Bible reading notes
How to choose who we listen to (Jeremiah 35)
Jer 35:1-19 I recently heard an interview with a young woman who in her teenage years felt uncomfortable being a girl (abuse was a contributing factor). Feeling lonely, she turned to social media and discovered that she could become a…
How can lasting change happen? (Jeremiah 34)
Jer 34:1-22 A Christian woman I know was looking after her ailing mother who was extremely controlling and tried to arrange her daughter’s life for her. While the daughter felt that her mother needed her, she could not cope with…
When God responds to our anxieties (Jer 33:14-26)
Jer 33:14-26 A year before I went to Israel on a gap year, I moved out of the room I shared with my brother into the boxroom. Although it was smaller and darker, I loved arranging the furniture and decorating…
Making sense of God’s anger and love (Jer 33:1-13)
Jer 33:1-13 A question hard to fathom for our human mind is the interplay between God’s love and judgment, His holiness that cannot tolerate sin and yet His faithfulness to sinful people. Whenever we try to resolve this tension in…
How to tackle a crisis of faith (Jer 32:16-44)
Jer 32:16-44 The NT mentions the shield of faith that can quench the flaming arrows of the evil one (Eph 6:16). Roman shields that Paul may have had in mind were tall, rectangular and could hide the body from shoulder…
How to become people of hope (Jer 32:1-15)
Jer 32:1-15 When the Covid-19 pandemic started, many were anxious in the face of uncertainty. Then, as hundreds of thousands were dying under terrible conditions overseas, and the newspapers were reporting the personal tragedies behind the numbers, nervousness turned to…
How is the new covenant fulfilled? (Jer 31:31-40)
Jer 31:31-40 When we read Old Testament prophecies that relate to the future, we sometimes wonder how these are fulfilled. We understand that prophecies may have more than one fulfilment, but our application of this principle can be quite haphazard…
God’s solution to the urge to sin (Jer 31:27-40)
Jer 31:27-40 How can lasting change happen? How can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past? If we do not buckle up in the car and then fly through the windshield in an accident, we are likely to remember…
The one thing necessary for true change (Jer 31:1-26)
Jer 31:1-26 One time, a friend shared how much she longed for her dad’s approval. As a middle child she had always felt a bit passed over and her father was so busy with work that he had little time…
God’s way of bringing about transformation (Jeremiah 30)
Jer 30:1-24; Jer 31:1 How can a good God allow so much suffering in the world? This is a crunch point for many who reject the Christian God. Yet, when we look at our lives, it is often periods of…