Latest Thoughts of the Day

Zephaniah 3:1

10/22/2026

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled.

God is in the process of raising up Josiah to react against the wickedness of Judah, to destroy idols and cleanse the Temple and to generate a true revival among the people of God. He speaks here of the terrible pollution of the people of God, beginning with the ordinary citizen, and rising to condemn the leaders, the prophets, the judges, the officials. All are guilty. All are called to repentance. But Zephaniah turns his eyes to the glorious end that God has in view for those who repent. The book finishes with glorious worship in exuberant joy. God will bless their efforts to reform, and He will gather His people to praise. Sin will be done away with, forgiveness will be received. We are reminded of the joy set before Him that moved and empowered our Lord Jesus.

Habakkuk 2:17

10/21/2026

The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man's blood, you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Although God will use the wicked and powerful army of Babylon to take captive His people in punishment for their sin, He will most certainly punish the Babylonians for the delight they took in cruelty and destruction. Without restraint they would give themselves to lay waste Jerusalem and all of Israel. Women, children, and even their animals would be heartlessly wiped out, with even the fields and forests destroyed. But God declares that He will take notice of these details, and in His righteous judgment, He will repay. Complete retribution will be enacted for every sin. Even for ours. Our hope and our deliverance come to us from the life and death of Jesus.

Nahum 3:6

10/20/2026

I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.

The belligerent wickedness of the Assyrians will lead them to boast of their power and glory at the very gates of Jerusalem and to face a loss of 136,000 soldiers in a single night, when the Angel of Death passes through. This is but the beginning of Assyria’s utter destruction, eventually coming when invading armies break through Nineveh’s defenses and bring dreadful destruction on that great city. Assyria is humiliated publicly, and a multitude of nations rejoice to take their part in heaping filth upon that wicked land. 100 years before the leaders of Nineveh repented and found mercy because of the purposes God has for mankind through the Person of His Son. God’s anger is turned away from us today because of the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus,

Micah 3:9

10/19/2026

Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you ulers of the house of Israel. who despise justice and distort all that is right

Utter destruction by a foreign power is the ultimate judgement that God will bring upon Israel, when they are destroyed and taken into captivity to Babylon. Micah warns against this judgment, 150 years before it actually takes place. Micah perceives the corruption of the leadership in the nation of Israel and is wise enough to recognize that it cannot but bring judgment from a holy God. Micah sees the judgment as a prophet of God and appeals in such a way as to display God’s appeal to a straying people. That this judgement will most certainly come is because the leaders harden their hearts to Micah’s appeal and refuse to change their ways. We are warned of God’s coming judgment. The day of grace will be over with the coming of Jesus.

Jonah 3:7

10/18/2026

Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh "By the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let any man orbeast. herd or flock taste anything; do not let them eat or drink"

The inhabitants of Nineveh are scared stiff. They believe the message of this strange preacher, and they have heard enough of the reputation of the God of Israel to hope that, even though He didn’t say so, He might be willing to relent. They really believed and they genuinely responded , from the top of the society to the bottom. And God accepted their repentance enough to spare them destruction for many years. Jonah did not want them to be spared, but it was the sovereign will of Jonah’s God. Some thought of the mercy and grace of God was somehow in their minds. They pinned their hopes on the hint of Jesus.

Obadiah 6

10/17/2026

But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!

God has bourn for centuries with the abuse and hatred and opposition if Jacob’s brother, Esau, here called Edom, directed against God’s favorites, the sons of Jacob. Often their own behavior has deserved hassles and difficulties, but it has always been ugly to behold the personal delight Edom has had to persecute his brother. Warnings have abounded, but finally the day of reckoning has descended. Obadiah does not call Edom to repentance and forgiveness, he pronounces well-deserved judgment. Our text is one of amazement at what the result will most assuredly be. We are reminded that the offer of forgiveness with not continue forever. The day of grace will pass. Inescapable judgment will fall upon all those who remain outside the pale of grace. The day came for Edom, and will yet come for those outside of Jesus.

Amos 3:3

10/16/2026

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

If you are going to walk in fellowship with God you must want His company, be willing to go where He is going and keep to the pace that He sets. Israel has not shown any interest in these three things, so it is silly to talk about walking together. There is a cause and effect relationship among these elements, and Israel has not shown a personal interest in being with God, or an desire to go the direction God desires or an inclination to let Him set the pace. Like other things that don’t just happen on their own spontaneously, true fellowship with God is not a serendipity. It involves choices and habits and faithfulness. Lord, help us to draw near, to desire to go Your way, and to agree with the pace set by Jesus.

Joel 2:14

10/15/2026

Who knows? He may yet turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing --grain offerings and dink offerings for the Lord your God.

God’s terrible judgment upon the land of Judah has been seen in the devastating effects of repeated waves of devouring locusts. God seems to have visited them and passed along, leaving them desolate. But not altogether without hope. God could yet turn back for a moment, even as he is departing, and He might leave some provision as a parting blessing. We might yet have some provision that we can offer as a thank-offering to God. But the people have come to see that they have no claim upon God’s mercy. It is mercy that they are not all dead. “Who knows?” God may have yet something positive for us. Have we not a covenant promise which God has guaranteed in the person of Jesus?