Ezekiel 1:1-3:15; Hebrews 3:1-19; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 26:24-26Imagine this, flying objects and wheels with eyes! Ezekiel are you crazy? No, anything but that. The book of Ezekiel is visionary literature containing symbolic reality. Meanings are communicated through symbols. As we explore the meaning of all this, let’s keep in mind the theme of Ezekiel—the holiness of God and the depth of Isra...  Read More

Lamentations 4:1-5:22; Hebrews 2:1-18; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 26:23 As a kid, I would scour the Where's Waldo books for hours trying to find Waldo, his friends, and all the various objects in the checklist in the back of the book. If I wasn't systematic or super careful, I would easily miss what I was looking for. The author of Hebrews has a similar challenge for us. He wants us to "pay more car...  Read More

Lamentations 3:1-66; Hebrews 1:1-14; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 26:21-22 Irma hit Naples in 2017! “Oh my,” I whispered as we turned into our association and surveyed the destroyed homes and scattered debris lying about us. In a minuscule way I could empathize with Jeremiah’s feelings as he surveyed the dead bodies, flattened temple, and crumbled walls that left Jerusalem in shambles after the Babylo...  Read More

Lamentations 1:1-2:22; Philemon 1:1-25; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 26:20 When I was in college my grandfather passed away and for years afterward, every time I called my grandmother she would cry. In my youthful naivety, I thought that there must be something wrong with her. Surely, she should feel better by now, I thought. Yet I failed to understand the place of lament in life. The book of Lamentati...  Read More

Jeremiah 51:54-52:34; Titus 3:1-15; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 26:18-19 Teachers must teach the same lessons over and over again. Students are prone to forget what they have been taught and the same is true for us. We consistently need to be taught the truths of God so that we might apply them to our lives.The fall of Jerusalem is described twice by Jeremiah. First, it was detailed in chapter 39 and ...  Read More

Jeremiah 51:1-53; Titus 2:1-15; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 26:17 Our lives are to make God look good. Titus 2:10 tells us that we are to “make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” Think about the ways we generally make things look attractive. If you want to make your home look beautiful you might slap some new paint on it, tidy up, or even purchase some new furniture. If you want to make you...  Read More

Jeremiah 49:23-50:46; Titus 1:1-16; Psalm 97:1-98:9; Proverbs 26:13-16 How are we to respond to the reality of judgment? Jeremiah has moved from judgment largely directed at the remnant of Judah to all of the surrounding nations. No one will escape God’s judgment, so everyone must be prepared for it. Jeremiah’s exhortation to the nations is to “seek the Lord” and make God their “true pasture.” Sin...  Read More

Jeremiah 48:1-49:22; 2 Timothy 4:1-22; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 26:9-12 The Major Prophets can be difficult to work through, they are filled with endless warnings and judgments. This theme of God’s judgment is not isolated to the prophets but is seen throughout the Bible. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:1 that Jesus “will judge the living and the dead.” Further, Psalm 96:13 says that God “will judge th...  Read More

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