Scripture
So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern… There was no water in the cistern, but there was a lick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it. Jeremiah 38:6

…This is what the Lord has revealed to me: All the women left in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the Babylonian army. Then the women will taunt you, saying, ‘What fine friends you have They have betrayed and misled you. When your feet sank in the mud, they left you to your fate!’” Jeremiah 38:21-22

Observation
Jeremiah had such open spiritual ears, that the could hear God even at the bottom of a hole. Wading in mud. No solid place to stand. Slimy walls too slick to climb. Centipedes, crawling things and the smell of mould. The mud pit was not an ideal place for spiritual insight or encounter with God. Yet at the bottom, Jeremiah heard God speak clearest to him.

At ground level not a single politician could see what was coming. Babylon was marching. The city would be destroyed. The people would become refugees. Buildings would be burned. But at ground level life went on as usual. To give perspective, God let his man be dumped at the bottom to see what others could not and would not see.

Jeremiah came from the pit with a message for the king. One day the friends around him would abandon him. The king, now so sought after, would himself land in a prison cell. He would sink in the mud. Now was the time for right decisions.

Application
I want to be a man who can hear God speak anywhere. There are times God gives us a mountain top to give us a clear view. But there are other times he lowers us below ground level to isolate us with himself. If we can hear him speak there, we will hear him anywhere.

Prayer
Father, I open my ears to hear you speak today. Amen.

Scripture
My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 1 John 3:18-20 The Message

Observation
Self-criticism. This is a parasite peculiar to Christians. We welcome the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We know how to humble ourselves when he speaks and change our ways. But self-criticism attempts to do the work of the Holy Spirit with self-effort. If we can probe and analyze, then perhaps we can catch sin in our hearts before God does. What looks like something with good intent can be in fact a blockage to God’s working in our hearts. Self-criticism is not the Holy Spirit. Feelings of condemnation in the heart are not the voice of God.

So how can we know if we are pleasing the Lord? Simple. Just measure the love in our heart.

How can we measure the love in our heart without more analysis? Simple. Just look in your planner, your bank statement and your phone record. What have you done with time and money that demonstrates the love of God to others?

Love is not emotion, it is action. Action is measurable. We either loved or we did not.

Application
I just did a quick review of this past week. I met with many people and did many activities, but when I review the list I came up with these things that seemed to be particularly love-filled:

16.5 hours of time with people
$32 of gifts to others (plus my tithes and offerings)
4 phone calls
4 emails
5 FaceBook messages

At least I’m alive, but I can’t say my record is stellar in love for others. I need to be more proactive, particularly in contacting others to encourage them and in gifts toward others.

Prayer
Father, I want my love to be visible. Can you remind me when I forget to make it tangible? Please keep my love alive. Amen.

Scripture
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always. Psalm 105:3-4

Observation
Look up! That is best medicine heaven can offer for all human ills. No matter how perplexing our circumstances may be, we are called to look up as a hope to find the way forward.

We are to look not just to the sky but to the Lord. The word is spelt in all caps because this is more than just a title; this is the unspeakable name of God. Yahweh. He is the covenant making and covenant keeping God. He remembers promises and fulfills them long after we have forgotten them. We are to look up to the LORD of heaven. He remembers his promises to us. He will bring them to pass.

These two little verses are filled with choice phrases.
…look to his strength. Praise empowers us with strength beyond ourselves.
…glory in his holy name. We can glory in ourselves, our achievements, our accomplishments, or we can brag about the nature and character of God.
…let the hearts…rejoice. I love the word “rejoice”. It means to take joy all over again in things God has done. By remembering his deliverance in the past we have hope for the future.
…seek his face. Push through fears and the opinions of others. What is Jesus thinking? What is Jesus feeling?

Application
Today I will look up to heaven, to the covenant making and covenant keeping God and enjoy him.

Prayer
Father, I choose today to enjoy you. Your only expectation of me is that this is the day you’ve made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.

Scripture
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. John 19:34-35

Observation
As I listened today to John’s version of the crucifixion, I was impressed with the rich detail he gives to the story. The other authors don’t see the perspective he did. John mentions the crown of thorns, purple robe, stone pavement, private conversations with Pilate, Place of the Skull, the placard, the garment, the women at the foot of the cross, final words to Mary, the sponge of wine, and the spear in his side. His story is the account of an eye witness. He is not writing as one who is reporting the version of others; he is recounting his own memories.

They all forsook him and fled, except John. He was still at the foot of the cross when the spear was plunged in Christ’s side. The reward of his faithfulness, was an invitation to be part of Christ’s family by taking his mother. That was quite a deathbed legacy.

John knew such detail for one reason: he stayed put. It was John who began his association with Jesus by asking to see where he stayed. It was John who later dropped his father’s business to follow Christ. And it would be later John, as a 90 year old man, who would have the most spectacular vision of the future of Jesus. John tells us more about Jesus because he followed him most tenaciously.

Application
I want to be a stick-to-him follower of Christ through to the very end. I want to tailgate Jesus.

Prayer
Father, you are a rewarder of the faithful; let me be found among them. Amen.