Daily Devotions · August 8
Reading for August 8
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Jeremiah 1–2 · John 10
Jeremiah 1–2 · John 10, Berean Standard Bible
Jeremiah 1
These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. 4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!” 7 But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD. 9 Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.” 11 And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.” 13 Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah. 16 I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, and they have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 2
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her were found guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land and made My inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols. 9 Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children. 10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this: 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. 12 Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. 13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water. 14 Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey? 15 The young lions have roared at him; they have sounded their voices. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant. 16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. 17 Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? 18 Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? 19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. 20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute. 21 I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine? 22 Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. 23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there, 24 a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her. 25 You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’ 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets 27 say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’ 28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah. 29 Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD. 30 “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.” 31 You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’? 32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. 33 How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. 34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things 35 you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36 How impulsive you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria. 37 Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
John 10
“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.” 6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.” 19 Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?” 21 But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 “I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. 26 But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. 32 But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?” 33 “We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34 Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God? 37 If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. 38 But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.” 39 At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp. 40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there. 41 Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.” 42 And many in that place believed in Jesus.
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
Your SOAP journal
Write your SOAP here. Tap any verse in the reading to add it to Scripture. Your journal saves on this device only, so no one else sees it.
Added to your journal. Go to journal
Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
Missed a day? Don't start over. Read today's chapters and keep going.