Podcasts about lamentations

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of following Jesus—but it's also one of the places where God does His deepest work. In this episode of our Fruit of the Spirit series, we're talking about patience—not as passive waiting, but as active trust in God's perfect timing. Whether you're waiting for healing, a relationship, answered prayers, direction, or a breakthrough, this conversation is for you. We'll walk through what biblical patience really means, why waiting can feel so difficult, and how God used seasons of waiting to shape some of the most influential people in Scripture—including Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses, Hannah, Job, and even Jesus. If you've ever wondered why God seems silent or why His timing doesn't match yours, I pray this episode encourages you to trust that He is still working—even when you can't see it. Because waiting on God is never wasted. In This Episode: What the Fruit of the Spirit teaches about patience The biblical meaning of patience (makrothymia) Why God often grows us through waiting What impatience reveals about our hearts Lessons from Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses, Hannah, Job, and Jesus How to grow in patience during difficult seasons Encouragement for anyone waiting on God today Key Scriptures: Galatians 5:22–23 James 1:2–4 Romans 5:3–5 Romans 8:25 Isaiah 40:31 Psalm 27:14 Lamentations 3:25–26 Hebrews 6:15 Ephesians 4:2 Colossians 3:12 Psalm 37:7 2 Peter 3:9 If this episode encouraged you, be sure to share it with a friend who may be in a season of waiting. And if you're enjoying our Fruit of the Spirit series, we'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, and join us next week as we continue learning what it looks like to live by the Spirit.

In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal walks through Jonah 1–2, focusing on the remarkable prayer Jonah offers from the belly of the great fish. Far from a simple morality tale, the Book of Jonah presents a complex, deeply theological portrait of a disobedient prophet who nonetheless clings to the Lord in his darkest moment. Tony explores the Hebrew literary features that shape how we read Jonah's prayer, the doctrine of divine sovereignty as it operates through human agency, and the rich typological connections between Jonah and the death and resurrection of Christ. Most importantly, the episode grounds Jonah's experience in the Westminster Confession's teaching on sanctification — offering genuine hope to believers who feel buried under besetting sin, assuring them that salvation, from beginning to end, belongs entirely to the Lord. Key Takeaways Jonah is not the hero of his own story — he functions more as an anti-hero whose failures actually make him a more useful and relatable example for ordinary believers. Divine sovereignty operates through, not apart from, human agency — the sailors freely threw Jonah overboard, and yet Jonah rightly says God cast him into the deep; both are simultaneously true. The sequence debate in Jonah 2 matters theologically — whether Jonah prayed before or after being swallowed affects how we read the book; reading it as a strict cause-and-effect sequence risks turning the gospel into a quid pro quo transaction with God. Jonah's "yet I will see your holy temple" is a confession of eschatological faith — in the midst of near-certain death, Jonah expresses confidence not merely in earthly rescue, but in his ultimate destiny as one of God's people. The deep is a Genesis image — Jonah's descent into the primordial waters deliberately echoes the formless void of Genesis 1 and the undoing of creation in the flood, placing his experience within the grand arc of biblical cosmology. Jonah is a prophetic type of Christ's death and resurrection — his three days in the belly of the fish, his descent into the pit, and his emergence onto dry land anticipate and foreshadow the resurrection, as Jesus himself confirms in Matthew 12. Sanctification is real but imperfect — drawing from Westminster Confession Chapter 13, Tony argues that the up-and-down nature of Jonah's spiritual life is not an aberration but a description of the normal Christian life, in which the flesh and spirit remain in perpetual war until glory. Key Concepts Eschatological Faith in the Pit One of the most striking moments in Jonah's prayer is his declaration in 2:4 — "Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple." Tony argues that this is not merely a hope of physical rescue and a return to Jerusalem. Jonah believed he was dying. The waters had closed in to take his life; he was being dragged into underwater trenches that the ancient Semitic mind associated with the very gates of Sheol. In this context, Jonah's declaration is better understood as eschatological faith — a confession that even if God takes his life in judgment, he will still see the Lord face to face in the heavenly temple. It mirrors Job's cry, "Yet in my flesh I shall see God," and anticipates the kind of faith that says, with the father in Mark 9, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." Sovereignty and Human Agency Working Together Tony uses Jonah's descent as a teaching moment on the Reformed doctrine of concurrence — the truth that God's sovereign decree and human free will are not in competition but operate simultaneously on different levels. The sailors made a free, agonized decision to throw Jonah overboard; and yet Jonah rightly attributes his casting into the sea to God himself. Tony draws the parallel to Joseph's words to his brothers in Genesis 50: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." This is not a philosophical sleight of hand. It is the consistent testimony of Scripture that God governs all things — including the underwater currents that dragged Jonah to the ocean floor — without reducing human beings to puppets or eliminating their moral responsibility. Sanctification Is Real, Imperfect, and Guaranteed Perhaps the most pastorally significant thread of the episode is Tony's application of Westminster Confession Chapter 13 to Jonah's experience. Jonah makes genuine progress in faith — his prayer is theologically rich and demonstrates real trust in God — and yet he almost immediately slips back behind the curve, making vows the sailors had already made before him, and later in chapter 4, sulking over a dead plant. Tony refuses to read this as a failure of the text. Instead, it is the text faithfully portraying the reality of sanctification: real throughout the whole person, yet imperfect in this life, with an irreconcilable war between flesh and spirit. The hope is not that we will finally overcome that war on our own, but that through the continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part will overcome. Salvation — including sanctification — belongs entirely to the Lord. Memorable Quotes Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. All outside visible indicators said he was going to die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again. God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire. Full Transcript [00:00:08] Tony Arsenal: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. For their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.  [00:01:24] Storm and Sailors [00:01:24] Tony Arsenal: But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god. Perhaps the god will give us a thought that we may not perish." And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. [00:02:36] Cast Into Sea [00:02:36] Tony Arsenal: He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to the dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, "O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood. For you, O Lord, has done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea. And the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. [00:03:15] Fish and Prayer [00:03:15] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the dep-- into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me. All your waves and billows passed over me." Then he said, "I am driven away from your sight. Yet I shall look again upon your holy temple. The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." At the root of the mountain I went to the land, whose bars closed upon me forever. Yet you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When I-- when my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord.  [00:04:23] Jonah Not the Hero [00:04:23] Tony Arsenal: And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land Jonah is an interesting book because, as I commented a year ago, Jonah is not necessarily the hero of the story. Uh, if anything, he is kind of the villain in, in some senses. But nevertheless, I think as we'll see today, Jonah still gives us a good example to follow in a sense, and that I think is really the centerpiece of this prayer, is that even as Jonah's going through all of this, his prayer is still remarkably filled with faithful sayings and trust in the Lord. We learned early on in Jonah that Jonah was a prophet during the time of the kings. Uh, he, uh, he seemed to have been a sort of a court temple. He was in the presence of the kings in Jerusalem itself, and he received a calling from the word of the Lord, and this phrase, "the word of the Lord," seems to imply a pre-incarnate, uh, visible manifestation of the second person of the Trinity. So we're not just talking about a, a disembodied voice. We're not just talking about some sort of sense or impression, but the word of the Lord itself, himself, came to give Jonah this mission, to give Jonah this task, to commission him as a prophet to Nineveh. And Jonah gets up and says, "No, thank you," and he goes the opposite direction. We see in that first section there the repeated phrase, "He goes to Tarshish. He boards a ship in Tarshish." The author here, who we, we think is Jonah, is hammering that he did not go where he was supposed to. He went the opposite direction. He went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, which is 180 degrees the other direction from, uh, from Nineveh on the map. And he boards the, he boards the ship in order to flee the presence of the Lord. He pays, probably buys out the entire ship itself. He pays the fare for the whole ship, and the Lord hurls a great wave, uses the language of weapons. He hurls this storm like a spear. He weaponizes nature itself to correct and chastise and judge Jonah for his disobedience We get to verses seven through 17, and everyone on the boat is crying out to their chosen deity except Jonah. Jonah is asleep in the hold of the ship, oblivious to everything, totally dead to the world and dead to his Lord. The sailors begin to seek divine li- divine wisdom after they wake Jonah. He comes to the deck of the ship, and they cast lots to identify by divine, uh, revelation, sort of a strange practice in the Old Testament or the old, uh, world. Divine revelation that shows them Jonah is the source of this wickedness that is being wrought upon them, at least their impression of it. So they ask Jonah, "Who are you? Tell us who it is that has caused this great calamity." And he says emphatically, "A Hebrew am I." He identifies himself with God's people, and he says, "The Lord is my God, and he made the heaven and the earth and the sea." There's no small amount of irony, and it explains why the sailors are so afraid when he says that God created the heavens where the storm was. He created the sea where they were about to die, and he created the dry land where they were trying to get to. And so this one phrase that Jonah uses almost casually demonstrates that the Lord has total and utter sovereignty over what is going on, which is a theme that we'll see come back again and again through the book The sailors say, "Well, what do we do about this?" And Jonah says, "Throw me into the ocean, because I know that if you do so, then the storm will calm down and you will be saved." Whether he knew this because he's a prophet and it had been revealed to him, or whether he just was surmising that this was the case, we don't know. But the, uh, sailors are hesitant to do so, and we talked about how it was a little bit strange that these, uh, pagan sailors from cultures that d- had no qualms about human sacrifice were suddenly, uh, unwilling to throw Jonah over the sea a- as a, an appeasement offering to this Lord. And we came to the conclusion that they had been regenerated. They had come to faith in this God who created the heavens and the sea and the dry ground. And so they knew intrinsically that this was wrong, that there was a moral imperative not to do this. So they tried to row back to the land. They jettisoned all of their, uh, all of their goods, all of their cargo. They were making for land as best they could, and when it finally became clear that they couldn't do this, they sought the Lord's mercy in saying, essentially, "We don't understand how this is, but please don't put this man's blood on us, because you, Lord, have done as you please," right? The sovereignty of the Lord again comes to the forefront. They finally cast Jonah into the sea, and this is, this is important. They cast Jonah into the sea, and then they worship, they vow vows, and they vow to sacrifice. They offer sacrifices. They seek the Lord, they acknowledge his s- his sovereignty, and they worship him with what they have left. And then rounding out the chapter, the Lord appoints a great fish to come and swallow up Jonah. And we talked about how this, this swallowing of Jonah, although our popular children's books and VeggieTales and other stories we might read to our kids paints the fish often as the vehicle of judgment, it's actually a vehicle of deliverance for Jonah. There's this interesting grammatical feature that happens where in 1:17 the fish is masculine. The, the, the gender of the word is masculine, and then when we get to 2:1 it switches over to the feminine, almost as if to indicate that the whale was pregnant with Jonah, that Jonah was in the whale and was about to be reborn into the world in a new way And that brings us to our passage here today.  [00:10:21] Sequence Debate [00:10:21] Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna read, uh, 1:17 even though that's a little bit outside of our scope. I'm gonna read it along with 2:1 to, to make the point here. It says, "The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the whale, of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish." When you look at the Hebrew text, 1:17 is actually verse 2:1 and 2:1 is then 2:2 and so on and so forth. In the original Hebrew mindset of how this book goes together, these two things were linked together, him being swallowed by the whale and being in the belly of the fish and then him praying was linked together in this sequence. There's a feature in the Hebrew that's called a vav consecutive. You don't need to remember that. Nobody is gonna care about that. But it's, it's a little grammatical feature where it adds this little character to the front of the verb and it indicates a sequence. It's the narrative storytelling. When you look at Genesis 1 it's, "And then God said, 'Let there be light,' and then there was light." It tells you the sequence of events. Sometimes it indicates that it is a strict sequence of events. This happened and then that finished and then the next thing happened and then that finished. And many of the commentators use this passage to justify a perspective of Jonah where Jonah is this rebellious, stubborn prophet who holds out his stubbornness until the very last minute. He's swallowed by the whale, he's getting digested by stomach acid and he sort of finally relents to the Lord and cries out for deliverance and the Lord acquiesces in response to his prayer. That's certainly a possible interpretation. There's lots of good reasons in the, the text here to think Jonah was kind of a chucklehead and was not paying too much attention to what the Lord had for him The other option is to see this as a way for the author of the text to situate this prayer in contrast to other prayers that are not necessarily talked about directly in this text. And I'm gonna take that later view here, and I think it's important. This makes good sense of the text, and we'll explain exactly why that is when we get to the next little section here. But it also protects us theologically if we understand it this way. Jonah is already a book, uh, as I've alluded to, that tends towards a sort of crass moralism or fabulism. We tend to read it as sort of an allegory of if you do the wrong thing, God punishes you, and when you finally do the right thing, He blesses you. And there's a certain level of common grace wisdom to that approach, right? The whole book of Proverbs is-- are these proverbial sayings that if you do this, then the God-- then God will do this. If you raise up your children in the way they will go, they will not depart when they are older. But we also learn in the Book of Job and the Book of Ecclesiastes that those proverbial sayings, although generally true, it's not a magic formula. And so we have this tendency to read Old Testament literature as though it was this sort of like equation, that God punishes us when we're bad. He, uh, He relents from His punishment when we say we're sorry, and we have to be careful about that. If we understand what I'm about to teach from the next section here, that this is not a strict sequence of events, that Jonah began praying before he was swallowed by the whale, and this is simply recording the prayer that was actually within the whale. It helps protect us from seeing Jonah in this sort of quid pro quo, this for that kind of thing. I think we should simply understand this as saying Jonah was in the water, he got swallowed by the whale, and then when he was in the whale, he prayed. It doesn't say anything about whether he was overly stubborn or whether his stubbornness held out. It simply tells us that he was in the pray-- in the whale when this prayer occurred [00:14:23] Sheol and Descent [00:14:23] Tony Arsenal: He says in verse two, he calls out to the Lord out of his distress. He, and God answers him. Out of the belly of Sheol, Jonah cries, and God hears his voice This here tells us that he began praying, right? He was in the water, he was in the deep. All of this descriptive language we're gonna see later on about how deep he was, how quickly the current took him. He was wrapped up in seaweed, his life was fading from him. It was in the midst of all of that that he cries out in his distress. It's a pretty distressing situation. And Jonah, like all of us would, like even most atheists would, cries out to the Lord, even just out of instinct. I think it's kind of crazy for us to think that this man who's now been cast overboard and is being swept to the bottom of the ocean is sure he's gonna die. Somehow, he overrides all of his instinct and his entire life teaching and refuses to pray to the Lord. It just doesn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense of what the text presents here Jonah was in the belly of Sheol. He was in the very, the very womb of Sheol. And there is this interesting contrast that he goes from the belly of Sheol into the belly of the whale. This phrase, the belly of Sheol, is probably roughly equivalent to our phrase about being at death's door, right? It, it may or may not come from some sort of Mesopotamian, um, mythology. It may be a phrase of sort of co-opted into Hebrew, kinda like our phrase at death's door is actually co-opted in from Greek mythology, where there were actually literal doors to the underworld, and people would go there and when they were about to die. Jonah's point is that this was not a small thing. When we watch VeggieTales, he gets thrown in the water, and, like, 13 seconds later, the, the whale comes up and takes him. Jonah was swept down into the water almost supernaturally quick. He was drawn down to the very bottom of the ocean. We talk about the miracle of him surviving in the whale, and it was miraculous for sure, but the miracle of him being swept to the bottom of the ocean and not being crushed by the weight of the water, by the pressure, is equally miraculous. It's no more difficult for God to do that than it is for Him to preserve him in the whale or to raise Jesus from the dead or to create everything from nothing He finally starts to catch up with the pagan sailors. A theme in Jonah is that everyone around Jonah who shouldn't know any better somehow gets to the right conclusion before he does, right? The sailors begin to worship the Lord. They recognize this is divine wrath while Jonah is still asleep in the hold. Later, we'll see that, uh, the, the Ninevites recognize God's mercy and grace and thank Him for it, and Jonah is still mad because the plant he was sitting on d- uh, dies, right? Jonah is constantly behind the curve, but for this little moment, for this glimpse in the very center of the book, the pinnacle of the book is Jonah finally catching up to the sailors. [00:17:34] Sovereignty Explained [00:17:34] Tony Arsenal: He recognizes that it was God who cast him into the depths. This teaches us something about the doctrine of sovereignty and how it relates to human freedom, right? We, we often ask the question, what, what causes rain? Well, you can answer that by saying tiny particles of dust collect water in the air, and once they have enough weight, they fall out of the sky 'cause the air can't hold them up anymore. That's true, and it's good, and that's what nature teaches us. It's also equally true that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike, and those two things are not contradictory. So when Jonah says, "You cast me into the sea," he's recognizing, like Joseph does in the Book of Genesis, that what the sailors in this case meant for good but what the brothers meant for evil, God purposed and caused for good. What the sailors did by their own volition, their own free will, they exercised their own, uh, autonomy in the, the horizontal sense to cast Jonah into the sea, God also cast him into the sea As I said, the text here uses language that we may not catch in our English translations to indicate that it's not just the sea here that's the problem. God's sovereignty continues to affect and act on Jonah. The word that we read here as the, the water or the flood, other places refers to the current of a river. The, um, the Euphrates itself is sometimes referred to this, the large- sort of the largest river apart from the Nile that the Egyptian or the, um, Israelite mind would have is the Euphrates, right? This underwater river, this underwater current, the undertow sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. It's like if you're swimming at the beach at the ocean and you get caught in the undercurrent. There's not a lot you can do about it. Y- sometimes even the strongest swimmers can't overcome this, and Jonah in all of his Middle Eastern robes, all of this stuff, probably with all of his baggage, his, his own equipment, things he had on him, is caught in this undercurrent that sucks him to the bottom of the ocean. And it's not just below the surface of the water. He's dropped down into the heart of the sea, the very core. We're seeing this language of him being pulled to the depths. In, in chapter one he goes down, down, down, and now he's being drawn into the belly of the ocean, into the pit of Sheol, into the heart of the waters The picture here is that Jonah doesn't just get thrown in the water and sink. He is actively pulled down to the bottom. This is not just a judgment where perhaps he can swim to the top. Just as the mariners hopelessly tried to reach land, Jonah would've been hopelessly trying to swim against this. We don't actually have any indication he tried, but had he tried, there would've been no chance He goes on to say that the God's breakers and his waves roll him. This is the picture we see if you ever watch surfing competitions on the ocean, where a surfer will get hit by the wave and he just gets rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and it can be incredibly dangerous. That's why they have like the little lifeguards on the jet skis that zip out there to get them. Because when you get caught in that breaker, you just get rolled over and rolled over and rolled over, and soon you lose track of which direction is up, and even if you did, you couldn't get out This process is not just the forces of nature doing what they do. This is, again, the Lord weaponizing the forces of nature to execute judgment on Jonah This tumultuous and supernatural rapid descent showed Jonah that this is not only the moment in which God wanted to take his life, but was actively casting him away from the g- from the presence of the Lord [00:21:47] Yet I Will See [00:21:47] Tony Arsenal: It says here, um, in verse four, Jonah says, "I am driven away from your sight If you do a word study on this, you start to see that Jonah is pulling language from the creation account. He's pulling language from the fall. He's pulling a lot of language from Genesis itself. He's also pulling from the Psalms, which are pulling from the Genesis account. This word driven away could also be tran- translated as banished. He's cast out of the presence of the Lord. Just as in Genesis 3, we read, "God drove the man out at the east of the Garden of Eden. He placed cherubim and flaming swords." He drove the man out. Genesis 4:14, Cain says, "You have driven me away from the ground." And in Jonah 1:3, we see that Jonah was trying to get away from the presence of the Lord. And I wonder if there was this moment where he goes, "Ooh, I guess I got what I was looking for." Now, the second half of Jonah f- 2:4 here does something a little bit weird, and it's hard to translate. I think we should be honest at times. Hebrew is a language that in some senses is mysterious to us at times. There are still parts of the Hebrew Bible that we're not always 100% sure of. This verse here could be translated... In, in Hebrew it's just a statement. It's, "I, um, I shall again see the holy temple, or your holy temple." How that fits into the text itself is tricky. Some read it as, uh, as a question. "How shall I see your holy temple?" It's actually a statement kind of reaffirming the doubt and the fear and the idea that God was banishing him Most translations translate it as sort of a contrast. He says, "I was driven away from your sight, yet I shall again look on your holy temple." The force of this is even though you're driving me away, even though you're casting me out of your presence, I have faith, I have confidence that I will again see your holy temple The question here, and this is where I think Jonah becomes our example It's certainly possible that Jonah was asserting his belief that he would be rescued from this calamity and he would make his way back to Jerusalem and he would return to the holy temple. I think that what he says in the rest of this, he's recounting what he was praying. What he was praying in this context is not that he would return to the temple. He was confident God was taking his life. He says in verse five, "The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around my head." The other way that the phrase holy temple is used in the Old Testament is to refer to the place that God lives in heaven. Jonah was asserting faith that even though he was being cast out of the presence of the Lord in this life, even though he was being justly punished for his sin, even though he was about to enter the belly of Sheol and to enter the pit, the very abyss, that he would see God again in His holy temple. This is a statement of Jonah's belief in his own destiny as one of God's people, destined to be saved by faith in God. In this moment, Jonah trusts the Lord despite all of the appearances that God was out to get him It's not all that different than when we read in Mark chapter 9, where this father brings his, uh, demon-possessed child to Jesus, and Jesus says, "I can heal him." And he says, "If you can do anything, Lord," I'm paraphrasing here. He says, "If you can do it, please, Lord." And he says, "If? All things are possible for me." And the father desperately cries out, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." It's this raw, unfiltered statement of just the human condition on this side of glory, right? I believe in the Lord, but there's always that little part in the back of my head that isn't sure, because we're never going to be perfect. Now, I've said before, and, and this is becoming my new catchphrase, I think, I'm not here to rob you of your assurance of faith. Our, our confession, the Bible, this church, our Reform, broader Reform tradition, the assurance of faith of the Christian is the rightful possession inheritance of every person in this room who trusts the Lord. But it is a reality that at times that assurance is shaken. And if there's ever a time for your assurance to be shaken, it's when you're being dragged to the bottom of the ocean, right? One of the words in here, I don't have it-- I don't actually have it in my notes for some reason, but one of the note, words here, uh, s- about the roots of the mountain, I believe, in the next verse. It's not just that he was dragged to the bottom of the ocean. This word root of the mountain is like the word that's used to cut. He's not just being dragged to the bottom of the sea, he's being dragged to the bottom of a deep sea crevasse. He's literally being pulled into the pit, right? Many, uh, in the ancient Semitic world would have seen these underwater pits. They would have theorized or thought about these underwater crevasses as the actual entry into Sheol. And Jonah sees himself being drawn down into these things. Yet, he believes he will see the good presence of the Lord We read a similar statement, I won't, uh, I won't make us go there for time. We read a similar statement in Job. Job goes through this long speech about all the things that God has done to him, and at the very end of it, he says, "Yet I will see the Lord with my eyes, and he will stand up next to me on, on the earth." Right? Even though Job was going through this unimaginable grief, and we know that Job didn't deserve it in the strict sense, he still was saying, "I'm gonna be destroyed. God is shooting arrows at me," right? "His sword is in my side. He's targeting me. He's sending hornets after me." All of these terrible, vibrant images that he's using to show what God is doing to him, and yet he still trusts. I would say that he trusts that he would see the Lord in the flesh. This is not only Jonah's faith, it's a-- or Job's faith, it's a prophecy of Christ This is alien to our modern mindset. We've been talking about this in the Psalms. Weston's been leading us through the, the lament Psalms We often think that suffering and trials and difficulties are the opposite of blessing and favor. And we might recognize that in some sort of way that in God's economy, one thing leads to another. And again, there's an element of truth to that. James says, "Count it all joy when you face trials of every kind." He's not saying that the trials you're facing are in themselves joyful. You don't have to love when you get sick. You don't have to, you don't have to man up and put a smile on or s- pull yourself up by your bootstraps or whatever analogy you wanna use. It's okay to be sad when bad things happen. It's actually good, right? If we're to weep with those who weep, there's an element of sadness that must come with that, not to mention the one who's weeping is not chastised. But the idea that that only leads to this, that that's just one step in the chain, that's not really the mindset the Bible has. All across the Psalms, in the lament Psalms, all across the prophetic literature, the Book of Lamentations, Habakkuk has this long prayer at the end that's very similar, the entire Book of Job, suffering and sanctification, trials and joy and restoration, they're all sandwiched right there, and there is usually this statement in the middle of it that God will do what is right This is Jonah's example for us, and what an example it is. We'll talk in a little bit about all the ways that this whole scenario is typological of Christ. We'll, we'll get to that. But just for a minute in the middle of this book, Jonah is not such a bad guy. And it's because he still has all his faults that he can be this example for us [00:30:26] Genesis Deep Imagery [00:30:26] Tony Arsenal: As though it wasn't clear enough, Jonah in verse five says that the purpose of the waters closing over him was explicitly to take his life. He's now in the belly of the sea. He's being dragged down to the very roots of the mountain, to the very core of the earth in his mind. He, he thinks he's going to hell in the, the Hebrew mind. There's both this idea that God is dragging him to hell in a very real sense. The Hebrew mind, Sheol was a physical place that people went to, and we learn more about it and that becomes clarified as revelation is progressive, not contradictory, but as, as it's clarified But he uses this word deep, and this is where he's drawing again from Genesis. Genesis 1:2, he says, "The earth was without form and void. The darkness was over the face of the deep." The deep is this sort of like unformed chaotic water. It's what exists before God makes everything orderly and good. And in the fall, and especially in the flood in chapter seven, uh, chapter seven verse 11, the f- the flood itself is a sort of undoing of the order. God opens the floods from beneath, from the bottom of the earth, from the wellspring of the deep, as well as the chaotic waters from outside the firmament, and it all pours back in together and the entire world becomes again this deep, primordial, chaotic water And just as in Genesis God separates the land, in, in Genesis 7 or in Genesis 8, he separates out the land by drying it up, drying up the water. We also see that Jonah has this trust that he will return to the dry land. Again, he's the God of heaven and sea and dry earth. We could even read this phrase, depending on the context, as the abyss, which is this, a- again, is some borrowed language from Greek here that the Hebrews use. But it's this deep, watery, murky place th- full of shadows and darkness. Sounds familiar, I think, right? Christ says that those who are apart from him who refuse to obey will be cast into the outer darkness. This is the imagery that Jonah is seeing. All outside visible indicators was that he was gonna die and he was going to hell. Yet he trusted in the Lord that he would see his holy temple again Apart from God's gracious intervention, Jonah was right. So although God is the one that's bringing him to the depth, bringing him to the pit, dragging him down, using the very currents of the sea, weaponizing these underwater currents that only thousands of years later do we understand, and even then only this much, he also graciously rescues him from this by miraculously appointing a whale or a great fish who comes and swallows Jonah, takes him whole, and keeps him there in his own belly, keeps him there in her own womb when we get to chapter 2. In chapter six, or in verse six, Jonah makes this pivot. Again, he says he's brought to the very bottom of the sea, to the roots of the mountain, which is these deep underwater trenches. He conceptualizes himself now in this locked city behind bars. Again, this jail imagery, this pit imagery, it's all meant to evoke this idea of the final punishment of the wicked. This place of murky, gross water, this place of darkness and, uh, limitations of freedom, he's being taken there. This is the section here where people would actually argue that Jonah dies. He actually dies and is resurrected when he's swallowed by the whale. This comes from language where it says God does not prevent him from going to the pit. God actually draws him to the pit and then raises his life up from the pit. Now, I'm not convinced, um, that we should think that Jonah actually died. I don't, I don't think that the text fully supports that. But it certainly is using this imagery [00:34:45] Christ Typology [00:34:45] Tony Arsenal: This is where we get to some typology about Christ. This is where Jonah really shines as a prophet. Sometimes people wonder why the Book of Jonah is considered a prophetic book, and this along with it is part of that. Jonah, although the sign of Jonah in Matthew and in the other Gospels refers to the belly of the whale, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so also Christ will be in the heart of the earth, the pit, for three days and three nights. When we're talking about typology, we can't get too tripped up on the details. We're not talking about strict allegory where this figure is that person and this signpost represents that thing. This isn't Pilgrim's Progress or Chronicles of Narnia, which is not allegory, but it's similar. Topology functions often on sort of these big picture concepts, right? Although there are some typological references that are super detailed, there are also some that are just sort of evocative The idea that Jonah died and was raised to life and sort of incubated in the earth, in- incubated in the whale and sort of reborn into the world, that certainly sounds a lot like a picture of the resurrection And I think we should see it that way. When Christ says that the sign of Jonah is roughly His resurrection, He is tying it to the three days and three nights, but He's not limiting to that Jonah comes to this pivot, and now he starts to reflect on the context of his deliverance. This whole s- this whole prayer should be seen sort of in the light of the thanksgiving psalms. There's a situation in which Jonah is in, and then God rescues him, and he begins to praise him for it. There's elements of lament, but it's really a thanksgiving psalm that he's drawing on here or that he's, he's writing In 2:7, Jonah is either dead or he's actively dying. I don't know about you, but if you've ever, uh, dove into a pool and got a little deeper than you thought you were, and you-- there's that, like, two seconds before you get to the top where you're sure the lights are going out and you've really only been underwater for, like, 45 seconds, but everything in you tells you if you don't get there, you're gonna die. Every instinct you have is to scramble for the surface. Think about how long it took Jonah to be dragged to the bottom of the ocean. Even at this accelerated pace, we're talking about a long time. And we have no reason to believe, and lots of reasons to think otherwise, Jonah was not preserved from the pain and the terror and the difficulty of feeling like you're drowning because he was drowning. He was without oxygen. His life was fading away. And it is in this context of him being on the brink of death, at death's door, in the belly of Sheol, being drawn into the very pit itself, that his prayer reaches the Lord in His holy temple. Right? This gives further evidence to the thought that Jonah is not talking about the temple in Jerusalem. There was, there was theology, and I, I think it's fine theology, that God lived in the temple in a special way. This is the reason that Daniel faces Jerusalem when he prays. There is a sense in the Old Testament that God's special place of presence is the temple in Jerusalem, and that the prayers of the people physically go to that place to be received by God. But Jonah doesn't know which direction the temple is. He's underwater. He's been tossed around by breakers. He has no sense of geography at this point He knows that his prayers are reaching the Lord in his heavenly temple. And they reach him in his heavenly temple just as his life is being lost in the pit. And it is from this moment that God raises him to life, or preserves his life, depending how you read it, and appoints the well to come reach him And some read this next verse as a little bit of a step back for Jonah, and it may be.  [00:39:02] Vows and Idols [00:39:02] Tony Arsenal: He reads, "Those who pay vain regard to i- regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. And what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord." Jonah didn't see the sailors on the ship vow their vows and offer their sacrifices. That happened after they threw him into the pit and the current sucked him under So we may read this with a little bit of a, "Thank God I'm not like that tax collector," kind of a lens. And there's probably some wisdom for us in that, to recognize that Jonah still hasn't quite gotten there. But it's also very common in the Old Testament to recognize that God treats His people differently because they are different. God brings people to a place of sanctification, and through that process of sanctification, they cease to worship vain idols. And it is absolutely true that those who worship vain idols forfeit their hope of steadfast love from the Lord. That's straight out of the Ten Commandments, right? He visits the iniquity of, specifically of idolatry. He visits the iniquity unto the children to the third and fourth generation. But for those who love the Lord, He loves them with a steadfast love unto thousands We can recognize in Jonah that although he had made great progress in faith, that he still wasn't there yet. And we can recognize that in him because we can recognize that in ourselves. Jonah is the example in this because he is not perfect, because he has not arrived, 'cause he doesn't do a 180 about-face and get everything right going forward We can read this in light of Jonah in chapter four, where he takes big steps back Or we can read this as the regular up and down progress of sanctification in the life of all believers everywhere It is also ironic again, we're back now to Jonah being a little bit behind the curve. He was sent to Nineveh to evangelize the heathens, some of the worst enemies that Israel was going to face, and he ignores that call. And he, instead of going to Nineveh, he goes to Tarshish. He goes the opposite direction, and he does something that would be unthinkable to most Israelites. He goes out on the open ocean. That's just insanity to someone living in the ancient world He should have recognized that the sailors were fearing the Lord when they refused to throw him overboard. I think we all have a sort of innate sense when someone's behavior suddenly changes, and I think most of us, and not in some sort of strange, kooky, charismatic sense, but I think most of us can sort of go, "I think I know why that is." Right, when you, when you see someone at work that suddenly stops lying about everything and stops backbiting and stops taking credit for other people's work, and then you find out a little while linger- longer that they've come to faith in Christ, if we're being honest, we're not all that surprised. But Jonah doesn't get it. Jonah here promises the same things that the sailors already did, so now we're again back behind the curve [00:42:37] Sanctification Confession [00:42:37] Tony Arsenal: To wrap this out, I, I wanna, um, I wanna ground this in something that I think is really vital for us to understand. As I said, Jonah is an example to us because he demonstrates the limited nature of sanctification, but he also demonstrates in a certain sense the fact that sanctification is real and has real effects. So this is a little out of the ordinary, but grab your Trinity Hymnal from the pew in front of you. If you happen to have a copy of the Confession, you could use that if you'd prefer. But open with me to page 927 I have, um, I've been, uh, broadly Reformed most of my Christian life and didn't realize it until I got to seminary. And since I discovered the Westminster Confession of Faith a decade ago, it's not new, uh, not new to me, um, I realized how valuable this resource was. This is essentially a search engine without the internet. And so I wanna just read a little bit out of chapter 13 here, which is our Confessions chapter on sanctification. I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but the, the first, uh, the first section here essentially says that sanctification is real, and it happens throughout the whole person. We talk about total depravity, and there is a sense in which the Christian remains totally depraved after regeneration, in that there still is, there still is corruption within our entire being, uh, that is depraved. There's also an equal sense in which we can say we are totally sanctified in Christ because sanctification is throughout the whole man in which we are renewed after the image of God. So that's section one. And then section two says, "This sanctification is throughout," again, throughout the whole man, "in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abiding still some remnant of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irre- irreconcilable war, the flesh left lusting after the spirit, and the spirit lusting after the flesh." Now, that may feel like just a crushing burden if you stop reading there, but it lines up with our experience, right? This is Paul in Romans 7, "The good things I wanna do, I do not, and the bad things that I, I kn- I do not want to do, I somehow do. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." We shouldn't read that as though somehow our spirits are purified entirely and our bodies are what's really causing us to sin. This is a picture of the spirit being, uh, our, our spiritual part of us. The part of us that's regenerated is willing, but the part of us that remains corrupt is our flesh And our confession goes on to say, "In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctification- sanctifying spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome." And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is revolutionary in our broader evangelical world. The storybook Bible, Jonah did a bad thing and he gets punished, and he did a good thing and so he gets better, cannot understand this concept. This is why I think we have to be so careful when we choose what books to give to our little ones, right? I, I make jokes about VeggieTales. I loved VeggieTales when I was in VeggieTales age range. I probably would sit down and watch VeggieTales with Augie when he gets old enough. But we have to be so careful not to let those messages come to our children, or to ourselves for that matter, uninterpreted by the scriptures first and foremost, and our Reformed tradition that we all believe. Amen.  [00:46:49] Assurance in the Pit [00:46:49] Tony Arsenal: This is vital for us When all is said and done, salvation, whether we're talking about justification, sanctification, glorification, resurrection, all of the different stages and phases of our salvation, it is entirely of the Lord. And it's for this reason that Jonah says, "I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay." Salvation belongs to the Lord So this is the application of the sermon, loved ones. No matter how close to or actually into the pit itself we have fallen The, the chapter on assurance of faith, I won't go there, but the chapter in our confession on assurance of faith is very honest with us that our assurance will be shaken, and at times we may not feel as though we have any assurance at all But even when we have fallen that deep into the pit of despair, even when we feel as though we are in the very depths of hell No matter how much our spiritual or physical life is fainting away as we starve for spiritual breath, as we feel that impulse in us that recognizes we're moments away from losing the faith entirely. No matter how much the remnants of corruption in every part swirl around our heads like seaweed, how often do we feel wrapped up in sin? Whatever it is, I don't need to get specific 'cause I'm sure all of you are thinking of something in your head right now that has been swirling around you for years. Maybe it's months, maybe it's years. Maybe you've never felt, since coming to Christ, you've never felt like it wasn't wrapped up around you like seaweed. Besetting sin is something that we need to be serious about, and it's a good cause for us to think hard and deep about our status as Christians, and to go to our pastor and seek the elders' assistance in this. But besetting sin is not, is not a mark that excludes you from, from Christianity. Right? We're justified by faith alone, in Christ alone, by His grace alone. Not because we've overcome our besetting sin alone, right? That's not one of the five solas God redeems our life from the pit. From the very depths of hell itself, he snatched us like brands from the fire And though it is the case that we often are shaken, and at times God, just as he let Jonah, he let Jonah go to Tarshish. God had every ability to stop him from doing a stupid thing, and sometimes he does that, right? I'm sure there's plenty of times we can think about in our lives where we were heading towards sin and God just pulled a U-turn on us, and we are thankful for that. But there are times that he does not, and he lets us, he lets us do that. He lets us suffer the consequences, and he does that to chastise us and bring us back to him And even in the context of that, it is through this continual supply of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, right?  [00:50:19] God Beautifies His Bride [00:50:19] Tony Arsenal: Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit from the womb beyond measure. That's in the Book of John. There was never a time where Christ did not have the totality of the infinite sanctifying Spirit of the God, of God. We do not have the totality of the sanctifying Spirit of God. Now, we can get into a discussion after the service about divine simplicity and all the complexity of that, but the reality is that God sanctifies us more and more and more, and He does it by giving us the Spirit more and more. Might be more accurate to say He gives more of us to the Spirit. He gives us to the Spirit more and more. He gives us to Jesus more and more. We are Christ's inheritance. We are His bride. And just as the bride, as they're approaching the wedding, is made more and more beautiful, they start their, their beauty treatments weeks and months ahead of time, right? They're already making their hair appointments. They're already doing what they need to do to feel as beautiful as they can and to be as beautiful as they can on their wedding day. If that's the way we treat human weddings; guys do it too, just not as much. If that's the way we treat human weddings, how much more does God treat the heavenly wedding of His Son to His beloved bride? He's beautifying us, Church. Doesn't always feel like it. Doesn't always look like it, but He is. 

The question we face in this life isn't if we will find ourselves in periods of waiting; It's how we will respond when they come. This week, Kylen Perry walks us through Lamentations 3 to show us that waiting isn't wasted time, but an invitation to deepen our trust in God and remember that He is the One most worthy of our wanting.

The question we face in this life isn't if we will find ourselves in periods of waiting; It's how we will respond when they come. This week, Kylen Perry walks us through Lamentations 3 to show us that waiting isn't wasted time, but an invitation to deepen our trust in God and remember that He is the One most worthy of our wanting.

Have you maintained a faithful, straight walk in Torah? Or have you gotten “off the path” a little or a lot? Do you sense a call to return to the path, to Yahweh? Taking us to Jeremiah 29:12, Rabbi Steve Berkson points out Yahweh's pattern of behavior toward His people. When He needs to correct covenant behavior, He starts with small, subtle nudges and then uses more severe measures to get our attention. If He determines that we are not listening or responding, we will be turned loose to “play with the pigs” and, hopefully, come to ourselves and return to Him and the Covenant. • What's the first thing one should do when returning to Yahweh? • What is “hedging an apology”? • What does it mean not to seek Yahweh with all your heart? In Isaiah 55:6, two things are mentioned – seeking Yahweh while He can still be found and calling on Him while He is near. • What causes Him not to be near? What separates you from Him and creates distance? • Why do we not fully understand and accept His ways? • What are 3 things that will forever be in the Kingdom of Elohim? From there, Rabbi Berkson takes us to Lamentations chapters 3 and 5, where we see the formula for a prayer of repentance. • Have you ever been contrary to the Covenant out of rebellion? • What does “renew our days as of old” mean? Then we hop back to Jeremiah 6:8-17, where we see that the Torah is much more than just “The Law”; it is for our instruction. Yahweh wants us to be ‘instructed' by Him. • How can our ears be “uncircumcised”? • Why does Yahweh want to see us walk out His instructions? • What is “greedy for gain”? Verse-by-verse and step-by-step, Rabbi Steve Berkson takes us on a journey of discovery, learning how to covenant with our Creator and Father, which, from time to time, requires us to turn around and return to His Word so that we can have a sure entrance into His Kingdom. https://mtoi.org The MTOI App https://mtoi.org/download-the-mtoi-app https://www.facebook.com/mtoiworldwide https://www.instagram.com/mtoi_worldwide admin@mtoi.org (423) 250-3020 Join us LIVE (all times Eastern): • Torah Study, Fridays 7:30 pm • Shabbat Service, Saturdays 1:15 pm Streaming available on YouTube, Rumble, MTOI App, and mtoi.org

In today's society men are living under tremendous pressure These pressures and responsibilities are very real, and often part of life as a man. But how we handle them is the key.Your situation does not have to be perfect for God to step in and bring you strength, peace and answers to your current situation. He's a NOW God with a NOW answer.Lamentations 3:22-23 AMPIt is because of the Lord's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.Let's look at what's causing it…..

You've been praying the same prayer for so long now. Please help me, Lord. Take this pain away. And this morning, nothing about your life looks any different than it did last week — or the week before that. If you've started to wonder whether there's any hope left in the waiting — whether God is even still in your story — this episode was made for you. Today we go to the book of Lamentations, written from the middle of real, unresolved loss, to uncover what you're truly waiting for when you wait on God. Because what you're waiting for may be far closer than you think. In this episode, you'll discover... ✨ Why the waiting itself may be the very place God is doing His deepest work in you ✨ The hidden meaning behind a single word that reframes the entire idea of "waiting quietly" ✨ What I screamed at God in my own backyard one fall afternoon — and the answer that met me there ✨ How relief can begin before a single circumstance around you ever changes If your mind has been too loud to hear Him, there's a place to go underneath the guilt, fear, and doubt — to understand it, release it, and learn to depend on Him again. It's called Calming the Chaos.

This Sabbath's worship service is led by Pastor Raymond House. Scripture Reading Lamentations 3:21-26.CCLI ©22326309— El Paso Northeast is a Seventh-day Adventist Church that exists to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, embracing all people in our community to make this church their home.Learn more: https://epnortheast.orgFacebook: https://facebook.com/elpasonortheastInstagram: https://instagram.com/epnortheastPodcast: https://epnortheast.org/podcast

We finish the Lamentations of Jeremiah where he laments for himself and his people, but with an occasional ray of hope inserted.

Reading Lamentations 2:1-9 where God brings judgment upon Israel, pouring out His wrath for the wickedness in Jacob, so that Israel would know their sin and mourn. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

As we move through the Solstice portal and enter Cancer season, this week's Akashic Records bring forward a simple but powerful message:✨ Keep your faith in the light.The Records showed the image of a radiant heart—light pouring outward from within—and spoke of greater access to the heart, a spirit of goodwill, and a reminder that growth does not need to be rushed.In a world that often encourages us to maximize every opportunity and treat every supportive moment as our "one chance," this week's guidance invites something different:

In this week's video, we will discuss how to trust God even when it is hard to, how Jesus tells us to trust Him, how to not be anxious, how to not worry about the future, and more! Scripture discussed this week: Matthew 6:25-34, 1 Peter 5:7, James 4:13-16, Lamentations 3:22-24, and Philippians 4:6-7. Personal Instagram:

Psalm 36Romans 3:9-20, 23.Luke 18:11 Charles Spurgeon wrote about this account: "You see, it is not a case of the deliberate choice of sin; but rather of being deluded through neglect of the word of God, which is the true guide of the pilgrim."Proverbs 7:5 His Word points us to Jesus (John 1:1)His Spirit convicts us (Gal. 5:17) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.Proverbs 27:17 Matthew 12:24  Proverbs 9:10 Psalm 139:23 Colossians 4:6 Gal. 5:22-23Psalm 1 1 Thessalonians 5:22John 4:13-14, 28  1 JohnRevelations 21:23 Lamentations - 3:19-24

Send us Fan MailIf you are a Christian today, the reason God hasn't taken you to heaven yet, is because He still has a purpose for you here.   God's plan is to use you to help others come to know Christ.  That is our mission.  In this episode we begin a four part series about that mission.  We're calling the series, “Staying on Track.”  Today's message is titled “Mission Focus,” and asks the question, “What catches your eye?”  Isaiah 6:1-8; Proverbs 4:23"Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:21 (NLT)PODCAST HOME: daretohopepodcast.buzzsprout.com/EMAIL: hope@dare2hope.lifeFACEBOOK: Dare to Hope MinistriesWEB: www.dare2hope.lifeBOOK: "Mapping a Life of Hope" Order here: https://a.co/d/0gj9wVif

Vincent Lemieux - Lamentations 3.54-57 RÉSUMÉ : "Je disais: je suis perdu!" (v.54) Les épreuves et les difficultés de nos vies chrétiennes peuvent parfois être si difficiles si longtemps qu'on en vient à ressentir dans notre âme que nous sommes complètement perdus : comme si nous ne savions plus dans quelle direction aller et comme si Dieu nous avait peut-être abandonnés. Que faire dans de telles circonstances ? Le passage que nous méditons ce dimanche, non seulement nous démontre la possibilité des circonstances affligeantes, mais surtout il nous enseigne sur ce que nous devons faire afin que notre cœur ne demeure pas dans l'affliction, mais plutôt dans l'espérance en Dieu. PLAN: 1. Un sentiment déroutant 2. Un cri du cœur 3. Une réponse gracieuse Lectures complémentaires: • Convocation — Psaume 62 • Réponse - Jonas 2.2-7

Caller Questions & Discussion: Becky talks about how to move out of the state of denial. When we stay in denial, we discount what God has done and what He is going to do. Lamentations 3:22-23 is a great truth to hold on to. I have had depression since childhood because my mom committed suicide when I was 12. Even though I see a counselor, I don't have any relief because I look around and see people with parents, but my mom is gone. I've struggled with porn since I was exposed as a child. My wife knew about it, but we didn't talk about it at length. It was revealed again weeks ago and my wife was crushed. Where do we go from here? How do I get unstuck when my wife and son live in another part of the country, my mom and dad have passed, and my brother committed suicide 4 years ago? My husband devastated me by saying he wasn't in love with me.

If you're looking for a nice, happy and joyful study, you came to the wrong place. The truth is that there is a time to mourn and that's exactly what this book is. Mourning over the sins of a nation rebelling against God. 

Reading Lamentations 1:12-22 where the singer mourns over the suffering he is enduring because of his rebellion against God, crying out that God would deliver. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

As we continue moving through June's theme of empowerment and trusting the direction we're headed, this week's Akashic guidance asks a powerful question:✨ What are you paying attention to?The Records describe this as a time of heightened focus, mental clarity, visualization, and conscious intention. There is strong support right now for becoming more aware of where your energy is flowing—not only your fears or your gratitude, but the influences, thoughts, stories, and possibilities that you are allowing to shape your reality.In this episode, we explore:

WE. ARE. BACK. After an unexpected delay, the Coastline Covenant Podcast is BACK with a MAJOR conversation about MINOR prophets. Hunter and Shawn talk about justice, the role of the prophet in the Old Testament and today, politics (!!), and healthy civic engagement. Allegedly, the reading for today Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Isaiah but they mostly use that as context for everything they discuss. Can't overstate how awesome this conversation is. Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose.For the next episode, make sure you have read 2 Kings 25 Psalm 137, Lamentations 3, and Jeremiah 29.As always: don't forget to leave a voice memo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ right here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or email Hunter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ hbabcock@coastline.family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Dave Parr brings our series Let Us Pray? to a close, reflecting on the importance of lament as a prayer practice. Bible text: Lamentations 1:7-11

Que raconte le Livre des Lamentations ? Pourquoi Jérémie est-il toujours en train de chouiner ? Quel est le rapport avec le Mur des Lamentations, à Jérusalem ?Réponse avec Don McLean, Garou, Mahalia Jackson, Mozart, Lara Fabian et une figure de style un peu technique dont on vous explique posément la signification et les effets.Direction l'Ancien Testament, on va lâcher notre larme, contempler des ruines et re-bosser notre alphabet : bienvenue dans cet épisode #124 de notre podcast biblardo-culturello-référencé.Bonne écoute !!!Découvrez les chefs-d'œuvre que les Écritures ont inspirés - www.prixm.org Nos fabrications-maison : Articles | Podcasts | YouTube | InstagramPRIXM vit grâce à la générosité de ses lecteurs et donateurs : soutenir le projetHébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

On today's episode of Back Porch Theology, Lisa, Allison, and Dr. Howard journey through Jeremiah and Lamentations, exploring the prophetic power of humility, obedience, and unwavering faithfulness in difficult seasons. This rich conversation reminds us that even in our deepest lamentations, God remains faithful, forgiving, and near to the brokenhearted. Pull up a chair - we're so glad you are here.

Bridge from Habakkuk to Lamentations

WHEN SEASONS CHANGE |  MAY 31, 2026Pastor Wes Morris Joshua 1:1-9 (NLT) After the death of Moses the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you...no one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”√  EVERY NEW SEASON REQUIRES A NEW SURRENDER.Joshua 1:1-9 (NLT) After the death of Moses the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead...”√  THE SEASON MAY CHANGE, BUT THE SOURCE STAYS THE SAME.Joshua 1:5 (NLT) As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. √  GOD DOESN‘T GIVE US EVERY DETAIL, BUT HE ALWAYS GIVES US HIMSELF. Joshua 1:9 (NIV) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.WHEN SEASONS CHANGEI. GRIEVE WHAT ENDED, BUT DON'T GET STUCK THERE.Joshua 1:1 (MSG) God spoke to Joshua, Moses' assistant: “Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people."Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 (NIV) There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.II. LET GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS BE YOUR FOUNDATION.Joshua 1:5 (NLT) As I was with Moses, so I will be with you...Lamentations 3:18-23 (TLB) All hope is gone; my strength has turned to water, for the Lord has left me. Oh, remember the bitterness and suffering you have dealt to me! For I can never forget these awful years; always my soul will live in utter shame.Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord's mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. III. LEAVE TOMORROW IN GOD'S HANDS. Matthew 6:27 (TLB) Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?34 So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.

As we step into June, the energy begins to soften, settle, and align.After months of transformation, release, eclipses, powerful Full Moons, and personal growth, the Akashic Records bring a surprisingly simple message this week:✨ You've pointed yourself in the right direction.In this episode, we explore the energy of aligned momentum, trusting your evolution, and recognizing the subtle but meaningful ways your life may already be changing.The Records shared images of carefully planted garden beds and a car traveling steadily down a highway—symbols of forward movement, clarity, and the power of consistent action.We also explore: 

നിലനിൽക്കുന്ന അനുഗ്രഹങ്ങളുടെ രഹസ്യം | The Key To Lasting Blessings | Malayalam Christian Message | Br. Damien Antony | Morning Glory 1936 | 04 June 2026ജീവിതസാഹചര്യങ്ങൾ മാറിമറിഞ്ഞ് നിങ്ങൾ ആകെ തകർന്നിരിക്കുകയാണോ? കാറ്റും കൊടുങ്കാറ്റും നിറഞ്ഞ ഈ പ്രതിസന്ധിഘട്ടത്തിലും ഒട്ടും മാറിപ്പോകാത്ത, നിങ്ങളെ കൈവിടാത്ത ദൈവത്തിൻ്റെ ശാശ്വതമായ വിശ്വസ്തതയെ മുറുകെപ്പിടിക്കുക!When life's structural shifts threaten your mental peace and spiritual balance, human resilience fails. True spiritual endurance originates entirely from the immutable character of God, the ultimate baseline of absolute confidence. In biblical theology, specifically outlined within Pauline epistles and Old Testament narrative texts like Lamentations chapter 3, we observe a divine attribute that operates entirely outside of human metrics: perfect faithfulness.

On this episode of Raising Fatherless Kids, Lori welcomes Mark Vroegop, president of The Gospel Coalition and author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, and Waiting Isn't a Waste. Together, they have a meaningful conversation about grief, suffering, and the biblical practice of lament.After walking through the heartbreaking loss of a stillborn daughter, Mark began to study what Scripture teaches about crying out to God in pain while continuing to trust Him. In this episode, he explains what lament is, why it matters for grieving mothers and fatherless children, and how the Psalms give us language for sorrow, questions, and hope.If you are navigating grief, unanswered questions, or helping your children process loss, this conversation will remind you that God welcomes your tears, hears your prayers, and can be trusted even in the middle of deep pain.Key TakeawaysUnderstanding Lament: A prayer in pain that leads to trustTeaching children to bring their grief to GodTrusting God when life does not make senseFinding hope in the middle of sorrowResources MentionedDark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark VroegopDark Clouds, Deep Mercy Devotional Journal by Mark VroegopWaiting Isn't a Waste by Mark VroegopThe Moon Is Always Round by Jonathan GibsonScripture Referenced:Psalm 13, Psalm 55, Psalm 77, Lamentations chapter 3ConnectTo connect with Perspective Ministries and learn more about resources for widows, single mothers, and fatherless children, visit Perspective Ministries.

A conversation about what we've been surprised by, learned personally, and hope to have nurtured in our church collectively, through the 7-week series we just completed in Lamentations.

This is the one we saved for last. After two raw, honest, grace-filled episodes on the parts of motherhood nobody talks about — we brought the whole Women Soaring team together for this final motherhood episode. Tayler, Alora, Mary, and Clarissa. All four of us. All in. Because we believed the most honest conversation deserved the most voices around the table.In this final episode of the motherhood portion of our mini-series Things Christian Women Don't Say Out Loud, we go straight into the question nobody wants to answer out loud: Have you ever looked at your children and felt like you had absolutely nothing left to give?And we answer it. Honestly. Without the performance. Without the pretending. Just four moms who have been in the thick of it — three kids in diapers, 5pm with nothing eaten, the kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix — talking about what actually got them through.In this episode we talk about:What it actually feels like to have nothing left — and what to do in that momentThree kids in diapers, non-stop days, and the survival mode nobody prepares you forWhy "God will never give you more than you can handle" is NOT in the Bible — and what He actually does insteadElisabeth Elliott's "do the next thing" — the only strategy that works when the whole day feels impossibleThe sanctifying power of being given more than you can handleHow to rely on God's strength when your own is completely goneThe mom job description nobody signed up for — but billions of women are living every single dayFinding your community even when it doesn't look like what you expectedWhat happens when you show up anyway — and God meets you thereThe closing prayer over every mom listening who is running on empty right nowScripture anchors:Lamentations 3:22-23 — "His mercies are new every morning."2 Corinthians 12:9 — "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."This episode ends with a prayer over you. Over the mom who is barely holding on. Over the mom who hasn't eaten since breakfast. Over the mom who just needs someone to see her today. We see you. God sees you. And His mercies are new tomorrow.

Pain may be loud, but it doesn't get the final word. In “Help Is on the Way,” Sarah Jakes Roberts reminds us that God never asks us to ignore our pain, but He invites us to bring it into His presence. Gratitude and grief can exist in the same heart, and trusting God in the process is how we walk through it with Him. In John 14 and Lamentations 3, we discover how hope is born in the middle of hardship, why pain doesn't have to paralyze your praise, and how the Holy Spirit serves as your advocate, helper, and guide. When Jeremiah's soul was sinking, God's faithfulness lifted his perspective, and He can do the same for you. If you're navigating disappointment, grief, uncertainty, or simply waiting on God, this message will strengthen your faith and remind you that His mercy is still at work. Message: “Help Is on the Way” Scripture: John 14:25-26, Lamentations 3:20-24 (NKJV) Speaker: Sarah Jakes Roberts Date: May 31, 2026 ✨ Welcome to Your Moment of Transformation You don't have to walk this journey alone. Let Jesus guide your steps and fill your life with purpose and peace.

Pain may be loud, but it doesn't get the final word. In “Help Is on the Way,” Sarah Jakes Roberts reminds us that God never asks us to ignore our pain, but He invites us to bring it into His presence. Gratitude and grief can exist in the same heart, and trusting God in the process is how we walk through it with Him. In John 14 and Lamentations 3, we discover how hope is born in the middle of hardship, why pain doesn't have to paralyze your praise, and how the Holy Spirit serves as your advocate, helper, and guide. When Jeremiah's soul was sinking, God's faithfulness lifted his perspective, and He can do the same for you. If you're navigating disappointment, grief, uncertainty, or simply waiting on God, this message will strengthen your faith and remind you that His mercy is still at work. Message: “Help Is on the Way” Scripture: John 14:25-26, Lamentations 3:20-24 (NKJV) Speaker: Sarah Jakes Roberts Date: May 31, 2026 ✨ Welcome to Your Moment of Transformation You don't have to walk this journey alone. Let Jesus guide your steps and fill your life with purpose and peace.

Send us Fan MailIn our series “Crafting a Life that Shines” we have considered that it requires a “right beginning,” “right habits,” a “right identity,” and today we will hear about the importance of a “right attitude.” Philippians 2:5-16; Matthew 5:14-16"Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:21PODCAST HOME: daretohopepodcast.buzzsprout.com/EMAIL: hope@dare2hope.lifeFACEBOOK: Dare to Hope MinistriesWEB: www.dare2hope.lifeBOOK: "Mapping a Life of Hope" Order here: https://a.co/d/0gj9wVif

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 Mercy = Not getting what YOU DESERVE. “To be let OFF THE HOOK.” Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. CARRYING HIS OWN CROSS, he went out to the place of the Skull. John 19:16-17 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 #1 Mercy CARRIES Mercy PICKS UP A WEIGHT someone else was supposed to CARRY THEMSELVES. Mercy is less about giving someone a piece of your MIND, and more about giving someone a piece of your HEART. Have I prioritized a relationship of mercy, or of justice? Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:32-34 #2 Mercy SEES. Mercy sees PEOPLE how God sees PEOPLE. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image. Psalm 139:14 I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry,‘Mine!'” - Abraham Kuyper Mercy sees SOULS, not ISSUES. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 People aren't your PROBLEM, they're your CALLING. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don't you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:39-43 #3 Mercy FREES Mercy = FORGIVENESS For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 You simply cannot be MERCIFUL if you cannot FORGIVE. If you can extend FORGIVENESS, God will overflow you with His MERCY.

Sermons from our Sunday Services at St.Peter's Free Church, Dundee

This sermon addresses the reality of depression in the Christian life, challenging both the cultural tendency to remain stuck in despair and the church's historical failure to acknowledge mental health struggles. Pastor Blake establishes that depression is a normal human experience documented throughout Scripture, affecting even great biblical figures like David, Jeremiah, Moses, Elijah, and Paul. The core message emphasizes that while it's okay to not be okay, God's purpose is not for believers to remain in that state. Depression often convinces us that tomorrow will look the same as today, but hope reminds us that God isn't finished working. Through the lens of Lamentations, the sermon demonstrates how acknowledging our emotions honestly before God—without hiding or numbing them—opens the door to healing. The message concludes with practical steps for fighting depression, including gratitude journaling, community engagement, and remembering God's unfailing compassion and promises.

Imagine a life of faithful church attendance, Bible reading, and devoted service — only to one day discover that the works you built were consumed by fire, reduced to ash, because they were constructed on something other than a fully surrendered heart. In this sobering and Spirit-stirring episode, Keneesha Saunders Liddie calls us to do something most of us quietly avoid: look honestly in the mirror. Not just to see what's there, but to do something about it. Because self-examination without repentance and return is just self-awareness — and God calls us to so much more. Drawing from the grief-soaked book of Lamentations, Keneesha points to Jerusalem in ruins — a people whose neglect of God's goodness, whose murmuring and complaining, had left them exposed to judgment and devastation. The haunting question she raises for each of us is this: are we sitting in our comfortable filth longer than we should? The good news is that the same God who allowed Jerusalem's ruin also made a way for its restoration. He is calling us back — to examine our ways, to test our hearts, and to return to Him so He can restore, cleanse, and renew us. Today's Bible Verse "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." — Lamentations 3:40, NIV Ponder Today Self-examination is not optional for the believer — it's a daily discipline. We are called not merely to reflect on our condition but to act on what we find, returning fully to the Lord from whatever is hindering us. Looking in the mirror means nothing if you walk away unchanged. James warns that hearing the Word without doing it is self-deception. The goal of honest self-examination is always repentance and return — not just recognition. Murmuring and complaining reveal a heart that has stopped noticing God's goodness. Jerusalem's downfall began with neglecting to reflect on what God had done. Gratitude is not just a spiritual discipline — it is a safeguard against spiritual drift. We often stand in the way of our own restoration. When we choose to sit in comfortable sin rather than return to God, we delay the very healing and renewal He is ready to bring. Don't stay in the ruins longer than you need to. God inhabits the praises of His people. Even in the middle of trials and difficulty, turning complaint into praise is not denial — it is an act of faith that invites God's presence into your circumstances. A Prayer for You Today Heavenly Father, I humbly bow before You, first thanking You for Your goodness toward me. Search me, O God — if there is any wicked way within me, restore me to You. Forgive me for everything I have done against You, and reveal the places in my life where my motives and intentions have been wrong. Draw me back to You. Help me to praise You when I feel like complaining, and give me the wisdom to turn my difficulties into worship. I want to live a life fully surrendered to You — examining myself often, so that my life may reflect holy consecration unto You. In Jesus' name, Amen. Don't Miss an Episode If today's prayer stirred a desire for a deeper, more honest walk with God, we'd love to stay connected. Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and more content to keep your heart surrendered and your faith growing every day. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We welcome Matthew Vogan to discuss The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray, a concise seventeenth-century work on Presbyterian ecclesiology republished by Grange Press. Brown, a Scottish Covenanter exiled to the Netherlands, wrote with deep conviction about Christ's headship over the church, the visible and invisible church, church government, discipline, unity, and the distinction between church and state. This conversation explores why Brown's work remains timely for pastors, elders, seminarians, and church members today. Rather than treating church government as a secondary or merely practical matter, Brown presents the church as a visible spiritual society established by Christ, governed by his Word, and ordered for the edification of his people. Watch on YouTube Chapters 0:00 Introduction 1:15 The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray 4:30 John Brown's life, ministry, exile, and Covenanter context 8:40 Matthew Vogan's introduction to John Brown 9:36 Brown's 32 theses and the Westminster Confession 10:54 A majestic view of Christ's church 12:33 The scope of Brown's ecclesiology 15:12 The church as a visible spiritual society 21:43 Church and state under Christ's authority 27:08 Scripture and Presbyterian church government 30:53 Brown's polemics against Erastianism, prelacy, and independency 35:00 Ministerial authority and edification 39:17 The church's spiritual government 42:14 The spirituality of the church 44:59 Key insights from Brown's work 46:06 Communion within the visible catholic church 52:21 Further reading: Durham, Gillespie, Rutherford, and Bannerman 53:55 Final thoughts on The Nature of the Church 55:00 Scottish football and closing conversation 56:57 Reformed Forum resources and conclusion Participants Camden Bucey Matthew Vogan Resources mentioned Grange Press The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray Trinitarian Bible Society Christ the Center 682: David Dickson's Sermons on Lamentations

We welcome Matthew Vogan to discuss The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray, a concise seventeenth-century work on Presbyterian ecclesiology republished by Grange Press. Brown, a Scottish Covenanter exiled to the Netherlands, wrote with deep conviction about Christ's headship over the church, the visible and invisible church, church government, discipline, unity, and the distinction between church and state.This conversation explores why Brown's work remains timely for pastors, elders, seminarians, and church members today. Rather than treating church government as a secondary or merely practical matter, Brown presents the church as a visible spiritual society established by Christ, governed by his Word, and ordered for the edification of his people.Watch on YouTubeChapters0:00 Introduction1:15 The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray4:30 John Brown's life, ministry, exile, and Covenanter context8:40 Matthew Vogan's introduction to John Brown9:36 Brown's 32 theses and the Westminster Confession10:54 A majestic view of Christ's church12:33 The scope of Brown's ecclesiology15:12 The church as a visible spiritual society21:43 Church and state under Christ's authority27:08 Scripture and Presbyterian church government30:53 Brown's polemics against Erastianism, prelacy, and independency35:00 Ministerial authority and edification39:17 The church's spiritual government42:14 The spirituality of the church44:59 Key insights from Brown's work46:06 Communion within the visible catholic church52:21 Further reading: Durham, Gillespie, Rutherford, and Bannerman53:55 Final thoughts on The Nature of the Church55:00 Scottish football and closing conversation56:57 Reformed Forum resources and conclusionParticipantsCamden BuceyMatthew VoganResources mentionedGrange PressThe Nature of the Church by John Brown of WamphrayTrinitarian Bible SocietyChrist the Center 682: David Dickson's Sermons on Lamentations

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Reading Lamentations 1:1-11 where Jerusalem sits and weeps because she is all alone, God having turned her over to her enemies after she went after false gods. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” — Lamentations 3:21 Memory is frequently the bondslave of despondency. Despairing minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past, and dilate upon every gloomy feature in the present; thus memory, clothed in sackcloth, presents to the mind a cup of mingled gall and […]

This episode is presented by Create A Video – A caller from the last hour spewed so much dumbassery that he lit up the text line and phone lines. But at the core of his silly accusations and assertions is an idea that fueled modern Leftism: a belief that America is bad and it should be taken down a few pegs. So, while caller Tony might not have been able to articulate a cogent argument, his view is pervasive on the political Left.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-kaliner-show--6946691/support.Subscribe to the podcast My preferred podcast platform: SpreakerAll the links to Pete's Prep are free!Get exclusive content here!Media Bias Check: GroundNews promo code!Advertising and Booking inquiries: Pete@ThePeteKalinerShow.com  

Today, Amy talks about bringing back boredom and the benefits of ridding ourselves of distractions to better hear and wait upon the Lord. References: Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 30:15-18; 2 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 40:31; Lamentations 3:25; Psalm 33:20; Matthew 6:19-21 Contact us: devotedpodcast@atheycreek.com women@atheycreek.com https://atheycreek.com/ministries/women Follow us on IG: @atheywomen @ammcreynolds

Episode Summary: Have you ever felt like life knocked you down so hard you weren’t sure you’d ever get back up again? Today’s guest, Greg J. Horn, knows that kind of pain firsthand. After losing three close friends to suicide and experiencing the devastating collapse of his own business, marriage, and home—all within 24 hours—Greg was left at rock bottom. But God met him there. From that place of brokenness, a new ministry was born: Hope is Here. Today on Your Hope-Filled Perspective, Greg shares how to move from fear to hope, how gratitude can transform our outlook, and how we can live each day with a renewed sense of purpose. Quotables from the episode: I lost my business, my home, and my marriage in about a 24-hour period and I’ll say it, I was hopeless. Honestly, my faith in Jesus is what really kept me alive during that season.” Fear, we see it, but so many times it’s not real. Even though I did feel fearful, I could stay hopeful as I read God’s Word and didn’t give in to my feelings of fear. Biblical hope is when you say, ‘God, even though I don’t see You working, and I don’t feel You working, I’m going to trust You because You are my source of hope.’ I can tell you now on the other side of it, 20 years later, that all things do work together.” No matter how hopeless it may look, no matter how hopeless it may feel, God truly will use all of it for His glory. As I leaned into Jesus, He slowly but surely started healing the broken pieces of my heart and my mind. You have to choose to be resilient, but with Jesus’ help you can do that. Instead of asking why so much, say, ‘God, what do You want me to learn from this, and how can I be a blessing to other people through it?’ God, through this process, gave me an acronym when I started Hope Is Here, the word HOPE: H-Hold On --everything can change in 24 hours. I mean, something can change for the better. Yes, it can change for the worse, just like my situation did, but just to simply hold on. know God may show up in a way that'll just blow your mind and give you hope, even though things seem hopeless at the time. O-Open up to at least one person--So many times the enemy lies to it and just says, you know, this is hopeless, you're never going to climb out of this situation. And I'm thankful that I was able to open up the others and tell them when I was hopeless and having suicidal thoughts. And that was just amazing the difference that made. Once again, Jesus modeled that when he asked Peter, James, and John, hey man, I've got this overwhelming situation. P-shift your perspective and do something different/put yourself in a new environment E-Expect to see change Scripture References: Romans 15:13 (NIV) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Psalm 27:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in you, Lord, and I am helped." Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge God and he will make your path straight.” Psalm 118:24 “"This is the day the Lord has made. I shall be glad and rejoice in it.” Galatians 6:9 “"Do not grow weary and doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up." Proverbs 11:25 “Those who refresh others will be refreshed.” Lamentations 3:21–23 (NIV) “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Recommended Resources: Recommended Resources: Hope is Here Today Radio Show and Podcast, WJMM 99.1FM 8:15am and 12:45pm daily Sacred Scars: Resting in God’s Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Free Study Guide Free PDF Resource: How to Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Free Webinar: Help for When You’re Feeling Blue Social Media Links for Host and Guest: Connect with Greg Horn: Website / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / X Connect with Dr. Bengtson: Order Book Sacred Scars / Order Book The Hem of His Garment / Order Book Today is Going to be a Good Day / Order Book Breaking Anxiety’s Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson) / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube / Podcast on Apple Guest: Greg Horn is best known as an encourager, coach, motivator, and speaker. He speaks regularly to organizations, civic groups and churches on the topics of fear, gratitude, and hope. He also hosts the radio show and podcast, Hope is Here, that broadcasts daily, Monday through Friday on multiple radio stations in Central Kentucky. His ministry, Hope is Here, began in December 2017 from a holy discontent that was growing within in him after losing three friends to suicide. Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson Audio Technical Support: Ashton Bengtson Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.