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. – Jeremiah 29:11

Today's Scripture Reading (August 26, 2026): Jeremiah 29

The darkest times in our lives are often those moments when we are tired because life has worn us out. In those moments, we are often too tired to think of what to do next. I remember several times in my life when that was true, and I have learned that when I am tired, those are not the best moments to make life-changing decisions. I admit it is tempting to make those decisions then; however, making life-shaping decisions while weary from life should be avoided whenever possible.

Babylon had defeated Israel. The best and the brightest had been taken away from the nation and held in captivity. It is not hard to imagine how tired the nation must have been. Life had changed, and they couldn't imagine how it would ever be the same again. And they were right; life had changed and the old times would never return.

This passage is part of the letter Jeremiah wrote from Jerusalem to those who had been taken away from their homes and forced to live in Babylon. It stressed that God still understood their situation. The best and the brightest no longer resided in the little stretch of land that God had promised to Abraham. Ezekiel, Daniel, and other important national leaders sat in a city that was not theirs, beside rivers they had never drunk from, and surrounded by a countryside they had never seen. And yet in the middle of all of this strangeness, God says, "Hey, I am still here. I am not only here, but I am still involved in your future. You may be ready to give up on yourself, but I am not ready to give up on you."

In the church, we tend to like this verse; however, I think we often miss the context. As God says, "For I know the plans I have for you," and while He speaks of a future and hope, He knows He is speaking to people who are tired and scared. The reality was that they weren't going home tomorrow. In fact, most of those who received this promise in Babylon would never see the Promised Land again.

Jeremiah is a dark prophet. He prophesied in a dark time about serious issues, but he knew that there was hope at the end of the tunnel. He also knew God would walk with his people through the darkness.

In our world, I can't promise that things will start getting better tomorrow. I am not sure it has anything to do with our political leaders. In fact, I believe most of what we are suffering through right now is due to our own selfishness and greed. Placing the blame on our political leaders is unfair when we are not willing to change the way we live. But I do know that no matter how dark it gets, God is still there in the midst of the tunnel with us.

And that he still has a plan!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 30

Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it. – Jeremiah 28:10

Today's Scripture Reading (August 25, 2026): Jeremiah 28

There is a tension between what we can do and what we should do. In science, the comment often concerns advanced weapons of war, especially weapons of mass destruction. It was the argument that surrounded the development of the Hydrogen and Atomic Bombs. It is also the argument that continues to surround the question of Atomic Energy. We know the positive uses of atomic energy. Still, we also know of the negative uses of Atomic theory in war and the great dangers that atomic energy presents to the human race. So, the question remains: just because we can does not necessarily mean that we should.

In national finances, the question is asked with almost every budget. Just because we have the money, or, in many cases, can borrow it, does not necessarily mean the money should be spent in these areas. Can does not mean should.

As a prophet, the tension between can and should was immense. A king would often pressure the prophet to speak in favor of his policies and the future of his nation. It was not just an egotistic wish that the prophet would stroke the ego of the king, although sometimes that was and still is a part of it. However, if the prophet stood with the king, it instilled a very positive energy throughout the nation. As a result, the pressure to support was considerable. Each prophet had to make a choice. He could support the king, but should he? And the question was really settled by the prophet's relationship with his God. The prophet was supposed to speak with the voice of God, but that assumed the prophet was close enough to God to hear his voice.

Hananiah removes the yoke from the shoulders of Jeremiah and breaks it. It was intended as an encouraging act, especially for King Zedekiah; Hananiah was symbolically removing the burden from Jeremiah's shoulders that Jeremiah had insisted was an image of the burden which was about to be placed on Judah. After he removed and broke the yoke, Hananiah explains his act: the false prophet argues that Jeremiah's prophecy of Judah's defeat is wrong. Hananiah asserts that he has heard the voice of God and that God wished to support Zedekiah, the king. Deep down, I think Jeremiah wished that Hananiah was right; he wished he could support the king, even if the king were not honoring God. However, Jeremiah had heard the voice of God, and the prophecy was that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was not fighting against God's will. The yoke that was about to be put on the shoulders of Judah would not be so easily broken just because Hananiah and King Zedekiah wished it.

We are still charged with speaking the will of God into our culture, no matter how uncomfortable that might make us. Speaking to the world about a God who loves them is always what we should, and can, do. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 29

 

With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. – Jeremiah 27:5

Today's Scripture Reading (August 24, 2026): Jeremiah 27

I sometimes wonder where the line is when it comes to raising our children. I know that beating and physically or mentally harming our children is wrong, and those who are guilty of treating our kids that way need to be stopped. Our children are our most precious possession. However, the reality of the situation is that we can harm our children by being physical with them, but we also harm them by removing our physical contact from them. In other words, there are times when they need our discipline, however it is delivered, and times when they need our praise. One truth I wonder if we have forgotten is that we have been given the important task of shaping the next generation.

So, when a parent says, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it," I understand the emotion even if I disagree with the words. The truth remains that something in the child's behavior is wrong and needs to be corrected. The question that we seem to struggle with is: where is the line?

One of the hardest things to get our hearts around emotionally is that, when we are on the receiving end of discipline, we are still loved. So, our kids scream at us that we hate them. If only they could understand that the opposite is the truth. We love them enough to discipline them and lead them into something beautiful and powerful that they might miss if we just let the behavior go.

I think this verse is God's version of "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." God says, "I created this world, and I can do what I want with it." From the very beginning, what God has wanted is for us to live in this amazing world with a sense of purpose and power. He doesn't want us to be chained to something that will hurt us in the end. So, he brings his discipline into our lives. That discipline doesn't come because God has stopped loving us. God's discipline comes so that we can be effectively shaped to make the most of our future.

Israel was about to enter a time of discipline. Babylon was coming and would take them into exile. There is no doubt it would feel like God had abandoned them. This feeling of abandonment was the reality of "I can do what I want with my world." However, the reason for the exile was that God wanted to do a work in Israel and perform a miracle inside of Babylon.

The line for discipline must always be drawn in love. We might struggle with that, but God doesn't. He understands the relationship between discipline and love, and his discipline is really proof of his love. So, don't be afraid of God's discipline. Use it to make your own life ready for the future because that was what God intended when he brought discipline into your life in the first place.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 28

Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. – Jeremiah 26:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 23, 2026): Jeremiah 26

Isaac Asimov postulated in his "Foundation" series that the future could be mathematically discovered. While the individual future actions of a single person might be forever enshrouded in mystery, Asimov hypothesized that the future of large groups could be plotted fairly accurately. That was, unless there was an anomalous person who stood outside of the process and had the power to change the future. For Asimov, the future was more analogous to the movement of a river; you may not be able to predict the exact movement of each drop of water. However, you can know with remarkable accuracy the path that the river is going to take.

One of the open questions in theology is this: how much do our actions move God? It is a question that impinges on so many other issues. Does God know everything about the future? Does God ever change his mind? How much do our prayers influence God? And if there is an area of theology in which I stand with the minority, this is probably the issue. I believe that the one we address as "Our Father" is a very passionate and responsive God. Every story in the Bible seems to carry a promise for those who dare to follow him and a warning for those who don't. I believe that prayer is effective. I know that prayer often changes me; that prayer has a very real effect on my priorities, but I also believe that sometimes my prayers change God. And sometimes God even changes his mind. Does that mean that maybe God doesn't know the future? I suspect that Asimov's thoughts on this subject might be appropriate. But in the case of God, I think it is possible that he not only knows the path of the river, but he also knows all of the possible paths each drop of water could take. However, maybe God does not know the precise path that each drop will eventually take because, in the case where we are the drops, God allows us to make our individual decisions; freedom to choose is very real, and we ultimately choose the path we will take.

That seems to be the direction that this passage takes. God indicates in a conversation with King Josiah that his mind is made up. Despite the good things that the King had done, God was going to send Judah into exile. However, in this communication between God and Jeremiah, God seems to be genuinely unsure of what was going to happen next. The likelihood is still that Judah's exile was on its way. That is definitely the way that the river was flowing. But maybe there was still a chance that the nation would respond to Jeremiah's words and that the future could be changed. Maybe Jeremiah could be one of the special ones who could change the course of a raging river. And maybe Judah would turn from her ways and return to the ways of God. And if they would do that, then God says that he would turn from the course of action that he had decided to take with the nation.

For me, passages like this one indicate the depth of God's passion. Our actions move him, and he is even willing to change his mind. There is nothing wrong with that. It in no way limits God. It does stand as a testimony of how much God cares for us, and the influence that we have with our Creator.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 27

"But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves." – Jeremiah 25:7

Today's Scripture Reading (August 22, 2026): Jeremiah 25

What was it that made your parents get angry when you were a kid? I think, as kids, we always thought our parents were tyrants who always had to get their own way—but growing up a little changes that. At some point, we recognize that Mom and Dad only wanted what was best for us. What angered them most were those moments when we seemed to want to either waste our lives or put ourselves in danger. At the time, we just didn't see what our parents saw. But they did see it; then they warned us, and when we didn't listen, it often made them angry.

So, what is it that makes God angry? Jesus taught his followers that it was okay to call God Father. In fact, Jesus really taught us to call him Dad. That is the relationship that the creator of this world wants to have with his creation. He invites us into that relationship, and he loves us like a parent. Which means that his anger, like any good parent, is most likely caused by our waste of the gift of life that he has given to us.

That is the message that Jeremiah had for Israel. He needed to communicate to Israel that the only reason Dad was angry was that Israel insisted on bringing harm onto themselves. So, God, who had sent Jeremiah as his Prophet to help Israel, decides to change his game plan.

Just like a parent, God wants what is best for us. His instructions are intended to lead us to success in our lives. And just like a parent, he sees things that we don't see. God's desire is not a jealous rage of a God who doesn't understand. It is the loving instructions of a dad who wants the very best for those he has created.

I know we get that with our heads, but we sometimes miss it with our hearts. In the midst of trials, we need to understand with the core of our beings a God who loves us and is intent on bringing us through the trials of life.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 26

 

 

 

 

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. – Jeremiah 24:6

Today's Scripture Reading (August 21, 2026): Jeremiah 24

A Japanese proverb says that "we learn little from victory, much from defeat." If it were not for the defeats in life, we would not grow in any of the areas of our lives. Our growth, to a great degree, depends on the challenges that we face, and our challenges often stem from the losses we suffer in life. Challenges and defeats help us to fine-tune our behavior, and they help us to identify bad behavioral strategies. All of this happens, that is, as long as we admit that we have been defeated.

Our various defeats are part of a plan that God uses to strengthen his people. As Jeremiah watches the first two groups of the people be carried into exile, God stresses that the purpose of the Babylonian Captivity was not to destroy Israel; it was to protect them. In the end, they would come back stronger. It wasn't the first time that God had used the strategy. Back at the very beginning of the nation, Israel was faced with the challenge of being absorbed by the much larger and stronger Canaanite nations. God's plan then involved sending this family into a self-imposed exile in Egypt. There the nation would grow and mature, and at the same time be isolated in a group with an opportunity to bond together into a national unit. The result was that 400 years later, Israel had become a nation that was capable of holding their own in Canaan, even if they doubted that fact themselves. It is into this situation that Moses steps to lead Israel into their future.

In Jeremiah's day, the nation was under threat once more. This time, they were about to be swallowed up by a wave of idolatry. As a result of the idolatry, God decided to repeat the strategy one more time. He took the best and brightest and allowed them to be taken into Babylon. There, God promised to protect them. Meanwhile, Jerusalem and the surrounding area would be cleansed. The seed that was the future of Israel would be protected until the time came for the nation to be planted once again in the Promised Land.

The problem, from the point of view of Israel, was that it felt like the biggest failure the nation had ever suffered, not a moment in which God was in control, or a moment that was to become the stepping-off point into the nation's future. Just as when Israel was in Egypt and the time came to raise up Moses and Aaron, God had plans, at the appropriate time, to raise up leaders like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel among other leaders who were capable of leading the nation back home one more time.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 25

"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?" – Jeremiah 23:23

Today's Scripture Reading (August 20, 2026): Jeremiah 23

We seem to think that for God to care, he has to be close. So, exactly how close is God to the pinnacle of his creation? Our response to that question is often that he is closer than your next breath. However, the question that plagues me is: Is closeness a necessary trait of God? Does he have to be close in order for him to care? Is closeness an attribute of God's providence? Or is it possible for God to care and provide and not be closer than our next breath? Don't get me wrong, I believe that God is closer than our next breath, but he is also a God who can be, or at least seem to be, far away.

As Christians, we often have an adverse reaction to the concept of a Watchmaker God. A Watchmaker God is essentially seen as a God who has designed this world we share, but when creation was completed, God walked away. The concept of a Watchmaker God is built around the idea that I don't need the creator of the watch to stay with me for the watch to work. In the same way, a watchmaker creator would not be needed after the initial creation of the world. In fact, adopters of this theology often argue that a world that continually needs his presence to work is poorly created. If God created the world right, couldn't he just walk away from his creation and still have everything he created continue to function according to his specifications? However, we interpret these words, arguing that a God who would walk away from his creation would also be a God who doesn't care.

The argument is really a false one. God is close by. He is as close as the next breath. His providential care is not in question. However, God declares that while he is close, he is also far away. He is the ultimate watchmaker who builds his creation to get along without him. He is a God who could walk away. The reality that our God could walk away makes the fact that he is close even more amazing. He is close because he cares for us: you, me, and everyone that we come in contact with.

This is who we joyfully gather to worship.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 24