July 27th

John 10     Jeremiah 23     Acts 14     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

In Jeremiah 23 the Lord promises that Judah will be saved and a king who is a ‘Righteous Branch’ will reign. Jeremiah compares this prophecy with the nature of the people that currently call themselves prophets, who the Lord declares are wicked. They are running with their own message but the Lord wants them to seek His plan and be willing to be used by the Lord to turn his people from their evil ways. These prophets are very unlike Jesus, as in John 10 Jesus has been set apart by the Father and sent into the world as part of His plan.

God wants his message to be heard perfectly clearly by his people whether it be in the Old or New Testament. It is very interesting that the phrase: ‘Declares the Lord’ is used over 175 times in Jeremiah, more than in any other book. We need to be careful what we say in the name of the Lord, that we are faithful to him, because we can so easily distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God. This is a warning from Jeremiah 23:36.

We can rest assured that Jesus is the good shepherd. As his sheep we need to listen to his voice and follow his commands as we go about this world today that we are a part of something larger by being in God’s Kingdom.

(member of student team)