The holy city, Jerusalem, has fallen into the sacrilegious hands of unbelievers. Read slowly and soberly about the fall of the city. The date is July 18, 586 B.C.

Chapter 39, verse 18 rises up in hope. Jeremiah models for us the sense of comfort and safety that comes when we place our complete trust in the Lord. Reflect upon your own life. How does it move in relation to the kind of trust that you place in God?

Evil and tragedy continue as the wicked Ishmael betrays and murders the good governor, Gedaliah, as they break bread together. Jealousy and strife ravage the remnant of God’s people. What little is left becomes even smaller by the treachery of Ishmael. Read. Be sobered.

Jeremiah 39—41

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Lent this year we read Jeremiah 36-52.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Praying for those who suffer 39:1ff

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

We long to be reconciled to God. The sacrifice and burning of various animals correspond to various kinds of sin; this is the Bible’s way of calling the people to repent from sin without further consequences. They were the acts of contrition whereby one could turn from sin and live again in communion with God and God’s people. Fire made the burnt offering become a sweet smelling smoke ascending into the air, blending with the presence of God all about.

Face your sin. Confess it. In so doing, you celebrate the gratuitous fact that God has already forgiven you in Jesus. When you repent, the Lord burns your sins away with his love, for he has gathered all sin into himself. The blood of Christ shed for you, turns sorrow for sin into a sweet smelling smoke rising from the cross.

Leviticus 4:27—5:26

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Sin burned away by Your love

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Darkness closes in upon the highest religious officials, their vision squeezed into the tiny, dimly lit room of their own self-interest. So is the atmosphere after the raising of Lazarus from the dead as we begin the Friday Gospels of John in Lent this year. The plot to kill Jesus is fashioned. The Scribes and Pharisees are about to succumb to the temptations of power and control, just as did their ancestors in the desert—the same desert temptations that Jesus overcame.

John the Evangelist fills the account with ironic verses, such as verse 50. God is about to use the most hideous of evil plots as a plot to glory. From the greatest evil will rise the greatest good—the resurrection.

John 11:45–57

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Dispersed gathered into one v. 52

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In Lent and Easter we read the Gospel of John.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.