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Jeremiah

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

One More Snippet from Digging Deep 2025-26…Come on!


I really hope you are coming along for the Dig that starts in September. There are lots of great ways to grow in Him, but Digging Deep is surely one. I wish you could be as encouraged as I am. I routinely see groups spawning more groups and I hear words like “life-changing” often. None of this is me, though. The Word is just that: life-changing!  We are transformed by it in the renewing of our minds. I read that in a Book, somewhere! Make up your renewing mind and come on along!

 

On Jeremiah 20:

At this point, it becomes difficult for us to see the blessing. Frankly, if one reads the whole  20th chapter, and even beyond, it’s difficult to see how Jeremiah was praising.  One minute, he is saying “Sing to the Lord” and the next minute, he is saying “Why did I come up out of the womb to see sorrow and lamenting and shame?” Both of these sentiments are in this very same chapter. 

I’m not finding this in a commentary, but I am commenting from the standpoint of a tried (and sometimes, tired) mother and grandmother. I love that Jeremiah showed me this up-and-down emotion. One minute He is looking at the big picture—that He is righteous and on the side of the God of the universe—and he is rejoicing and extolling. The next minute, he hears the critics mocking. He understands that, while he is working his head off to try and rescue his fellows, that they are jeering at him. He says, “God, I am discouraged.” 

Now, I’ll admit (and praise) that I have never been persecuted like Jeremiah. But while I know that God is blessing and controlling and keeping me in the covenant, there are days, in times of very mild persecution (compared to Jeremiah’s) that I weep and lament and say “God, why are you letting this person or these people be so cruel to me and why are you letting other people mock me?”  I am being very raw, here, because, in light of what He is doing for me, it seems very small and petty that I would ever question Him or feel that He is, as Jeremiah put it, allowing any of my days to be “consumed with shame.”

Sisters, I’m just telling you that we should all flip over to chapter 30 and find that the our Father sometimes allows us a little more time in the pit than we think is appropriate, before He bends over to get us out. Chapters 30-33 describe the end of the wait. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep: Fearless Jeremiah

Jeremiah’s Persecution

Jeremiah_lamentingIn case you want to put this list with your Digging Deep notes for the month of March, here’s a list of Jeremiah’s persecutions and his reactions to the trials inflicted. This article by Wayne Jackson gave us the basic list: https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/747-marvelous-book-of-jeremiah-the….Then we searched for Jeremiah’s responses.) May we be modern-day ‘Jeremiah’s in the, thus far, relatively benign situations of persecution. Stay tuned, though. Our faith is putting us in some pretty vulnerable places. Our God is still ‘with us to deliver us’ (Jeremiah 1:8). 

  1. People desired his life (11: 18-20)….He took his case to God in prayer (vs. 20)
  2. His countrymen turned against him (12:6)
  3. False prophets contradicted him…. (15:10)….He begged for personal exemption from the punishments (15:15-18).
  4. He was hit, put in stocks and denounced (chapter20)….He HAD to keep on speaking (vs. 9).
  5. His heart was broken (23:9)….He reflected on God’s sovereignty (vs. 13-20).
  6. He was seized and threatened with death (26:8-24)….He spoke more boldly (vs. 12-15).
  7. His teachings were strongly and visibly opposed (ch. 28)….Jeremiah spoke all the more boldly and pointedly (vs. 12-17)
  8. He was imprisoned (32:2,3)….He listened to the words of the Lord (32:6).
  9. The king burned the roll of prophecy (36:23)
  10. He was chased (36:26)….God hid him and he made a new roll in place of the one burned by the king (vs. 26, 27)
  11. He was beaten and imprisoned (37:15)….After many days in prison, when he was called out, he spoke as boldly as ever (vs. 17).
  12. He was thrown in the dungeon without food and he sunk in the mire (38:6)….He came out speaking truth (vs. 17,18).
  13. He was bound in chains (40:1)….He went straight to the governor with God’s truth (40:7-16).
  14. He was falsely accused and taken, with the captives, to Egypt (43:2)…He continued to speak truth to the captives in Judah and to the Egyptian captors, as well. Fearless. (ch.44, 46).
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: 17 Prayers that Will Make You Better

crumpled-bed003Yep, I Believe I’ll Be Okay…

As I pillowed my head last night I realized that I’d slept approximately 2 hours the previous night. Then, due to traveling through some time zones, I was up for about 21 hours straight. I had a speaking engagement in that 21 hours along with a couple of flights. I started to think a bit about how tired I was and I started wondering about how long I can go on doing this sort of ridiculous schedule. I wondered that for about about five seconds there on that pillow and I have no memory of what happened after that. =) This morning I am back in the book of Jeremiah and, when I think about the dungeon of mire, the dank prison, the hunger—then the one piece of bread per day, the scoffing and the loss of those dear to him, I believe I’ll be okay here in this soft bed in this  nice hotel room where gifts awaited my arrival, transportation was graciously provided, supper was prepared for us in a fellowship hall, and someone is coming to clean my quarters while I am out today. In fact, when I look at these prayers of Jeremiah, I think I’ll be okay till I reach the gates of the eternal home place. Here are the prayers. I’m glad we looked at the prayers of Jeremiah in our Digging Deep study. It was a much-needed exercise for me. He is one of the greatest men of scripture.

(…AndI hope, if you have fallen behind in your study, (as is easy to do), you won’t skip Jeremiah, because he will make you more fit for heaven!)

Digging Deep Study

Prayers of Jeremiah:

  1. 1:6 —The “I don’t think I can do this” prayer.
  2. 4:10—The “Lord, You said this, but do you really mean it?” prayer.
  3. 5:3—The “Lord, this is worse than I thought” prayer.
  4. 10:6-8–The “You can do all things” prayer.
  5. 10:23-25—The “Please correct me, but be patient with me” prayer.
  6. 11:20—The “Please avenge my enemies” prayer.
  7. 12: 1-4—The “How long will bad people prosper?” prayer.
  8. 14:13—The “But Lord, there are so many false prophets” prayer.
  9. 14:19-22—The “Is there no hope for Judah?” prayer.
  10. 15:15-18—The “Lord, pick me out and save me” prayer.
  11. 16:19—The “Gentiles will have their day” prophetic prayer.
  12. 17: 13-18—The “ Remember, I have been true to You” prayer.
  13. 18:19-23—The “ Please do something about this persecution” prayer.
  14. 20:7—The “I’m about done” prayer.
  15. 20:12—The” But You will make this right” prayer.
  16. 32:16—The “There is nothing too hard for You” prayer.
  17. 42:3—The “Can they start over?” prayer.