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

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