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REPENTANT HEART

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: FRIDAY, 18TH AUGUST, 2023 

TOPIC: REPENTANT HEART

TEXT: JEREMIAH 8:4-22

4. " Moreover you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?
5.  Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
6.  I listened and heard, [But] they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turned to his own course, As the horse rushes into the battle.
7.  "Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.
8.  " How can you say, 'We [are] wise, And the law of the LORD [is] with us'? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
9.  The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD; So what wisdom do they have?
11.  Therefore I will give their wives to others, [And] their fields to those who will inherit [them;] Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely.
11.  For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace, peace!' When [there is] no peace.
12.  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down," says the LORD.
13.  " I will surely consume them," says the LORD. "No grapes [shall be] on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And [the things] I have given them shall pass away from them."
14.  "Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, And let us enter the fortified cities, And let us be silent there. For the LORD our God has put us to silence And given us water of gall to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.
15.  "[We] looked for peace, but no good [came;] And for a time of health, and there was trouble!
16.  The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His strong ones; For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it, The city and those who dwell in it."
17.  "For behold, I will send serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And they shall bite you," says the LORD.
18.  I would comfort myself in sorrow; My heart [is] faint in me.
19.  Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of my people From a far country: "[Is] not the LORD in Zion? [Is] not her King in her?" "Why have they provoked Me to anger With their carved images -- With foreign idols?"
20.  "The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!"
21.  For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me.
22.  [Is there] no balm in Gilead, [Is there] no physician there? Why then is there no recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?
 
 
MESSAGE: 
Today’s text explains the intention to the people of Jerusalem who had refused to repent and turn from their evil ways. Jeremiah had the mandate to remind them of all their evils: 
(i) The rejected God’s restoration (vv. 4-5); 
(ii) They ignored true repentance (v.6); 
(iii) They refused to attend to the dictates of providence or understand the voice of God (v.7). God threatened the destruction of sinners within the nation. He had tolerated them for long, yet the people refused to repent. The Lord promised to consume them (v.13).
Our present society is going through a similar situation. People do not really care about God. Individuals are wallowing in sins that arouse God’s anger. Having known that we are sinners, all we need to do is to observe ourselves in humility before His grace. The Physician is ready, but the patients are unwilling. The blood of Christ is the balm of Gilead; He is the true Physician. We need to trace our feet back to God Almighty so that our land will have peace and be healed of all her diseases.


PRAYER: 
O Lord, give us repentant hearts, so we can have Your peace in our land. Amen.

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