Baruch 1:11-12

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his son Belshazzar, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. And the Lord will give us strength and enlighten our eyes, and we will live under the shelter of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shelter of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find mercy in their sight.

Personal Challenge

Our political climate in our country has become very divisive and polarized. We have two parties that are constantly at each other’s throat and willing to sacrifice the needs of their constituents to achieve their personal agendas. This division and polarization has also become pervasive amongst the citizens of our country. We are reminded here, by Baruch, that God commanded His children to pray for the king of Babylon and his son, to pray that they would have long lives. Why is this significant for us today? Because God’s people had every reason to hate their new king. He had conquered their promised land and carried them off to exile in Babylonia. They are now living under his tyrannical rule, his expectations of their worship of him, and his ownership of them. Isn’t this what we are also called to do? To pray for our leaders whether we voted for them or not? To support and encourage them whether we agree with them or not? It grieves me to see so many people jumping on the bandwagon of divisiveness and polarization. If we desire to live in our land with strength from our God and enlightenment in our eyes then we should pray for our leaders. If we do not like the ones that we have we have the ability to vote them out of office and rally our friends to join us, but we must start doing this positively and not negatively. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Personal Challenge

Living a good and godly life, a righteous life, is a life long effort. In many respects, it is similar to planting and tending a garden. First, the soil must be prepared for the crop that is to be planted, This work is accomplished in our hearts and minds by our Lord and the Holy Spirit when we are baptized and chrismated into His body. Once the seeds are planted (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) then we must continue to cultivate these seeds to help them to grow and to not die. Part of this cultivation is pulling out the weeds (bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking) that continually spring up. But we do not stop there. We replace these weeds with new seeds of kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness so that the original crop can flourish and bear great fruit. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Jeremiah 40:6-9

‘Behold, I bring her health and healing for her wounds, and I will show them how to obey. Yes, I will heal this city and bring about peace and faithfulness. I shall return the captives of Judah and Israel and will restore them, even as before. I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoings by which they sinned against Me. I will not remember their sins by which they sinned against Me and withdrew from Me. This shall be for the gladness, praise, and majesty of all the people of the earth, who shall hear all the good things I will do. They shall fear and be provoked concerning all the good things and the peace I shall bring upon them.’

Encouraging Words

God’s never-ending, unconditional love is truly amazing. Just as the Israelites of old, many of us today wander away from His side and force Him to come and rescue us from our sins. I know that I do this more often than I would like to admit. And yet, God in His great mercy, in His great love, continues to pursue us, find us, and bring us health and healing for our wounds/ He continually returns us from the captivity of death and sin that we keep selling ourselves to. He cleanses us, wiping the mud of the world off of us so that the diamond within us shines. He gives us gladness and joy over and over again. That is unconditional love. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Personal Challenge

Words are extremely powerful. They can build up beautiful relationships and edify both God and the hearer as well as tear down the strongest people and destroy others. If we truly desire to love our God to our fullest then we must love others. If we truly desire to love others as God would have us love than then we must have words in our mouths, thoughts in our minds, and feelings in hearts that will only edify them and impart grace to them. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Jeremiah 39:27

I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Shall anything be hidden from Me?

Personal Challenge

We humans can be so dense sometimes. We worship our God whom we claim is all knowing and everywhere present and yet we choose to sin as if we can hide our actions from Him. He sees us all the time and grieves for us when we choose to sin. He loves us so much that He became a human being and chose to not to sin so that we could follow in His footsteps. Nothing is hidden from Him so we must choose to live our lives as open books for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 4:26-27

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Personal Challenge

God has given us all the emotion of anger for a reason. It is okay to express this emotion, but we must know who that anger needs to be addressed toward. We are not to be angry with our brothers and sisters, our fellow mankind, but at the true enemy that is trying to divide us. That true enemy is the devil and he is the one that we should express our anger at when we feel that emotion arising within us. This is the only way to be angry and to not sin. Glory be to God!

Jeremiah 38:25

For I have satiated every thirsty soul and filled every hungry soul.

Encourage Words

To receive a promise from God that our every thirst will be satiated and every hunger filled is not some kind of prosperity gospel. We are not promised anywhere in the scriptures that if we follow Jesus and obey God that we will receive everything that we desire. God’s economy is so much different than man’s economy. We are promised that following Jesus and obeying God will satiate the very thirst of our souls, a thirst for the only One that counts, and that hunger in our soul to be united with God will be filled by Him. This is the economy of God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Personal challenge

What do we typically envision when we think of someone who is walking worthy? Is it someone who is proud and can hold their head up high? Is it someone who has done well in their life and moved up the ladder of success and amassed great wealth? These would be definitions that the world would apply to someone that can walk worthy. However, this is not what God deems important for someone who can walk worthy of His calling. He is looking for those who are humble and gentle toward others. He is looking for those who are longsuffering and both able and willing to bear with one another in love. His desire is for us to walk this way endeavoring to keep unity with those around us. This is how to walk worthy. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!