Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 25:6-7 Understanding to grow in it is very easy for Christians in our culture to despair, to feel things go from bad to worse without hope of change. But with the Lord there is always hope. So the writer of Lamentations (Jeremiah?) details his despair in seeing what the Lord's wrath has brought about, and in being opposed and ridiculed. But he remembers the Lord's great love - his compassion and faithfulness, and so he is able to wait on him, recognizing two very important truths in our own consideration of suffering: First, although the Lord brings affliction, he does not do it willingly. It is an expression of his justice and wisdom, but not his pleasure (3v33). Second, nothing happens exce...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 25:4-5 Understanding to grow in The destruction is now recounted: God has acted like Judah's enemy rather than her friend. He has destroyed her great buildings, brought down her strongholds and sanctuary, and laid low her kings, prophets, priests and elders. The point is that all the people might have relied on for security has gone. And the poverty that remains is of such seriousness that Jeremiah weeps to see children crying out to their mothers for food and drink, whilst mothers engage in cannibalism! We  might struggle in reading such an account as our daily Bible reading. But not every word from God is to lift us up. The fact is that the only note of joy in the passage is that of Judah'...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 25:1-3 Understanding to grow in Tradition subscribes the authorship of Lamentations to Jeremiah. It's certainly possible as it laments the destruction of Jerusalem. What we are immediately reminded of is that this was because of Judah's sins. And the tragedy is that the greatness and prosperity that once marked the people and Jersualem, has all been lost. So "the daughter Zion" (Jersualem and its surrounds) is pictured as a woman who has lost everything, and who is in deep suffering and torment without a comforter. We cannot be complacent about sin despite the luxury and comfort we enjoy. Without repentance, it will all oneday be lost. Consider the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16v19-31)...