Category: Bible (Page 23 of 348)

Leaves turn yellow out my window, and a handful of flowers linger in my garden. A warm fall descended on Colorado, but with shorter days and cooler nights life sinks to the roots. I love the fall weather, but I miss the blooms. Part of a flowering plant’s beauty lies in its fleeting nature.

James compared the wealthy to a flower: But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Flowers fade as part of their life cycle. Simply going about its business, colors wane and petals fall as the plant prepares for winter. James reminds the wealthy among us to remain humble—riches come only for a season.

Which is good for me to consider, because compared to the rest of the world and past history, I’m one of the wealthy ones. I enjoy the Lord’s gifts in my life, but must remember their temporary nature.

When eternity arrives any wealth I possess will burn away, like a paper plate tossed into a campfire, or like the once vibrant red, gold, purple and white petals of the flowers in my beds, now faded to black.

James 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Hikmet

For years I’ve read articles from sociologists and scientists about the dangers of over-population. The earth simply cannot sustain billions of people. Dire consequences are sure to follow. Now world population growth is slowing, and I’m starting to see essays about the dangers of under-population. As it turns out, dire consequences will still follow.

The clanging news cycle pushes me towards angst. But I continue to find hope in the Scriptures. Two different writers, thousands of year apart, encouraged their distressed audiences to remember the goodness of God.

First, from Jeremiah. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Then Peter reminded those suffering for the sake of their faith to remember Jesus as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

Too many people or too few? You decide which is worse. Gratefully, the Lord has an agenda for each and every one of us—plans filled with hope—if we follow the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

Jeremiah 29 & 1 Peter 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

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In the midst of difficult circumstances, it’s easy for me to believe I’m the only one in distress. But Peter reminded his audience, suffering simply for following Jesus, that they were not alone.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering.

I suffer very little for my faith, but I’ve met believers enduring intense hardships. Some face the threat of arrest, while others experience blackballing from jobs or ostracization from family. All who follow Jesus deal with misunderstandings and side-ways glances as we adhere to the ways of the Lord rather than popular mantras.

Peter reminds us to remain vigilant and sensible. Resist the ways of the evil one, and cast our anxiety on the Lord. Then he concludes: And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

You and I are not alone. Stay strong and keep the faith.

1 Peter 5 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor

The book of Lamentations was written during the fall of Jerusalem and exile to Babylon. The people of Israel suffered due to years of thumbing their noses at God. A two year siege led to starvation and ended in massacre. Jeremiah wrote, My groans are many and my heart is faint.

Amazingly, despite the horror, Jeremiah refused to relinquish his faith.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

In the midst of a life we would all try to avoid, Jeremiah found hope in the love of God. Reading the accounts of this period in the Old Testament, I’m not sure how he did it. His situation, and that of his people, was horrible But somehow, in the darkness of calamity, Jeremiah discovered a ray of light.

At times my groans are many and my heart is faint. So I find hope in Jeremiah’s story. Like the rising of the sun, the Lord’s compassions are indeed fresh every morning. Jeremiah concluded, I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

I can wait as well.

Lamentations 2 & 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

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