November 16, 2014

Devotion: Use this resource at home to guide your household’s daily devotions. You can do this alone, as a couple, as a family; in the morning, during the day, or at night. Find a routine that works best for you.

Pray: Light a candle and open your devotion time with a prayer.
God of promise and judgment, you proclaimed deliverance for your people after they suffered for their sin. Deliver us from our sin, by the gift of your faithfulness, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Reflect: Reflect on the key verses from Sunday’s reading.
For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. Jeremiah 7:5-7

Study: Study the reading and consider the background.
By the time of Jeremiah, the Babylonian king had defeated Assyria (who had defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel). The Babylonian king now threatened to destroy Judah (the Southern Kingdom). Jeremiah spoke on God’s behalf, with judgments for a people who seemed to have forgotten how to remain faithful to God. God’s promise of deliverance still rang throughout Jeremiah’s prophesies, yet God showed God won’t stand idly by while the people sin. God’s promise would be kept, but not until the people had endured punishment (exile) for their unfaithfulness to God.

Read: Read the following daily readings to deepen your understanding of Sunday’s text. After the reading, ask the follow-up questions.
Follow the story of Israel’s and Judah’s disobedience, and the words of God’s prophet, Jeremiah.
Sunday, Jeremiah 1:4-10; 7:1-11, Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon
Monday, Jeremiah 7:16-34, The People’s Disobedience
Tuesday, Jeremiah 8:18-9:11, The Prophet Mourns for the People
Wednesday, Jeremiah 10:1-10, Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel
Thursday, Jeremiah 10:11-16, Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel
Friday, Jeremiah 10:17-25, The Coming Exile
Saturday, Jeremiah 11:1-17, Israel and Judah Have Broken the Covenant

How do mourning and lament shape the communities of Israel and Judah? What role does mourning play in shaping our lives?

Connect: Connect in conversation with others in your household. Discuss the following questions, or simply check in with “Highs” and “Lows.”

• What was a high point of your day? What was a low point?
• What evidence have you seen that God remains faithful to people today, despite people’s inability to remain faithful to God?
• When you were a child, what did you believe you would do to make the world a better place? What can you do now to make the world a better place?

Do: By acting on what we learn, we make God’s word come alive. Do the following activity this week.
Do something this week that leaves the world in a better place than before you arrived. (Plant something, create something artistic, enhance a relationship, forgive someone, care for someone who is sick)

Bless: Close your devotion with a blessing.
God of Power, remind us through your word that you are at work everywhere through the actions of your people. Move in our hearts this day. Amen.