Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" Mark 10:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.10.2.ESV It may seem like an innocent enough question, but God knows the heart and He knows that the religious people were trying to test Jesus. They weren't even just trying to see where He was in the culture wars- conservative or liberal. They knew John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod for rebuking his illegitimate marriage. Jesus didn't dodge the question, red herring though it may have been. He comes across more conservative than most conservatives today. Here He gives no grounds for divorce. Of course, if someone is habitually adulterous or abusive, there needs to be a separation. Yet in Mark's account Jesus gives no grounds for divorce whatsoever: that's how seriously God views marriage. In other accounts adultery is grounds for divorce, but Jesus makes no allowances for remarriage even while the di

  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" Mark 9:24 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.9.24.ESV The father in this verse gives voice to the complexities of faith. In many ways it's simple: trusting in Jesus. Yet our faith is often bound up with unbelief. The father's son was suffering with seizures. What do we do with the troubles we face? Do we despair? Or do we take them to God? Jesus promises that nothing is impossible with God. We might be struggling to make ends meet, but God can provide. We might be fighting addiction, but God can help us overcome. God is gracious. He knows our faith isn't perfect. Yet it's Him as the object of our faith that matters; not the quality of our faith itself. 'Dear Father God, please give us the faith we need to overcome whatever is troubling us. Thank You that Christ has overcome, and is victorious over all adversity. In His name, amen'

  And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, Mark 7:18 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.7.18.ESV 'You are what you eat' isn't a particularly Biblical saying. Of course it is good and right to eat healthily. Yet Jesus emphasised that our spiritual selves are more important than our physical selves. Without wishing to be too explicit, what we eat, we excrete, if we can't extract any goodness from it. What we eat doesn't make us good or bad, although we should still try and eat healthily. What really matters is our hearts. Eating pork doesn't make us bad people. Being hateful does. It's what defines our souls and spirits that matters most. Are we greedy, covetous and lustful for example? We need the cleansing that only Christ's blood can bring. We're naturally defiled. We're unclean spiritually. Yet God can help us clean up our acts throu

  And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.4.39.ESV Jesus can calm literal storms. He had authority over nature. He's God incarnate. Not only so, but Jesus can calm whatever metaphorical storms we may be going through. Jesus doesn't promise to get rid of our storms, but He does promise to be with us in the midst. He can give us peace even in the face of death, the ultimate storm. Understandably, Jesus's followers were intimidated by His evident power. Many of them were seasoned fishermen and knew that violent storms didn't just stop instantly. Yet Jesus could command the wind and waves like an authoritative parent with an unruly child. It's okay to fear God. After all, He's able to condemn us to hell. Yet our fear should drive us to Him for salvation, not away from Him into oblivion. 'Sovereign Lord, we acknowledge Y

 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:11 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.1.11.ESV Jesus didn't need to be baptised, in the sense of needing to be cleansed of any metaphorical sins. The voice of Father God confirmed this. God is perfectly happy with His Son and has no issues with Him. If Jesus didn't need to be baptised, why was He? He was modelling for us how we are to live. We need to be spiritually baptised by God- cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus. We should be physically baptised as a picture of our spiritual cleansing by God. Just as Jesus went into the water, so He went into the tomb for our salvation from the eternal death we deserve. Just as Jesus came out of the water, so He rose again victorious over death. Through faith in Him we can live forever. 'Father in heaven, we're grateful we don't need to fear death, because of Your Son's sacrifice for us, in whose name we pray, ame

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  "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matthew 27:42 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.27.42.ESV Would Jesus's mockers have believed in Him if He had come down from the cross? No, because faith isn't forced. There's no compulsion in religion: people can't be forced to believe in something. Jesus knew that even defeating death wouldn't cause everyone to trust in Him. He'd already raised Lazarus, and the religious leaders hateful plotted to destroy them. If people aren't defined by love of God, they're defined by hatred of Him. The King of the Jews was largely rejected by His people. Yet to all who receive Him He gives the right to become children of God. Even Gentiles like me can be adopted into God's family. On the cross, Jesus paid the price necessary to purchase us for God. We can become His precious possession, through faith in Christ. We c

  "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." Matthew 26:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.26.2.ESV Jesus wasn't naive. He knew His destiny. He didn't keep His followers in the dark about it either. It was no coincidence that Jesus was crucified during the Passover. The Jews were remembering their deliverance from Egypt by sacrificing lambs. Meanwhile God sacrificed His spotless Lamb of heaven for His people. As John the Baptist foretold, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The reason we're not in hell right now where we deserve is because of the mercy of God in Christ. If we trust in Him, we'll be delivered to the glories of the new creation. Jesus is the Son of Man, the One Daniel saw being entrusted by God the Father with all authority to establish His rule and reign in the world. He delegates that authority to us. We're to call people to obey Him in

  "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. Matthew 25:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.25.14.ESV If we're employees of a rich man, we need to do well with what he entrusts us with. If he expects a return for his investment in us, we had better deliver. Otherwise, we won't be employed for much longer! The spiritual lesson for us is that God is our Lord and Master, and we need to invest the talents/resources/abilities He's given us for His glory. If we belong to Him, we are not our own. We were bought at the price of Christ's own blood. We don't all have the same amount of talents. Some of us have more potential than others to make an impact for God's Kingdom. Yet whatever we have, we can multiply it to glorify God. If we don't honour God with what we have, it doesn't bode well for us. If we reject the One who gave His Son for us, we will be condemned to hell. Jesus doesn'

  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:10 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.22.10.ESV A king put on a wedding banquet for his son. The invited guests however made excuses not to come. So his servants went out to invite all and sundry to the celebration. We can't help but read this as an indictment by Jesus upon His fellow countrymen, most of whom rejected Him. So He sent His followers out to the world to invite anyone who wants to come to the heavenly party He's preparing. Heaven is like a wedding feast- of Christ and His church. Everyone's invited to the celebration of Christ's love for His people for whom He died. Thankfully there will be Jews and Gentiles alike at that great event. It doesn't matter whether we're black or white, young or old, men or women, rich or poor. We can all be united in praise of the Lord of glory. He is worthy of al

  Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Matthew 20:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.20.14.ESV A farmer employed several agricultural workers throughout the day. He payed the ones who turned up at the end of the day the same as those who were up at the crack of dawn. Quite understandably, the long, hard grafters were annoyed that they didn't get more. The farmer has a right to do what he likes with his resources. If he choses to be generous above and beyond expectations, who are his workers to question him? All very well, but what's the moral of the story? I came to faith in Christ aged eight. I've lived for Him ever since (not perfectly at all of course!). Yet if someone was to believe in Jesus on their deathbed today, they would go to be with Him in paradise. If I was feeling stingy, I might begrudge the deathbed convert for getting the same eternal life that I've spent a lifetime anticipating. Yet I should r

  Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Matthew 18:21 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.18.21.ESV I think Peter thought he was being pretty charitable here. We talk about giving people a second chance. Here Peter was showing openness to giving people a seventh chance. Jesus's answer however shows how limited Peter's understanding was. Jesus's replied seventy seven (or according to some translations seventy times seven (four hundred and ninety!). In other words, we should be prepared to lose count of the amount of times we're willing to forgive someone. We're not to get to seventy eight or four hundred and ninety one and suddenly become vengeful. We're always to forgive. Even if someone doesn't repent and isn't forgiven, we are to have a forgiving attitude to them. Even if we don't trust someone anymore because of their multiple sins against us,

  He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? Matthew 15:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.15.3.ESV What traditions might we have that cause us to break the commandments of God? The religious people of Jesus's day excused not honouring parents by claiming they were contributing to God's work instead. If we claim to love God and hate our parents, we betray ourselves as liars. We are to love God and to love others. If we have any traditions that get in the way of that, those traditions need to go. Obeying God is not just about not doing bad things, but about doing good things instead. Instead of simply not working on the Lord's Day of rest, why not focus on doing good? Instead of withholding from our parents to give to God's work, why not do both? There shouldn't be any conflict between not doing what's wrong, and doing what's right instead. Nowadays, I wonder if all the time we now spend on our

  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.13.8.ESV How do we receive God's word? Do we take it positively, and produce fruit in response to its message? Or are we hard hearted? There's a few reasons God's word might not bear fruit in our lives. Firstly, because we're hardened against it. Secondly we might find hardship discourages us. Thirdly, the superficiality of the world's pleasures can distract us. What kind of fruit could the word of God bear in our lives, if we are receptive to it? I don't think it's primarily that we call others to faith in God. I suspect Jesus has in mind the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we display those characteristics in our lives, we'll be spiritually fruitful. It's by feeding on God's word that we c

  and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Matthew 11:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.11.3.ESV John the Baptist was described by Jesus as the greatest man. He was the forerunner of Christ and His Kingdom. Yet even he had his doubts. John ended up imprisoned by Herod the king. Wasn't Christ and His Kingdom going to get rid of Herod and the Roman occupiers? As Christ told Pilate the Roman governor, 'My Kingdom is not of this world'. Jesus's Kingdom isn't to create a new polity, but new hearts in the lives of all who enter in. All are welcome into God's Kingdom, whatever polity we may be part of. We just need to be prepared to be transformed. Jesus doesn't necessarily fit our agendas. Yet we must fit into His. We must turn to Him or else be lost forever. 'Dear Lord, when we're feeling disillusioned, please help us to turn to You. Thank You that You'll never let us down, for the glory of Y

  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.10.39.ESV Jesus's statement here seems nonsensical. Surely, if we 'find ourselves', that's a good thing. Surely, losing our lives is a bad thing. The problem is that if we delude ourselves that we're all sorted, we'll soon realise we're not. We're all going to lose our lives, unless Christ returns first. We need to realise we're naturally lost before Jesus can find us. Being martyred for our faith in Christ might not seem much of a victory. Denying ourselves, taking up our crosses and following Him might seem counterintuitive. Yet that is how we find eternal life in Him. We don't have to literally die for Jesus to gain eternal life. Elsewhere in this chapter, He encourages us to flee persecution rather than to invite it. Yet we do have to be prepared to give up everything for Him who gave everything up

 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Matthew 7:13 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.7.13.ESV Jesus makes clear that there are ultimately two ways to live that end in two destinations. There's a wide road that we're all on by default, that leads to destruction. Then there's a narrow gate, that leads to a narrow way, that leads to eternal life. What is the narrow gate, and how do we get through it? Jesus elsewhere describes Himself as the gate- it is through Him alone that we gain eternal life. He's a narrow gate, we have to leave our baggage at the door. What is the narrow way that leads to eternity with God? Again, Jesus said that He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to Father God except through Him. We're all naturally sinful rebels against God. Only by surrendering and giving our lives to Jesus can we have eternal security. The gate is open to all

  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:29 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.29.ESV Thankfully we don't have to take Scripture literally, otherwise we'd be mutilating ourselves. What we do need to do is take the Scriptures at their intended meaning. Jesus is saying we have to kill sin, or sin will kill us. If we're honest, we all look at things in the wrong way from time to time. It could be lustful looks, as in the context, or even covetous cravings for example. We tend to minimise sin, but God doesn't. Jesus says that adultery starts in the mind. We don't just wake up one day next to the wrong person. It's a process that starts with lustful intent. We like to think we can divorce lust from adultery. Yet Jesus clearly teaches that lust is the root and adultery is the fruit. We need to weed it out, or it will overrun

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.1.1.ESV Why did Matthew start his good news about Jesus with a family tree? The significance of this verse will not have been lost on his Jewish readership. Jesus was the fulfilment of God's promises to His people. David was promised a Son/Descendant whose reign would never end. By highlighting Jesus's relation to David, Matthew was claiming that Jesus is God's promised King. The Messiah had to come before the destruction of the temple and genealogical records by the Romans in AD70 so that people could see that Jesus was the fulfilment of God's promises. Jesus was the promised Son/Descendant of Abraham. Abraham and his barren wife Sarah were promised a Son/Descendant through whom the world would be blessed. Jesus isn't just the King of the Jews but the Son of God who came to save the world. We might be Gentiles, yet Jesus can be ours throu

 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. Malachi 3:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mal.3.2.ESV Naturally, no one can endure the day of Christ's return. Thankfully, we can endure supernaturally, through the power of His Holy Spirit. Because He gave His life for us, we can make it through the day of judgment. No one will stand when Christ returns. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Only then will we be able to arise to worship Him forevermore. Jesus is like a refiners fire. By His Holy Spirit, He burns away all that is amiss in our lives and helps us to come out as fine gold or silver. We naturally have a lot of worthless dross, but God can remove it from our lives. Jesus is like a fuller's soap. Spiritually we're unclean, but Christ, by His Spirit can clean us up. We can become acceptable to God through Hi

  "Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Zechariah 8:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/zec.8.2.ESV We might not naturally associate jealousy with God. We might assume He is impassable and emotionless. Yet Zechariah makes very clear that the Lord is a jealous God. He's the God of the angel armies. We don't want to get on the wrong side of Him. He's jealous for God's people: if we touch them, we touch the apple of His eye. Even as God's people, we need to be mindful of the Lord's jealousy. God forbid that we should provoke Him with unfaithfulness. May our lives' focus be to bring Him joy. God might be slow to anger, but His wrath is great. Woe betide us if we do indeed provoke Him. It would not bode well for us if that was the case! 'Lord God of the angel armies, help us to be mindful of Your jealousy, and to seek to be faithful to You. Don't let us provoke You, in

 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.' But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Zechariah 1:4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/zec.1.4.ESV Sadly, in the post-Christianised UK, this verse rings true. Although Christianity is at a low ebb, there are still prophetic voices calling people to repent of their sins. Sadly, as in Zechariah's day, they are largely ignored. If the God of the angel armies tells us to do something, we would do well to obey. We are to turn from our evil ways and deeds. Christ is the One we should be following. If we don't listen to the Lord God Almighty, we only have condemnation to anticipate. It won't end well for us if we ignore Him. The fathers of Zechariah's generation were deported for their rebellion against God. 'Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust an

  You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Haggai 1:6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hag.1.6.ESV I'm sure it's not just the UK where costs are far overtaking earnings, with inflation rampant. I'm sure many of us can relate to this verse: working hard and not seeing much return. Does the prophet Haggai have an answer for such a woeful situation? Haggai brought a message from God for His people. If we're stingy towards Him and His work, why should we expect Him to be generous towards us? On the other hand, if we're generous towards God and His work, we can expect Him to pour out His blessings upon us. Haggai's hearers were busy trying to build their own 'kingdoms of comfort' rather than to contribute to God's work. As Jesus said, 'seek first God's Kingdom

  Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. Habakkuk 1:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hab.1.3.ESV Habakkuk wasn't your typical prophet of God. His prophecy is a conversation between him and the Lord about injustice. He was concerned about the state of the people of God. It might seem like Habakkuk was being rude by questioning God. Yet it is better to complain directly to Him than to moan behind His back. If we have a problem, we should take it directly to the Lord, like Habakkuk did. The stain of sins of God's people was ruining life in the promised land. In the context, God promised to raise up the Babylonians to punish His people. Habakkuk was incredulous that God would use even more evil people to judge His own people. Even temporarily, God can use circumstances to work His purposes out. Ultimately however, it is in eternity that God's perfect justice is worked out. He

  Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off. Nahum 1:15 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/nam.1.15.ESV The good news is that the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, arrived. He Himself said He didn't come to bring peace to the world, but division. So how is that good news? When Jesus was born, angels declared that this was the advent of 'peace on earth, to those on whom God's favour rests'. How do we get peace with God? Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How can God favour us? We are, after all, sinful rebels. Again, it's through trusting in Jesus for salvation. Nahum includes a warning to the worthless, which is what we all naturally are spiritually. Thankfully, God sees fit to save all who come to Him through Christ. We can be delivered from the condemnation we deserve. 'Lord our God,

  But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. Micah 3:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mic.3.8.ESV When we think of being filled with the Spirit of the Lord, maybe we think of His fruit: love, joy and peace etc. Yet the prophet Micah had a different purpose of the Spirit in mind: to convict God's people of sin. We might think that this is just old testament negativity in contrast to new testament positivity, but it isn't that simple. Even in the new testament, Jesus says that the Spirit will convict the world in regards to sin, righteousness and judgment. God's Spirit is Holy and we are sinners: therein lies the problem. He's like a doctor who diagnoses us as spiritually terminally ill. Our sins separate us from God. They kill us spiritually. So we need Him to illuminate to us the problem, before He can offer us the solution. Thankfully, Christ died to

  And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Jonah 1:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jon.1.9.ESV Jonah comes across pretty hypocritical here. Unless he'd had a sudden epiphany, he was running away from God's calling on his life. If he'd have feared God all along he wouldn't have disobeyed him. To be fair to Jonah, his theology was correct. The Lord is the creator of all things. He is worthy of our fearful worship because He is sovereign over the storms of life. Miraculously, Jonah's shoddy witness to the Lord inspired faith in the sailors he was with. They ended up worshipping God. God can use our faltering efforts to cause people to trust in Him. If Jonah had obeyed God immediately, he'd never have had opportunity to witness to the sailors. God can even turn our disobedience round for good. He is able to bring positivity out of negative situations. 'Sovereign Lord, help

  "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! Amos 6:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/amo.6.1.ESV Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Idolising comfort is woeful. Seeking security by our own wit is an accursed attitude. It's natural to want a comfortable life. Yet if we seek comfort in circumstances we'll only be disappointed. Only God can give us supernatural comfort that isn't dependant on circumstances. Things might be going well for us circumstantially. Yet God's approval or otherwise of us isn't dependant on our circumstances. Jesus pronounced blessings on the poor and woe to the rich. If we're poor, we're more likely to rely on God. If we're rich, we're more likely to rely on our riches. We shouldn't idolise stuff. 'God, have mercy upon us for so often trusting in stuff rather than

  Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— Amos 2:6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/amo.2.6.ESV Israel must have listened to Amos's early prophesies with a measure of smugness: all their enemies were in God's line of fire. Yet now, the heat is turned up. They themselves are earmarked for punishment by God. The world makes a virtue of seeking riches. It's a dog eat dog world where the rich oppress the poor just to line their pockets all the more. This isn't how it should be. God measures how healthy a society is by how it treats the poor and needy in their midst. If they are oppressed while the wealthy increase their wealth, that's not right. God measures our godliness in large part by how we look out for the weak and marginalised in our midst. If we pile on transgression upon transgression, without repentance and

 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. Joel 1:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jol.1.3.ESV We might assume that this verse is about something positive. After all, we want those after us to remember happy memories. Yet this verse in context is about God's judgement. A plague of locusts had torn through the land, leaving devastation in their wake. Why we want to remember that? Because it came as a judgement of God on His rebellious people. To remember serves as a warning for future generations. It's a little bit like Remembrance Day in the UK. We remember the sacrifices of the armed forces, especially in the World Wars, for the freedom that we enjoy. Something bad- like death and devastation, served to enable the freedom we enjoy. Even after the plague of coronavirus, there have been attempts to memorialise people's experiences. I've been part of a secular project known as CoronaDiaries, where I shar

  You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors, Hosea 10:13 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hos.10.13.ESV We reap what we sow. Sow a thought, reap a deed. Sow a deed, reap a habit. So a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. Sadly, the Israelites of Hosea's day were sowing iniquities: sinful stains that would come back to haunt them. They were trusting in their apparent military might, rather than the Lord God of the angel armies. The consequences of their misplaced faith would be devastating. Israel was an unjust society. They ate the fruit of lies- that everything was okay- when in reality they were ripe for judgement. God was going to use the Assyrian superpower to chasten them. Our security isn't in the strength of our nation's military. Our strength is in the Lord God of hosts. He is the One whom we must entrust ourselves to.

 And the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins." Hosea 3:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hos.3.1.ESV Prophets of God often had to do unusual and difficult things, but Hosea had one of the hardest jobs around. He had to marry an adulterous woman, as a horrific picture of how God's people were treating Himself. Sadly, we can learn from Hosea even today. Whenever we idolise anything other than God, we are committing spiritual adultery. Whenever we put anything in the place of God, we are unfaithful to Him. We might seem to get away with it for a season, but we must be brought back, or else to be lost forever. Astoundingly, just as Hosea had to bring back his adulterous wife, so God brings back His adulterous people. We deserve to be banished forever. Yet God welcomes us back with open arms. If we're convicted today

  Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. Daniel 10:12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.10.12.ESV Daniel was an old man now. Yet even this late in the day, he had a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. Understandably, such an encounter would be fearsome, but Jesus commanded him not to be afraid. This passage is what we call a theophany: an appearance of Christ before His first advent as a man in ancient Palestine. Here, He appeared to Daniel in exile in pagan Babylon. He came to assure him that He is sovereign, He's in control. Often, when we're praying, pouring out words of intercession for God's people, it can feel like we're hitting a brick wall. Yet we can take encouragement from Daniel's vision of Jesus- even when it doesn't feel like it, our words are heard and responded to. This is an

  "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. Daniel 7:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.7.9.ESV Daniel had an awesome vision of Father God: the Ancient of Days. One of the most striking things about Him is not only that He is on the throne of heaven, but that His throne is portable: it has wheels. God can be wherever He wants to be at any time. One like a Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days and was given all authority over all peoples. The eternal Son of God is ascended to the Father's side where God rules and reigns by His Holy Spirit. Nothing is outside of His sovereignty. God can even take something negative, like the crucifixion of Christ, and turn it into a positive- the salvation of myriad souls. What satan intends for evil, God can turn round for good. Even if we're condemned as we deserve, God

  Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity." Daniel 4:27 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.4.27.ESV Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most powerful men who ever lived: so much so that the likes of Biden, Putin and Xi pale into insignificance. His Babylonian Empire stretched from India to Ethiopia: the entirety of the 'civilised' world of the time. Power hungry people could look up to him enviously. God's verdict of Nebuchadnezzar was very different to the world's however. Daniel, the Jewish exile, had the bravery to tell Nebuchadnezzar like it was: no sugarcoating the truth for him! Nebuchadnezzar was a sinner before the Holy God. Daniel called Nebuchadnezzar by breaking off his sins by doing what was right. Easier said than done: Nebuchadnezzar had got where he was by sinfully trampling

  And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Daniel 1:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.1.2.ESV If it wasn't for the first part of this verse, we might assume that it was game over for God's people. It seemed like Babylon's gods had beaten the God of the Jews. It might often feel similar nowadays. We might assume that if we follow the One True God we'd have an easy life. Yet He warns us that through much tribulation we must enter the Kingdom of God. When we submit to Jesus's Kingship, we make enemies of the world, our flesh, and the devil. I love how this verse underlines God's sovereignty even when everything seems to be going wrong for His people. It was the Lord who handed them over to captivity. It is God who allows us to be exiled in the world, until He calls us home to glo

  Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Ezekiel 47:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.47.1.ESV In old testament days, people had to travel to the temple to meet with the living God. Here, Ezekiel has a powerful vision of water pouring forth from the temple and becoming a mighty river. Jesus picked up the image several hundred years later. Jesus declared that whoever comes to Him will become like a spring of living water. He said this to illustrate the work of His Holy Spirit in our hearts. Our hearts become temples of the Most High God when we trust in Him. If we claim to belong to God, we ought to reflect the way He refreshes and revives people's hearts. 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled'.

  "This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. Ezekiel 44:28 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.44.28.ESV The Levites were an Israelite tribe who were to serve as priests for God. They were scattered throughout Israel to serve God's people. They had no region of Israel of their own. In the new covenant, God's people are described as a kingdom of priests. We're not on the lookout for an earthly inheritance. We're not seeking private jets and gated mansions. It is enough for God's people that He Himself is our inheritance. Our job is to worship Him and to make Him known to the world. When our life's journey is done, we will get to enjoy His presence forever. Jesus told His followers that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house. There's a place for us, if we will trust in and live for Him. It is enough that we get to glorify God forever. &

  And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place." Ezekiel 41:4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.41.4.ESV In the old testament, the Most Holy Place was a defined space, an epic area at the heart of the temple of God in Jerusalem. The priests could only enter this place through the sacrificial shedding of blood. This is a picture of how things work even in this new covenant age. The blood of bulls and goats cannot usher us into God's Most Holy presence. Only the blood of God's eternal Son Jesus can do that. One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that the immortal Lord Jesus died for the likes of sinners like us. In the new covenant, the Most Holy Place isn't some geographical location in some 'Holy Land'. The bodies of those who trust in Jesus become temples of the Holy Spirit. We need to make sure we are holy as God is Holy. Just a

  The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. Ezekiel 37:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.37.1.ESV God brought Ezekiel to somewhere like one of Russia's mass graves in Ukraine. The picture was of a vast army of people destroyed by the evil superpower Babylon. There's not much more of a hopeless picture that we could imagine. Miraculously, the valley of dry bones became a skeleton army. Then flesh clothed the bones, like China's terracotta army. God commanded Ezekiel to preach to this inanimate host. Ezekiel must have thought it was pretty pointless preaching to a bunch of dead people. Yet he still obeyed, and the impossible happened. God breathed the breath of life into the masses of dead people, and they came alive. Maybe you trust in Christ alone for salvation. Yet maybe you think telling people about Him is like preaching to the dead. Well God can make the s

 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 34:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.34.14.ESV In context, God has used the metaphor of sheep for His people, and described their leaders as shoddy shepherds. God isn't just someone who snipes from the sidelines at how rubbish we are. Instead, He comes down to earth, and gets His hands dirty to deliver us. God's self designation as a shepherd seems almost blasphemous. Shepherds are dirty, humble people. Yet God isn't ashamed to describe Himself as our Good Shepherd. We have a choice as humans. We can either have God as our Shepherd, or death. With God as Shepherd, we enjoy eternal life. With death as shepherd we only have hell to anticipate. By default, death is our shepherd. Like lost sheep, we need to cry out to God to find us and to bring us into

  But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Ezekiel 33:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.33.9.ESV Ezekiel was like a watchman, warning His people of impending doom. Many of them simply ignored his please for them to turn from their sins and to live. Yet by warning them, Ezekiel absolved his own soul of guilt. If we have been delivered by the Lord from the condemnation we deserve, it is our duty to tell others how they can be delivered from the condemnation they deserve. It is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved. By His wounds we are healed from our spiritual sin sickness. If we wonder what God's calling is on our lives, this verse gives us a clue. Like Ezekiel, we are to be watchmen and women, warning others of the judgement to come. We are to call people to repentance and faith in God. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. W

  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 30:26 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.30.26.ESV Egypt thousands of years ago was like Russia seems nowadays: an old superpower that had seen better days. In the ascendancy of rival superpower Babylon, many Egyptians were exiled into the wider world. Ezekiel was clear that God was sovereign over this creation of a diaspora. We might assume that Putin's mismanagement has caused thousands of young Russian men to flee their homeland, from being called up to fight in an unjust war of aggression. Yet I'm sure that Ezekiel would insist that God is sovereign even over dictators' bumblings. The powers that be like to assume that they're like gods. In reality, there's only One True God: the Lord Almighty. Human authorities might think they can dictate world events, but in reality they're like puppets on a string. If

  Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring." Ezekiel 23:35 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.23.35.ESV God's people are personified as a wayward woman. The Bible sometimes pictures God's people as His bride. If God is our heavenly Bridegroom, we ought to be faithful to Him. Sadly, many of God's professing people are lewd and whore after things other than Him. It could be human relationships, or greed for money, or lust for power for example. If we do so, we will bear the consequences. Interestingly, the root problem of God's people isn't lewdness or whoring. Ultimately, those things happen because they forget God and airbrush Him out of their picture. When people ignore God, they cast off restraint. This is why Christians take communion: bread and grape juice- to remember Christ and all He has done for us. His body was broken and His

 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken. Ezekiel 22:28 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.22.28.ESV Sadly, there are plenty of similar false teachers nowadays. These are the kind of people who say things like, 'thus says the Lord God: this time next year, you'll have a private jet'! Of course, I exaggerate, but you get the idea. These false teachers are the kind of people who start every year by 'declaring' that all will be rainbows and unicorns that year. Of course, they're invariably proved wrong. The troubles of life crowd in and disprove any false prophecies. One thing I love about the Bible is how realistic it is about the troubles of life. The Bible doesn't whitewash what we go through. Instead, it is honest about the inevitability of difficulties in this life. False prophets try and whitewash life to seem better than it is

  Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Ezekiel 18:23 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.18.23.ESV Many people, even if they believe in God's existence, have a grotesque caricature of Him as some grumpy old man up in the sky, itching to smite us for our importunity. This couldn't be further from the truth. The answer to God's rhetorical question is a resounding 'no' for the first half, and 'yes' for the second half. If God really just wanted us all to die, He would let us do so. Yet if we trust in the Resurrection and Life of Jesus, even our physical deaths will just be like falling asleep until He wakes us up. We're all naturally dead spiritually; but we can be supernaturally made alive spiritually. Even with our forefather Adam and Eve, God didn't simply condemn them to death, but promised deliverance, through the Offspring of Eve. The virgin born Son of

  Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.16.49.ESV We often associate the doomed city of Sodom with the sin that is nicknamed after it: sodomy. Yet here, God explains some of the root causes of His destruction of her, and sexual perversion isn't mentioned. Pride has become synonymous with LGBTQ+, yet Biblically it is pretty much the original sin. Satan got kicked out of heaven for his pride at being the most beautiful angel (originally). Pride is something that blinds us to our desperate need of God. It's interesting that excess of food is seen to be a bad thing. In these uncertain days, full kitchen cupboards are seen to be luxuries to be aspired to. Yet God would rather we shared with the needy than had overflowing cupboards. If we're honest, we probably aspire to prosperous ease: a carefree, comfortable

 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 13:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.13.16.ESV A favoured Christmas card declares 'peace on earth'. Yet there has been no peace on earth since Christ's first advent. So are Christians false prophets by promising peace? In context, there is peace on earth 'to those on whom God's favour rests'. Only some of us are favoured by God with supernatural peace. How do we get it? By crying out to God to give us it through Jesus. Jesus went so far as to say, 'do you think I came to bring peace on earth? I didn't come to bring peace, but division.' In other words, Jesus has split the world in two: between those who have peace with God, and those who don't. Classically, at the start of every new year, 'Christian prophets'/charlatans declares that this is our year of divine favour. 2020 saw covid whic

  But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God." Ezekiel 11:21 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.11.21.ESV God is able to transform our hearts. He's in the business of open heart surgery, spiritually speaking. He can give us a spiritual heart transplant. Naturally, our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Yet God can cut all of that out and make us wholeheartedly devoted to Him. If we remain the same however after professing faith in Him, we betray the fact that He hasn't transformed us after all. What our hearts desire is what we pursue in our lives. If we go after things that our detestable and abominable to God, it won't end well for us. God will allow us to suffer the consequences of our deeds. If we are greedy for money for example, we're likely to become stingy, selfish and cruel towards others. If we lust after extr

  Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.'" Ezekiel 8:12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.8.12.ESV It's like Ezekiel foresaw our own days, thousands of years later, when countless men, and even many women, indulge in the sin of pornography. Porn usage thrives in secrecy, in the dark. It's as though we forget that God is omniscient (all-knowing). We can't hide from God what we do in the dark, staring at our screens of pixilated pictures. We're probably deceiving ourselves that God's not aware. Maybe we assume He's already given up on us, so we may as well continue in self destructive habits. We mustn't feed ourselves with lies. We mustn't look at sinful representations of God's gift of sex (which is meant for heterosexual, married, adult, monogamous couples)

  In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. Ezekiel 1:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.1.1.ESV Ezekiel was meant to be starting out as a priest of the Lord. Yet he was exiled from Jerusalem and probably felt like his life's calling had been snatched away from him. Thankfully, God had even better plans for him. Ezekiel was in captivity by a Babylonian canal: maybe a makeshift migrant camp had grown up around it. He probably felt as far from God as he could be. Yet even there, many miles from home, God spoke to him. One of the big lessons in the early chapters of Ezekiel is that God isn't confined by geography. He doesn't just linger around Jerusalem. Our God is in the heavens, He does all that He pleases. You might not be on pilgrimage today to some 'holy' place. Yet the Lord can meet you right where you are and reveal Himself t

  "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:24 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/lam.3.24.ESV What is your portion? What gets you going in the morning, and keeps you going throughout the day? For many people it's food. Hunger is a great motivator to work. Money is many people's portion. Like food however, it's pretty transcient: here today and gone tomorrow. If we chase after food or money, we'll never be satisfied. The writer of Lamentations declared that the Lord is his soul's portion. He knew he was a spiritual being, not just an evolved primate. So he knew he needed God the Holy Spirit to provide for him. The writer of Lamentations didn't just come to God for money or food. He put his hope in Him. One day money will be no more, but the Lord is the everlasting, unfailing portion of His people, now and forevermore. 'Lord, be our portion and our hope we pray. So may we find everlasting sat

  Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. Lamentations 2:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/lam.2.14.ESV Sadly there's still false prophets nowadays, not just in the lamentable days of Jeremiah. They're the kind of people who say 'peace, peace' when there is no peace. They're the kind of people who promise health, wealth and happiness if you come to Jesus- as though Christ alone isn't enough. Jesus doesn't promise us temporal health, wealth and happiness. In fact He blesses the poor and pronounces woe upon the rich. Those who teach otherwise are wolves who are fleecing the flock of God. If we suffer for being faithful to Jesus, it must be awful to hear people claiming that Jesus is no better than a lottery ticket. We know it's just a lie, but it compounds our suffering. Still, Jesus blesses the persecuted, be

  I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and male goats. Jeremiah 51:40 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.51.40.ESV 'Lambs to the slaughter' is a phrase we use in English to describe people doomed to disaster. Here, Jeremiah uses it to describe the might of the global superpower Babylon. At his time of prophesying it was smashing up nations far more successfully than America or Russia nowadays. Even the powerful Red Army is no match for the God of angel armies. One angel can destroy an entire superpower's army, never mind what God can do. We offend Him at our peril. In a sense we're all lambs to the slaughter. Death and judgement come to us all, unless Christ returns first to accelerate the process. He describes the day of judgement as separating sheep and goats. Sheep are those who have the Lord as their Good Shepherd and who look out for each other. Goats are those rejected by God who are only out for themselves. We need to make sure we&#

  "Behold, I am against you, O proud one, declares the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. Jeremiah 50:31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.50.31.ESV Babylon was proud of her power, that she seemed able to smash all the nations around her. Yet ultimately, God was against her and her time of reckoning came. Any who are unrepentantly defined by pride will ultimately be judged by the Lord God of the angel armies. Sadly, nowadays, pride is something celebrated. There are pride marches around the world, especially in the West, when sin is celebrated. Yet God hates pride, however it's manifested. Astoundingly, God Himself is the opposite of pride: He is humble. If pride is thinking too highly of ourselves, humility is not thinking too highly of ourselves. Because God is the Most High, it's impossible for Him to be anything other than humble. Not only so, but the Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself from the throneroom of heaven to serve

  So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. Jeremiah 43:4 ESV I'm sure none of us begrudge Ukrainians fleeing from the conflict with Russia. Yet just imagine if a Ukrainian told his people to submit to Russian occupation. That wouldn't go down well. That's a bit like what Jeremiah said to the Jews. They were under occupation by the Babylonians. Yet Jeremiah said that if they submitted to the Babylonian yoke, all would go well with them. Having hypocritically asked God's opinion when their minds were already made up, the remaining leaders of Judah not only fled to Egypt, but they took Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch too. Even there, Jeremiah insisted they weren't safe from the might of Babylon. Nowadays, Babylon is symbolic for the world in opposition to God. There's no place we could flee to get away from Babylon's pervasive influence. We simply

  Thus says the Lord: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. Jeremiah 38:2 ESV Imagine a Ukrainian telling the inhabitants of Kyiv to surrender to Putin. Clearly, that wouldn't go down well. Yet that is similar to what Jeremiah told the Jerusalemites. Jerusalem was patriotically trying to fight the Babylonian superpower. Yet they may as well have been fighting against God, because He raised the Babylonians up to punish His people for ignoring Him. There's no point struggling against God's will. Just to clarify, I'm not God, so I wouldn't say Ukraine should surrender to Russia. There's other times when evil superpowers can and should be stood up to (although we as ordinary people should be peaceful).  If Putin wasn't opposed he'd be like Hitler taking over more and more territories in his greedy lust for power a

  Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered. Jeremiah 35:17 ESV In the context, the Rechabites were better at keeping their family traditions than the Jews were at obeying the word of the Lord. God respected the Rechabites nomadic teetotalism. His temper was frayed with His people as a whole however. We don't have to be nomadic. Yet we should remember that this world is not our home, we're just passing through. We shouldn't get too comfortable. We don't have to be teetotal. Yet we must never get drunk on alcohol. We should be sober minded as we consider the eternity to come. Thankfully, salvation is available to us in Christ crucified. Yet we must listen to the way of salvation. If we close our ears to calls to

  Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3 ESV This is a wonderful promise to Jeremiah. Maybe we think we can't appropriate it. Yet the God of Jeremiah is the same God today. As I mentioned last time, in Christ, all the promises of God are 'yes and amen'. So we can indeed adopt this promise as our own. It has been true for me in my life. I first genuinely called to the Lord when I was eight years old, having had the privilege of having parents who taught me God's ways. He has indeed taught me great and hidden things that I didn't know previously. For example, salvation is by faith, not by me being a 'good' little boy who knew all the answers at Sunday School. The primary way that God reveals things to us (apart from in answer to our prayers), is through His word. In the Bible we discover God and His purposes for our lives. That's why I devote so much time to writing about it,

  Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,     and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall be plundered,     and all who prey on you I will make a prey. Jeremiah 30:15 ESV What a great promise! I know we shouldn't wish disaster on our enemies, but if we're in the right, we can admit they deserve it. God used His people's enemies to chasten them. Once God's people had learnt the lesson of His discipline of them, it was God's enemies turn to feel His wrath. There's a strong sense of logic in how God works in the midst of the turmoil of international politics. Assyria and Babylon no longer exist as political entities, but Israel does. The lesson here isn't primarily a political one however. It's about the people of God. So God's new covenant Christians can appropriate this promise for their unrepentant persecutors. In Christ, all the promises of God are 'yes and amen'. So the unrepent

  Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. Jeremiah 26:13 ESV It took real guts for Jeremiah to pronounce this word to the people of his day. The religious leaders were baying for his blood. Thankfully, at this time, the political leaders paid attention to what he had to say and protected his life. If God is threatening disaster to us, the right response is to rail against Him. In all likelihood, we face disaster because our deeds are not pleasing in His sight. So we need to mend what we've broken. If God calls us to turn from our sins and follow Him, we mustn't shut our ears to His call. Instead, we must obey His voice. If we do turn from our evil ways, we will avoid the ultimate disaster of hell. 'O Lord God Almighty, please help us to be genuine in forsaking evil and following You. For the glory of Christ we pray, amen'

  In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ Jeremiah 23:6 ESV Judah and Israel Biblically aren't simply political entities. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah who saves all who come to Him in faith. Jesus is the Holy One of Israel whose righteousness can be credited to our bankrupt spiritual accounts. Judah and Israel are symbolic of all who praise the Lord and strive with Him for the blessing of righteousness. Like Jacob, we shouldn't let God go until He blesses us with His goodness. Like Leah's naming of Judah, we should praise God whatever our circumstances. Naturally, all our righteousness is like filthy rags. By default, all our goodness is like autumn leaves or a gust of wind. Thankfully, Christ's righteousness has a permanence to it that can be our own. We need to be clothed in Christ's righteousness. We need our bankrupt spiritual accounts to be

  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Jeremiah 18:4 ESV Jeremiah visited a pottery workshop and learned about God's dealing with His people. His old covenant people of Israel rebelled against Him, so they were banished into exile. Still, God graciously brought them back and sent Jesus the Messiah to them. Through Jesus, God has formed a new people out of the ashes of the old: Jews and Gentiles alike united in worship of the Saviour of the world. Understandably, devout Jews might feel put out that they don't have a monopoly on God. Yet God as the Potter of humanity has the right to do what He likes with us. Us questioning God's purposes is a bit like a lump of clay questioning the potter for how he's moulding it. God has a right to smash us up, grind us down, muddy us, and start all over again. We have no right to rail against Him. Like a good lump o

  And I will make you to this people     a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you,     but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you     to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 15:20 ESV Jeremiah met much opposition by speaking the word of the Lord to his people. Many of us would too. God promised Jeremiah that he would withstand all opposition. Jeremiah was imprisoned at one stage, and exiled towards the end of his life. Yet his enemies never took his life. God might not promise that we won't be martyred, but He will be faithful to us for all eternity. God offers us eternal life through faith in Christ crucified. Nothing in this world can take that away from us once we receive it, not even our own waywardness. A relationship with God as our heavenly Father is worth any persecution we might face. Ultimately, whatever opposition we face, we will prevail in the Lord Jesus. Just as He defeated death, so shall we be raised again, thro

  I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,     that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23 ESV We live in turbulent days. We've lived through the plague of coronavirus, and now Putin's war is driving up costs around the world. Jeremiah lived in similarly stormy times. When the going is good, we might deceive ourselves that we have much of a say in how our lives turn out. This verse teaches otherwise. We can pencil in our plans, but it is God's will that is set in stone. We don't get to decide which way we go. Virtually no one chooses death and hell, yet that is where most of us are headed, by default. Thankfully, Jesus is the Way of eternal life. Through Him we get to know God as our heavenly Father. Knowing that life is uncertain, we ought to trust in the only sure foundation: God and His Word. 'On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand'. Anything other than the Lord for us to build our lives