Verse of the Day 11/3

Verse of the Day 11/3

Jeremiah 23:29

English Standard Version

29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

We've considered how the writer of Hebrews described the word of God as "living and active, sharper than any two edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).  In today's verse the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah describes it like "fire" and "like a hammer".  God's word is powerful, it burns, it consumes and overcomes opposition.

When you think of a hammer, you probably think of building things, driving nails.  It can also be used as a tool to break apart, or chip away at stone or concrete to shape it into what the holder wants to do with it.  Man's heart can be hard as concrete or a rock, but God's word has the power to break it, to shape it and reveal what the creator has in mind.

Take some time to think about how the word of God has shaped you?  Were you hard headed or hard hearted at some point?  Think about what it was that changed that.  Likely, it was a verse, read, or spoke to you or preached to you that hit you like a hammer and broke through to reveal what your heart was really like.  It is alive, it cuts, it hammers and it burns to achieve God's purposes.

The word is alive
And it cuts like a sword through the darkness
With a message of life to the hopeless and afraid
Breathing life into all who believe
The word is alive
And the world and its glories will fade
But His truth, it will not pass away
It remains yesterday and forever the same
The word is alive

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Jeremiah 23:23-32

English Standard Version

23 "Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the Lord.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.