Latest Thoughts of the Day

Haggai 2:19

3/26/2026

Is there any seed left in the barn? Until now the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. From this day on I will bless you.

The Jews who have returned from captivity in Babylon with the goal of rebuilding the Temple have allowed themselves to get distracted by the more personal goal of provision for their own physical needs. But, try as they might, they cannot get ahead. God has made all their efforts to fail. The prophet Haggai is used of God to point out the connection between their pursuit of God’s purposes and their personal prospering in the land. They have gotten the point, and God says, “Now I will bless you!” Does God deal so immediately in our lives? Is He that personal? We believe that He is when we turn our eyes on Jesus.

Zephaniah 3:19

3/25/2026

At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have been put to shame.

Anti-Semitism seems to crop up everywhere. Historically, it has been symbolized by Hitler’s treatment of the Jews in Europe, but the same spirit seems to be everywhere, ever ready to crop out in cruelty and hatred. What if in one fell swoop God changed the hearts of everyone who had hated them and made people truly see the Jews as a blessing to every nation they have inhabited? This seems to be the kind of thing envisioned in this text in Zephaniah. God need only block the power of Satan to sow hatred, and open eyes to see what is evident already to those who walk with Jesus.

Habakkuk 3:19

3/24/2026

The sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. Heenables me to go on the heights. for the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

When there is no visible protection, sure-footedness is God’s way of protecting us. And He will enable us as we traverse the high places. This is cause for rejoicing, worship and praise. Habakkuk has turned his deliverance into a song of praise, and he directs the believer to sing it to God’s glory. May we follow Habakkuk’s example and order our director of music to include the song in our repertoire! May my director of music use my instruments to play this piece! The song will enable me to keep my head when I am in high places and navigate them without visible protection. May God send His Spirit to keep me close to Jesus!

Nahum 3:19

3/23/2026

Nothing can heal your wound; Your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt you endless cruelty?

Nahum has the privilege of announcing the utter defeat of a powerful terrorist nation that has spread its cruelty to every other nation. In its overwhelming push to dominate, cruelty has been a chief weapon for this evil regime. People have been terrified before the battles even began. They were invincible until God was ready to deal with them, and when God began to move they began to collapse. 186,000 Assyrian troops had been slain by the angel of death sent against them as they assembled around Jerusalem. The commander went home in disgrace and was soon assassinated. Lord, Your judgment is awesome. Thank you that You chose to have mercy upon us. For us You sent Jesus.

Micah 7:19

3/22/2026

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea.

A true believer, no matter how bad he has been, cannot but say this. If a believer sins, God will chastise him, perhaps with a chastisement that is severe. A believer may pass through physical suffering, financial disaster, relationship dissolution, personal pain and permanent disability, but he will never pass beyond the boundary of God’s love; for God’s love is not a result of any of his works. God loves him because He loves him. Lord, grant us the grace that will keep us from the path of disobedience so that we will not need Your chastening hand. But thank You, that even when we fall, You will have compassion on us and rescue us, casting our sin into the sea because of Jesus.

Jonah 3:2

3/21/2026

Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.

Dealing with Jonah’s refusal to obey God’s command has been a very complicated distraction, but when we get back to ground zero, the command is exactly the same. Go to Nineveh (which God calls a “great” city) and declare its utter destruction in forty days. Militarily and culturally and socially Nineveh was the hub of civilization, something like calling out in Lincoln Center. It was not even a command to repent. Repentance was an idea that came to the minds of the leaders and caught on with the people. Jonah’s message did not include repentance because God had not specifically included it and Jonah did not personally want to see it. But repentance was in God’s mind. Mercy is never far from the mind of the Almighty, because always He remembers Jesus.

Obadiah 19

3/20/2026

People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields pf Ephraim and Samaria

In Acts 17 God says that He has determined the exact time and place for everyone who lives on His earth. Here, almost six hundred years before Luke writes, God is declaring to whom He will give the land forever taken from the people of Edom. He will not just take Edom out—He will replace them with people He has chosen. God finally will judge. It will be final and complete. Real estate will change hands. But God will take what we own and give it to someone else, too. God judges all men and removes them. Jesus has taken our judgment and we are transferred to a better land. We are deeply thankful for Jesus.

Amos 8:10

3/19/2026

I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and end like a bitter day.

Rejoicing and weeping are from the Lord. The very things we expected to give us happiness can be the source of deepest pain, and the grief we thought would kill us can fill our hearts with joy. God gives us perspective. Our verse does not say that God will take away our comfortable things and give us bitter ones in their place. It says that the response we hope to get from the things we prepared can be the very opposite of what we planned for them to produce. Lord help us walk steady in joy or pain because of our relationship with Jesus.