There is a song I grew up singing in church that takes its lyrics nearly word-for-word from the book of Lamentations: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion’ says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. Therefore I will hope in him” (Compare Lamentations 3:22-24). These words are meaningful at face value—a declaration of God’s unending love and faithfulness and a resolve to trust in him. But the words of this song are even more impactful when understood in their context. Jeremiah did not write these words from a place of security, comfort, or ease. In fact, quite the opposite.

First, we have to remind ourselves that Lamentations is a lament (a cry of weeping and mourning) about the destruction of God’s temple and the city of Jerusalem. And we get a vivid description of that event in Jeremiah 51-52. “In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month… Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem” (Jer. 52:12-14). What a devastating sight it would have been to see the temple of the Lord desecrated, its gold and silver stripped and hauled off, and what was left torched.

How could this happen? How could the house of the Lord be trampled by the foreigners, the very enemies of God and his people? Where was God and why was he allowing the pagans to boast in their victory over Judah and the god of the Jews? This was a dark and bitter time for the Jews as they watched their capital city burn before their eyes.

Although it would have been easy for the people to blame or question God in the face of this destruction, it was the very character of God which gave Jeremiah confidence and hope in the midst of such unspeakable defeat. Near the very center of the book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s confident expression of hope in God: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:21-23). And Jeremiah is exactly right. God is faithful to reward the obedient, and faithful to punish the disobedient. He’s always loving, and always faithful. Jeremiah’s declaration and focus on God is all the more remarkable when we recognize the defeat and destruction he was surrounded by. At a time like that, only God’s faithfulness and loyal love could bring Jeremiah hope.

There is just something about mountains that calls my name. I love being around mountains and hiking on them. One of my dreams is to one day summit a snow-capped mountain out in the western states. I’ve had the opportunity to be near several major mountains, including Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Blue Sky (formerly Mt. Evans). Each mountain is different and beautiful in its own way. There’s just something special about being around mountains like these or climbing up their slopes and looking up at the peak above you and down at the valleys below.

In the Bible, there are many “mountain-top” experiences. Noah’s ark rested on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4), Abraham sacrificed on Mt. Moriah (Genesis 20:2), Moses received the law on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:3), and Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:20). But certainly one of the most unique “mountain-top” experiences has to be the transfiguration of Jesus. Mark records it for us in Mark 9:2-13. For Jesus’ inner circle of disciples—Peter, James and John—it was a crucial point in their understanding of Jesus’ role in God’s plan. 

Jesus was on a mountain with these three men when his appearance was dramatically changed. His glory shone through in a moment of splendor, dazzling his disciples and terrifying them. Suddenly, the disciples saw that Jesus was accompanied by Elijah and Moses, two of the greatest figures from the history of the Jewish people. Peter, always one to speak up, suggested that they build three tabernacles, one for each of the men before them. Peter no doubt meant this as a high compliment to Jesus, to suggest that he ought to be honored alongside the greatest prophet and law-giver from history. But this is a teaching moment for the disciples. A cloud overshadowed them and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7). After these words, Moses and Elijah were nowhere to be seen. Clearly, God used this mountain-top experience to single out Jesus and show the disciples that Jesus is greater than Moses and Elijah. But right on the heels of this glorious scene, Jesus had a further message for his disciples: they were to tell no one of the vision until after Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus’ disciples were confused by this. They understood that he was the glorious Son of God, but they did not know what he meant by rising from the dead.

The lesson is that Jesus is not only the highly exalted Son of God in glory on the mountain top, he is also the suffering Son of Man, who descends the mountain to return to Jerusalem where he will die for the sins of his people; but not only will he die, he will rise from the dead, conquering sin and death, and be exalted to the right hand of God for all eternity to make intercession for us. 

The prophet Daniel in the Old Testament is famous for his godliness. Even when he knew that it was illegal to pray to anyone but the king of Babylon, he nevertheless continued to pray to the LORD, the One True God. We’re familiar with that example of Daniel’s godliness and courage, but there’s another way that he is exemplary: Daniel read his “Bible.” I put “Bible” in quotes because, of course, Daniel didn’t have the entire Bible that we have today. But we know that while Daniel was in exile, he read the Scriptures that were available to him. We know this because Daniel himself tells us about an example of this very thing.

Daniel tells us that when he was old, “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus… in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years” (Dan. 9:1-2). By opening the Scriptures, Daniel gained an understanding of the timeline of what God was doing with the kingdom of Judah. Daniel looked back to these words given to Jeremiah years before and understood that the captivity of Judah was coming to an end.

The passage that Daniel references is found in Jeremiah 25. God rebuked the people of Jerusalem for their continued rebellion and for continually breaking the covenant, even though God had persistently warned them with prophet after prophet. As punishment for their stubborn rebelliousness, God promised to destroy their land and send Judah and her neighboring countries into exile. “This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:11). Not long after, Jerusalem was indeed conquered and its people—including a young man named Daniel—were taken captive to Babylon.

Isn’t it amazing that Daniel read the same words of Jeremiah that we have in our Bibles today? When we read the Bible, we’re reading the same Scriptures that God’s people have read and loved and obeyed for hundreds and even thousands of years. It should give us a strong sense of solidarity with all of God’s people throughout the centuries. As those who live after the first coming of Christ, we have the blessing of having the complete Bible. Like Daniel, we can read the writings of Jeremiah, but we can also read the rest of the Old Testament and the whole New Testament, too. God has blessed us by giving us his word. Are you reading it? Are you growing in your understanding of it? It will not do us any good if it’s just sitting on the bookshelf, but if we open it up and read it and pray for God’s guidance, then like Daniel, we will gain understanding of what God is doing in the world. 

For years now there is something I’ve really wanted to do but never attempted. Since I learned about it, I’ve always wanted to graft a tree branch onto another tree. Horticulturalists can do this to improve the quality of their produce or to grow more fruit on a hardy, disease-resistant tree. With some care and skill, the gardener can cut a branch from its own tree and splice it into a branch on another tree, where it will grow and produce its fruit. Of course, there are some limits to grafting—you cannot graft a branch onto just any tree—but when working within the same family of plants, an arborist can use grafting to achieve a healthier, stronger crop on his fruit trees.

Paul used an analogy from grafting to encourage the Christians in Rome to keep the faith and continue believing in Christ Jesus. Paul’s analogy uses an olive tree to represent God’s chosen people. His analogy describes the change that came with the dawn of the New Covenant. Under the New Covenant, being a descendant of Abraham has nothing to do with belonging to God’s covenant; but having the same kind of faith that Abraham exhibited has everything to do with being a member of God’s covenant. Thus, when Jesus was rejected by the majority of the Jews, God rejected them for their unbelief. They were like branches broken off from the tree, symbolizing that they no longer belonged among God’s people. And Gentile Christians who put their faith in Jesus were welcomed into God’s people, even though they were not descended from Abraham.

“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches… They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast though faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off” (Romans 11:17-22).

The point Paul is making is that none of us deserve a spot on the olive tree. The Jews who refused to believe in Jesus were cut off, and Gentile Christians who did believe in Jesus were graciously grafted into the tree. We belong to God’s people not because of how good we are, but because of how good God is. Only when we put our trust in Christ can we receive God’s gracious gift and belong to his people. Christian, resolve to never let your identity as a child of God lead you to be prideful or arrogant. You’re not in God’s family because you deserve it, but because God is gracious. Praise God, who was gracious enough to graft us into his family.

In the eighth grade, my class at school participated in a mock trial. This was the biggest event of the entire eighth grade program and something that we looked forward to for years. Our trial was based on a real criminal trial from South Carolina and included witness statements, maps, and expert testimony. Each student was to be assigned a role to play in the mock trial, either as an attorney or a witness. But our class of six students was so small that we all had to double up. For example, I was both a defense attorney and a prosecution witness. What this meant was that we all had to know both sides of the case really well. What could go wrong, right?

The week finally came for us to face off two nights in a row against teams from nearby schools. The trial was held in the Charlotte Federal Courthouse and overseen by a real federal judge. We were all as nervous as could be. The first night was a success. Heading into night two, we were confident. While we were on the prosecution side that night, I took the witness stand. During the cross-examination, the other team’s attorney threw some tough questions at me. I got a little frazzled. At one point, I made some long-winded statements, then paused, and to my horror realized that I had slipped back into my defense attorney arguments. I was on the witness stand as a prosecution witness but I had said the exact opposite of what I should have said, playing right to the other team’s advantage. The questions ended shortly and I got down from the stand feeling crushed. I had failed my team. I feared that my mistake would cost the whole team any chance we had of winning.

While the jury recessed, I whispered to my teammates how bad I felt for messing things up. They were kind and didn’t seem bothered. And you know what? We still won that night. Despite my mistake, we still won because it was a fantastic team that had worked really hard to be prepared. One mistake didn’t undercut all the work of preparation.

Sometimes in life we feel like a failure. And when we’ve messed up, it’s good to acknowledge where we went wrong and own up to our mistakes. But it’s not okay to get stuck in the past. The moments when you feel like you’re a failure are the times when it’s most important to be surrounded by a winning team that has got your back. And that’s exactly what the church is. Because of God’s transformative power at work in us, we are a winning team. Don’t try to go through life on your own. It’s much better to be part of a family—because you will fail; you will mess up; we all do. But when you do, someone’s there to catch you.

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thess. 5:11.

How often do you lie awake at night thinking about someone who has wronged you? How often do you know you need forgiveness from another person, but you’re scared to ask for it? How often do you wonder if God can forgive what you’ve done? Giving and asking for forgiveness can be some of the most difficult things we ever do, but if we are going to thrive in our personal relationships—especially in marriage—we have to learn how to do both. What is a two-way street in marriage, however, is a one-way street when it comes to our relationship with God. God, who never sins and is perfect in every conceivable way, never needs our forgiveness; but we need his forgiveness for our rebellion against him.

Many of the Psalms speak to this very need. Take Psalm 85 for example. This Psalm begins with a reflection on God’s forgiveness and restoration of his people. “LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your anger” (Ps. 85:1–3). Based on instances of God’s forgiveness in the past, the psalmist then pleads for that same forgiveness and restoration in his day: “Restore us again, O God of our salvation… Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation” (4, 7). You and I are in the same position as the psalmist. We look back through the pages of Scripture and we see God’s mercy and patience with his wayward people. And we, like this psalmist, ask God to pour out the same forgiveness and restoration in our days and in our lives. But sometimes we still have a nagging question in the back of our minds, “Can God really forgive me?”

But Psalm 85 doesn’t leave us wondering about how God will respond to our pleas for forgiveness. “Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints… Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him…” (8–9). Looking back on Psalm 85 from this side of the cross, we now know why God’s people can have this confidence in his forgiveness. Jesus died on the cross and endured the punishment that you and I deserved. He paid the debt that we owed! He washes us clean from our sins and forgives us over and over again! The cross shows us the depths of God’s love and the heights of his mercy. We can be confident in God’s forgiveness, not because we deserve it (we don’t and we never will!) but because in the act of giving his Son as the sacrifice for our sins, he showed just how great his love is for us. So if you ever wonder, “Can God forgive me?” just remember that he has already given his Son to die for you. And chances are, someone you know needs to hear that God can forgive them of their sins and free them from the guilt they live in. So this week, tell them about our forgiving and gracious God.

In the colder months of the winter, we all appreciate a good fire. I love sitting by a fire on a cold night and feeling its warmth; there’s just something so peaceful about it. In the cold temperatures, we long for the warmth of a fire. If you sit by a fire long enough, your body absorbs its warmth. Eventually you get warmed up and you can leave the fire for a little bit and still feel warm from the time you spent in front of the fire. Then eventually you feel the cold coming in again and you feel the need to go back to the source of the warmth once more. But just looking at the light of the fire does not warm your body. In order to get warm you have to be in close proximity for a sustained period of time. If someone just walked by the fire without even stopping and thought that would be enough to keep him warm, we’d call him crazy. 

But all too often, that is what we try to do with God. Sometimes we act as if we can just walk by God briefly on a Sunday morning and stay warm all week from that one brief encounter. We live busy lives, crammed to the max, but we squeeze in a little ‘God-time’ once a week and wrongly expect that we can run off of that for the other 167 hours in the week. Brothers and sisters, the reality is that we must stay near God. You know that life is hard. All week you’ll be facing difficulties and decisions and temptations and just walking by the fire once per week is not enough. We need more time daily in God’s presence in order to keep the spark of faith alive inside of us. Hear the words of Asaph:

So this week, I just want to exhort you to stay near God. Spend time in his presence each and every day by reading his word and by praying. Get close to his throne every single day and let your soul be warmed so that you live each day with his strength, not yours. In the presence of the Lord there is peace, there is hope, there is true life. Each day the world tries to throw water on the fires of your devotion. So each day, draw close to God and refuse to let anything else pull you away from him. He is honored—and we are safe—when we are with him.

Have you ever eaten honeycomb? A friend of mine brought some to school once and shared it with our class. It’s considered a delicacy in many cultures, and although some prefer not to eat the beeswax, it is edible too, along with the honey. The honeycomb has a very unique texture and of course it’s dripping with the sweet flavor of honey. In Psalm 19, David compared the joys of knowing God’s words to the drippings of the honeycomb. He said, “The rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:9b-11).

David was a man who loved God’s word. He not only read it and contemplated it but he also loved applying God’s word to the way he lived. To follow in David’s footsteps, we first need to spend time in God’s word. That is what our 2025 Bible reading plan is designed to do—give us some external accountability and guidance to help us have consistent time in God’s word each day. And if you’ve been following our Bible Reading plan that we began in January, congratulations! This week we will reach a milestone. We will finish Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. (Because there are more days in the year than chapters in the New Testament, we will spend the last few months of the year rereading select New Testament books while we finish reading the entire Old Testament in one year’s time.)

But if we want to follow in David’s example and delight in God’s word, then we need to go beyond just reading it. When we read God’s word prayerfully and meditate on it throughout the day, sharing it with others and trying to apply it to our own lives, then God opens up our hearts to delight in his law. “I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight” (Ps. 119:174). Ask God to open your heart to his word, not only to receive it, but to love it and to live it. By the power of his Spirit inside us, God writes his law on our hearts. Through the strength and comfort of the Spirit, we can learn to follow God with a full heart and with joyful obedience. This is the essence of relationship with God. And it all starts with reading and delighting in God’s word. God has given you his word. He invites you to open it, read it, delight in it, and ultimately to delight in God himself.

Who Will Follow Jesus?

There are many people who are fans of Jesus, but who will actually follow him? Jesus does not call on us to merely agree with his teachings: he calls us to live out his teachings in our lives. For those of us who were born into and raised in Christian circles, there is a grave danger that we content ourselves with merely hearing and agreeing with Jesus’ teachings without doing them. Do you remember the words of Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the Mount? He said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27). Fans hear his words and will even praise the wisdom and brilliance of his teaching, but disciples–true followers–hear and do his teachings. The call of Christ is a call to action. It is a call to leave the world behind and follow our Lord in life, through death, and to life beyond. So, who will follow Jesus? Will you? The words of one hymn ask it this way: 

(“Who Will Follow Jesus?” Words by E.E. Hewitt, Music by William J. Kirkpatrick)

We do not live in a silent universe. By God’s grace, our world is filled with music and laughter and speech. We take these things for granted, but they are some of God’s greatest gifts to us. And yet, while music and laughter and speech are wonderful, they are not the most important reason I say that we do not live in a silent universe. Far more important is the fact that God himself has spoken to us.

Throughout the Old Testament, we see that God is a God who speaks. He creates the world simply by speaking it into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). After creating Adam and Eve, he spoke to them before they spoke to him: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply…’” (Gen. 1:27-28). Language itself and our ability to speak is a gift from God and a reflection of that fact that God is a communicative God. He created mankind in order to give of himself to us, to communicate himself to someone outside himself. By his very nature, God is a giving God, a communicating God. He delights in revealing himself to us so that we can know him.

Throughout the Old Testament, God at times communicated directly with his creatures, although he usually communicated with his people through prophets, men specially commissioned by God to speak on his behalf without in any way lessening the authority or truthfulness of the message and without overriding the creativity and personality of the messenger. And the culmination of that recurring theme of God speaking is seen in the arrival of the Son of God himself, who is God and comes and speaks the very words the Father gave him to speak. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2). The God who spoke the universe into existence, who spoke to Abram in the land of Chaldea, and who spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai has spoken to us through his Son. It is God’s greatest self-revelation. The revelation through Jesus explains and clarifies all previous revelation, and is the subject matter of all successive revelation through the apostles and New Testament prophets. 

Because we do not live in a silent universe, but one in which God has spoken, you and I are confronted with one very important decision: will we listen to God or will we refuse to hear his voice? There is no neutral option. We either welcome his voice, or spurn it. The universe is not silent. God has spoken. Will you listen to him?