyond our control. This was the case for Mary and Martha as they were grieving the death of their brother Lazarus. At these times a word from Jesus can bring much rejoicing (John 11:41–45). Other times when Jesus speaks, His words bring correction. “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matt. 16:23) and “O you of little faith” (Matt. 14:31) do not seem to bring joy. Yet Jeremiah said that God's word brought him joy. It is overwhelming to consider that holy, almighty God would speak directly to us! What a privilege that He would care enough to challenge our destructive thoughts or practices. No matter whether His words are praising us or chastising us, we ought to consider it joy to receive life-changing words from our Master! Every time we prepare to worship the Lord, we ought to do so with anticipation that almighty God may have something to say to us. Whenever we open our Bibles, we should expect that God has something to tell us in our time with Him. We ought to be far more concerned with what God will say to us during our prayer times than with what we intend to tell Him. When you receive a word from your Lord, whether it be of praise or of correction, consider it joy that almighty God would speak to you. (Experiencing God Day by Day) Rob