In Zephaniah 3, God sends a message of hope letting us know we can be patient and rest assured that evil will be taken care of. This is all temporary. Jesus is returning and He will bind sin and remove all pride and arrogance. He doesn't want to lose a single soul and if we choose Jesus, we will be safe in His arms when judgment falls. Our sins have already been judged by Jesus. With His great love, He calms all our fears and rejoices over us with joyful songs. In the "wait", we are called and c...
Feb 02, 2024•19 min
In Zephaniah 2, God gives Zephaniah a message of coming judgment for all the nations. He opens by pleading with all the people to repent and turn to God. If we do, we will be "protected by the Lord's anger on that day of destruction." God's promises are different because God is pure and perfect and holy. If God makes a promise, it doesn't fade. It is eternal. God's promises are faithful and true and always come forth. God's promises will all be fulfilled in His perfect time and He promised Jesus...
Jan 30, 2024•13 min
In Zephaniah 1, God shows Zephaniah judgment was coming on Judah because they refuse to turn from sin to God. They refuse to listen to God's Words of warning and repent. God tells Zephaniah a great flood of fire is coming and those who refuse God will feel the flames. Judah would be taken out by Babylon and in the coming Day of the Lord, God will bring judgment for us as well. If we choose Jesus, our sin has already been forgiven and judged. There will be nothing to judge because, in Jesus, we h...
Jan 29, 2024•15 min
In Habakkuk 3, Habakkuk has heard God's Word, seen a glimpse of God's glory, and responds in earnest prayer, praise, and worship to the Lord. His circumstances haven't changed, but he has. Getting a glimpse of the glory of God will do that. He was now walking by faith in our amazingly faithful God rather than by sight. He knows God has a plan and wants God's will to come forth. God is in complete control. He is the Living God who makes dead idols look ridiculous. When Habakkuk looked within, he ...
Jan 26, 2024•17 min
In Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk's experience with God has turned him from a worrier to a watchman. He experiences and gets a fresh view of God's glory and who God is. God shares of the coming time when Jesus returns and sin and evil is replaced completely with God and His glory as His glory will fill the earth. God tells us if it seems slow in coming, wait patiently because it is coming and will not be delayed. God has perfect timing and we can faithfully trust in Him, His will and His timing. He knows ...
Jan 25, 2024•17 min
In Habakkuk 1, God gives a message Habakkuk was not expecting after he cries out to God to do something about the violent, horrible, dangerous wickedness that is growing more and more evil around him. Habakkuk was hoping God would poor out revival and restoration, but as God was continually warning His people over and over again - judgment was coming. The Babylonians were coming. God was sending prophet after prophet with His Word and cry for His people to repent and turn to Him but they continu...
Jan 25, 2024•15 min
In Micah 7, Micah mourns the loss of the people who are refusing to repent and turn to God. What breaks the heart of God should break our hearts and people refusing God and living in eternal judgment should break our hearts. God doesn't want to lose a single soul - but it's our choice. The better we know the character of God, the more we trust Him for the future. The better we know His promises and covenants, the more peace we have in our hearts when things around us fall apart. When we know God...
Jan 23, 2024•11 min
In Micah 6, God gives Micah another message of warning to tell His people. They were bringing their sacrifices to God, which were supposed to have been to atone for their sins, but they had no intention of turning from their sins. God called them out on what was really a matter of their hearts. Their sacrifices and religious actions were a routine but not sincere at all. Their hearts were far from the routine. True faith comes from a heart that's been broken in repentance and realizes that no am...
Jan 23, 2024•16 min
In Micah 5, God gives a message through Micah that includes the current situation of upcoming takeover by the Babylonians as well as the coming of our Lord and Savior to earth, as well as His mighty return when He removes all evil and wickedness. Jesus stepped out of eternity and into human history when He came to earth fully God and fully human so He could die on our crosses and pour out His God-blood for all of us to have the option to receive forgiveness and freedom from sin for all eternity....
Jan 19, 2024•14 min
In Micah 4, God gives Micah a glimpse into the coming promised Kingdom of God when Jesus returns and will rule and reign. He will gather the faithful remnant - those who stand firm in Christ and refuse to waiver. We will lead, guide, and teach us all and we will all worship Him. The whole earth. There will be no more war and everyone will live in peace and the prosperity of Jesus - our Lord and King - for all eternity.
Jan 17, 2024•12 min
In Micah 3, God brings a word through Micah directed toward the leaders of the nation. God repeatedly brings Word of warning through the prophets He's sending and instead of listening and heeding the voice of God, they turn a deaf ear and continue to build their pride, wealth, and riches at the expense of people's lives. All of creation responds when God speaks, except the humans made in the very image of God. The day of judgment will come whether we are ready or not and whether we think it will...
Jan 16, 2024•12 min
In Micah 1 & 2, Micah brings a message from God of coming judgment and lets them know exactly why judgment was coming. Pride, arrogance, idolizing wealth and materialism, oppressing and taking advantage of people. They were chasing sin and opposing God. They were after the "good life" rather than the humble life. They didn't believe judgment and laughed it off - until judgment arrived at their doorpost. Micah also speaks forward of coming hope, restoration, and the gathering of the faithful ...
Jan 15, 2024•17 min
In Nahum 2 & 3, God tells Nineveh how they will fall and why they are falling. The vast city would be overtaken by the Babylonians in 612 BC and completely wiped out in 609 BC in the battle of Haran. Their pride, arrogance, and wealth would all be destroyed. They were a nation after ruthless bloodshed, idolatry, pride, and self-confidence. They were overconfident and believed they were at the top and untouchable. They refused to repent and turn to God like the generations before. God will de...
Jan 12, 2024•16 min
In Nahum 1, approximately 100 years later, Nineveh has turned back to their evil, prideful ways and God sends another warning of coming judgment. This time, this generation doesn't listen or repent and judgment will fall in 612 BC when Babylon takes over Assyria. God will not share His people with false gods and false idols any more than a husband would share his wife with his neighbor. God should always be first and our primary focus in all we do, say, and think in our lives. We are His and our...
Jan 11, 2024•15 min
In Jonah 4, instead of praising God and rejoicing in the salvation of an entire nation, Jonah, in his arrogant, judgmental pride, goes to the east side of the city to sulk and pout. The heart of every problem is a problem of the heart and God is doing a work in Jonah's heart. Through the help of a green, leafy plant, God reminds Jonah what it feels like to be lost, hopeless, and miserable. The Ninevites, the plant, the worm, and the wind have all obeyed God but Jonah still refuses to humble hims...
Jan 10, 2024•18 min
In Jonah 3, God redirects Jonah back to His call and mission. Jesus is the only One in Scripture who didn't need a 2nd chance and that's because He's our Messiah. God is the God of 2nd chances. He hadn't changed His mind or given up on Jonah. Through this mission in Nineveh, He was also doing a work in Jonah. Nineveh was going to either be terminated or transformed and it all hinged on them hearing the Word of God. Jonah brought the message from God to Nineveh and they responded in repentance as...
Jan 09, 2024•15 min
In Jonah 2, Jonah cries out to God in a prayer of desperation. Forgetting he is a sinner, he's pridefully and arrogantly judging an entire nation and doesn't want them to hear the message God has for them. We aren't called to judge, that's God's lane. He's the only One who can see the human heart. God has no favorites and wants everyone to hear the Good News of His Mercy and Grace and wants everyone to choose the Life found in Him and Him alone. It's not up to us to decide, God wants everyone to...
Jan 09, 2024•16 min
In Jonah 1, God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to plead with the people there to repent and turn to God. Nineveh was in Assyria and Assyria was a nation known for their evil brutality and opposition of Israel. Jonah had a bad attitude toward God's will and His Word as he rejects it and turns away thinking he can "take it or leave it". Jonah needed Nineveh as much as Nineveh needed Jonah. He also had a bad attitude toward the Gentile nation he was being sent to. Instead of wanting to help them find...
Jan 05, 2024•16 min
In Obadiah, God gives a message of warning of coming judgment to the nation of Edom. Edom was violent sinful nation. They were prideful and opposed God and His people. They trusted in themselves, their alliances, and their wealth - but not God. Without God, alliances, wealth and our selfish ambitions mean nothing. Their wisdom would become confusion and their armies would be destroyed. God promised to deliver His people, completely take out sin and the enemy, and establish restoration, redemptio...
Jan 04, 2024•18 min
In Amos 9, God gives Amos three warnings of coming judgment followed by a final encouraging promise of mercy, restoration, and regathering. God warned that a strike was coming to the land. People repeatedly refused to repent and turn to God and instead chased after false idols and false gods that did them no good. The time had come for judgment to fall and Assyria did attack. Instead of repent, His people tried to run and hide. God sees all. Sin will be dealt with and all of our choices have con...
Jan 03, 2024•16 min
In Amos 8, God gives Amos a vision of ripe fruit. God had been calling out, crying out, and shouting out to His people by sending prophet after prophet. He is patient and desperately wants every soul to answer His call. Unfortunately for Israel, they refused and even told God's prophets to "Go Away". They were stubborn, prideful, and in love with their sinful lives. They exploited and oppressed their neighbors and stole what little the poor had left for their own selfish gain. God said enough an...
Jan 02, 2024•11 min
In Amos 7, Amos receives visions from God of coming plagues of judgment in response to His people choosing to worship sin, evil, and false gods. God is holy and pure and perfect and cannot let sin go unpunished. In His mercy and grace, He sent us Jesus so we can have the option to apply the blood Jesus shed for each of us to our lives and be seen as holy and righteous before our Lord. Amos pleaded and interceded for the lost. We should be praying and interceding for revival and for hearts to tur...
Jan 01, 2024•12 min
In Amos 6, God brings warning to the indifferent, selfish people who choose comfort and gluttony over God. They live for selfish pleasures rather than the glory of God. God's people had become self-confident, falsely confident, and arrogant. God knows our hearts and sees what and who we love. Complacency is motivated by pride and based on lies. It leads to trusting everything and everyone else but God. God wants to pour out blessings in our lives so they can be used for His glory and the expansi...
Dec 29, 2023•11 min
In Amos 5, God brings forth a call for repentance. If they refused to repent and turn from sin and false idols, judgment was coming and their sin would be dealt with. God cries out for us to seek Him, seek Life only found in Him. If we refuse, God will let us have our sin and our sin will lead to death and destruction. God leads to Life for all eternity. He desires each and every person to choose Him, to apply the blood of Jesus to our lives, and to live out a life here on earth in active faith ...
Dec 28, 2023•16 min
In Amos 4, God cries out to His children regarding their worship of materialism, luxury, and gluttony. They offer God fake lip service in their ritualistic ceremonies, but their hearts are from from God. They steal and oppress the poor and needy while they bask in the fine luxuries of life and pour out more wine. They refuse to repent and turn back to God in spite of continuous warning. He pours out blessings in our lives so we can faithfully steward them for His glory, not to selfishly indulge ...
Dec 27, 2023•12 min
In Amos 2 & 3, God gives warning through Amos to Moab and then to Judah and Israel as well. God called again and again for people of all nations to repent and turn to Him. He gives us a lifeboat, but it's up to us to choose to step in. Instead of hearing, listening, and heeding God's call, they refuse. They love their sin and false idol worship more and continually rebel and turn away from God. They were exploiting the poor and killing the innocent. There is no awe of God, no fear of God, an...
Dec 26, 2023•14 min
In Amos 1, God sends another prophet to warn His people of what was coming if they refused to repent and turn to God. His opening warnings are for the surrounding nations who continually oppress, murder, and enslave the people around them - including God's children. Everyone would be accountable for their own sins and had the option to repent and turn to God. God sees and hears and knows all. Sin will be accounted for. If we choose to repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are free f...
Dec 25, 2023•11 min
In Joel 3, we get a preview of the ultimate coming "Day of the Lord". In the end of the end of the last day, it says in Scripture love will grow cold and apathy will rise both towards love for God and the people He created. It tells us times will get harder before they get better. Scriptures also tell us we do not live in a spirit of fear but out of the victory of our Lord and Savior. Thought times will get harder, God promises those who stand firm in faith and who refuse to waiver, that He will...
Dec 22, 2023•14 min
In Joel 2, Joel moves forward to the coming judgment of the Assyrian army that would invade Israel and Judah and would completely destroy Israel. He cries out to God's people to repent and turn to Him. To return to God. He reminds us God is merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, and filled with unfailing love. He desperately wants every person to call on the name of the Lord, repent, and humble our hearts before Him so we can receive His eternal forgiveness. He doesn't want to lose a single per...
Dec 21, 2023•12 min
In Joel 1, a plague of locusts devastates the land. 4 stages of locusts come in each taking what the previous left behind until nothing is left. Rather than humbling themselves and repenting before God, His people merely grieve over their desperate situation. God wants us to grieve over our sins, repent, humble ourselves before Him, and trust Him with each and every one of our minutes while on earth. Joel means "the Lord is God" and the God is Lord and He can handle our circumstances. He's been ...
Dec 20, 2023•15 min
