The God Who Is Near
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.
Jeremiah 23:23-32
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The God Who Is Near
False prophets in Jeremiah’s day claimed dreams and visions that did not come from the Lord. They spoke what itching ears wanted to hear instead of the hard truth of repentance and faith. Yet the Lord reminds His people that He is not a distant god who cannot see sin or judge wickedness. He is near. His Word is like fire and a hammer, breaking hardened hearts and exposing lies. We still face false teachers who replace God’s Word with human wisdom, feelings, or empty promises. But Christ does not leave His Church without truth. Through His preached Word, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and calls us to repentance. At the cross, the fire of God’s judgment fell upon Jesus for sinners. There the hammer of the Law crushed Him in our place so that forgiveness and life might be given to us. Therefore cling not to human dreams, but to Christ and His sure Word.
Jeremiah 23:23-32
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The God Who Is Near
False prophets in Jeremiah’s day claimed dreams and visions that did not come from the Lord. They spoke what itching ears wanted to hear instead of the hard truth of repentance and faith. Yet the Lord reminds His people that He is not a distant god who cannot see sin or judge wickedness. He is near. His Word is like fire and a hammer, breaking hardened hearts and exposing lies. We still face false teachers who replace God’s Word with human wisdom, feelings, or empty promises. But Christ does not leave His Church without truth. Through His preached Word, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and calls us to repentance. At the cross, the fire of God’s judgment fell upon Jesus for sinners. There the hammer of the Law crushed Him in our place so that forgiveness and life might be given to us. Therefore cling not to human dreams, but to Christ and His sure Word.
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2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak TruthEnduring Nation
March
A RemnantA Deaf People, a Faithful GodFlee to the StrongholdCut Down to Be HealedNo Superficial PeaceStand at the CrossroadsRefined by Fire, Redeemed by the CrossTrust in the Lord, Not in Your HandsHe Flipped TablesPoured Out on JesusYou Are His PeopleTruth Has RisenSilence in the CitiesWhat Have I Done?Not a Bone Shall Be BrokenWhen Wisdom Becomes FoolishnessBitter MedicineThe Hiss of Judgment, the Promise of the CrossThe Wound of Sin and the Healing of ChristIs There No Balm?Truth at the CrossRefined by the LordScatteredRuinedDeath Has ComeBoast In The LordLike ScarecrowsNone Like Our GodGods That PerishWounded, Yet Not ForsakenDisciplined, Not Destroyed