Jeremiah 8:18 thru 9:2

Jer 8:18  My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. 

Jer 8:19  Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” 

Jer 8:20  “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” 

Jer 8:21  For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. 

Jer 8:22  Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored? 

Jer 9:1  Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 

Jer 9:2  Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. 

Jeremiah 11:18 thru 12:3

Jer 11:18  The LORD made it known to me and I knew; then you showed me their deeds. 

Jer 11:19  But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” 

Jer 11:20  But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. 

Jer 11:21  Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— 

Jer 11:22  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 

Jer 11:23  and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.” 

Jer 12:1  Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? 

Jer 12:2  You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. 

Jer 12:3  But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. 

Mark 10:29-31

Mar 10:29  Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 

Mar 10:30  who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 

Mar 10:31  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” 

Matthew 5:1-12

Mat 5:1  Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 

The Beatitudes

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 

Mat 5:3  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Mat 5:4  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

Mat 5:5  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 

Mat 5:6  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

Mat 5:7  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 

Mat 5:8  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

Mat 5:9  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 

Mat 5:10  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Mat 5:11  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

Mat 5:12  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

Even as believers, we can feel anxious and depressed as we struggle to believe God through hard circumstances and the storms of life. As we struggle, we come to God and wrestle through our battles. Struggling does not mean we are unsuccessful, but rather they give us opportunity to take our thoughts to God and become stronger through Him. 

God’s standards are in stark contrast to what today’s media and culture say what is desirable.