Jeremiah 44:24-47:7; 2 Timothy 2:22-3:17; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 26:6-8 Flee. A call to flee comes when there is a recognition that something devastating is coming. It may be a fire, the imminent threat of a hurricane, or sin, but in all cases the response is to be the same: flee.The call to flee in 2 Timothy 2:22 and similar commands in 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians come from recognizing the devas...  Read More

Jeremiah 42:1-44:23; 2 Timothy 2:1-21; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 26:3-5 Are you really willing to follow God? Are you willing to let him lead you wherever he wants? Or do you largely use him to validate and confirm what you already want?The remnant in Judah comes to Jeremiah asking him to seek God for what they should do next. Their leader has been assassinated, they are concerned about Babylon’s ...  Read More

Jeremiah 39:1-41:18; 2 Timothy 1:1-18; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 26:1-2 In order for us to be the disciples God wants us to be, we desperately need Christ-centered relationships to help us grow. We need people to sharpen us, encourage us, call out our sin, and love us well. Our spiritual maturity is almost always going to be connected to the type of people we surround ourselves with. That is why ...  Read More

Jeremiah 37:1-38:28; 1 Timothy 6:1-21; Psalm 89:38-52; Proverbs 25:28 Buy, buy, buy! We live in a culture that is obsessed with material consumption. The broken human heart has always struggled with the continual pursuit of more and we can see that play out in the instructions of Paul to Timothy. Paul wants Timothy as a leader and follower of Christ to understand the pitfalls that money and materi...  Read More

Jeremiah 35:1-36:32; 1 Timothy 5:1-25; Psalm 89:14-37; Proverbs 25:25-27 Two prophecies appear to be on a collision course. In Jeremiah 36:30 (see also Jeremiah 22:30) God, as an act of judgment, tells King Jehoiakim—a descendent of David—that his heirs will not follow him to the throne. His son Jehoiachin will attempt to rule, but is quickly deposed by Nebuchadnezzar. And yet 400 years before the...  Read More

Jeremiah 33:1-34:22; 1 Timothy 4:1-16; Psalm 89:1-13; Proverbs 25:23-24 God is always faithful. This is one of the bedrock principles of our faith. If God can't be trusted, then he would obviously not be worthy of our faith or our lives. Yet God has proven himself to be faithful again and again in Scripture and in our lives.David in Psalm 89 recounts the faithfulness of God four times. He knows th...  Read More

Jeremiah 31:27-32:44; 1 Timothy 3:1-16; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 25:20-22 There was an older man in the church that I used to regularly meet with before he passed away and he challenged me to become a more effective leader. He would say that everyone was a leader, the only question was whether they led well or not. Consider this for yourself. As you think through the spheres of influence that God h...  Read More

Jeremiah 30:1-31:26; 1 Timothy 2:1-15; Psalm 87:1-7; Proverbs 25:18-19 It is very easy to apply the Bible at times. When we are called to not envy, steal, be quick to anger, or various other commands there is a direct, immediate, one-for-one application. Other times it is a little trickier to know how to live out what we read. 1 Timothy 2 is probably one of the places that we struggle to know how ...  Read More

Jeremiah 28:1-29:32; 1 Timothy 1:1-20; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 25:17 How do we respond to a culture that seems opposed to so many things that the gospel stands for?A common stereotype of the church is that it is known far more for what it stands against than what it stands for. We are perceived as being hateful rather than representing our God of love. This struggle of knowing how to love our citi...  Read More

Jeremiah 26:1-27:22; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18; Psalm 85:1-13; Proverbs 25:16 It seems like more and more things come with warnings or “no duh” instructions. I am warned not to use electrical appliances in or near water, warned that my curling iron can in fact burn me, and of course there is always the “slippery when wet” sign that seems like a given. The reality is we have those warning signs becaus...  Read More

Jeremiah 23:21-25:38; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 25:15 God told me to...I would guess most of us have interacted with someone who invoked God as a reason for what they did. They chose to move, get a new job, marry, or break up with someone because God told them to. Jeremiah and 2 Thessalonians tell us that those who claim to speak on behalf of God or are responding to somethin...  Read More

Jeremiah 19:1-21:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-28; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 25:9-10 Judgment is coming. When we hear that phrase we may think of some fire and brimstone preacher in a country church, but it is actually a critical truth for us to embrace. Judgment truly is coming.Jeremiah tells Judah that judgment in the form of the Babylonian army was coming because of their sins. Their only hope was the c...  Read More