8/7 at The Gathering
Tony Diamond taught from Jeremiah on Sunday, August 7. The video from the lesson, followed by the scripture, is below:
Core Lesson (Tony Diamond)
Moments of Darkness While Living in the Light
Jeremiah 20:7-18
Core Listening Guide
Moments of Darkness While Living in the Light
Jeremiah 20:7-18
I. You’re drafted
Sometimes we’re invited to serve God. We may or may not follow. Other times, we’re compelled to Him. The difference is choice.
Have you ever felt compelled to His will? How did it feel to truly not have a choice in the matter and how did you act?
II. I’m in over my head
Whether we’re serving God through a sense of free will or one of absolute obligation, conflicts arise. We often feel that the “world” and our “walk” are in diametric opposition of one another. And we don’t know how to reconcile the difference.
How often do you feel in over your head? When your spiritual life demands actions that you honestly feel are more than you can do? How do you reconcile it?
III. Deep, dark depression
When we’re in a place where it seems everyone is against us, it can be dark. And the more dire the situation, the less light there is to hold on to. When we rely on ourselves, we can feel absolute desperation.
What can you do when you become horribly discouraged?
Personal Preparation for Discouragement:
Pray to God about what you feel, not just about what you need.
Spend time on a daily basis reading and understanding God’s Word. Avoid defeating half-truths of His Word.
Be diligent in your service to the Lord and His Kingdom, knowing that sometimes your actions will be misunderstood.
Read the biographies of faithful Christians, and note how each dealt with discouragement and disappointment.
Jeremiah 20:7-18 (New International Version)
7 You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. 12LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, or to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
14 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! 15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you—a son!” 16 May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon. 17 For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever. 18 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
