Read: Lamentations 3:13-26

Perhaps the most painful statement a person can hear is, “I don’t love you anymore.” Those words end relationships, break hearts, and shatter dreams. Often, people who have been betrayed guard themselves against future pain by deciding not to trust anyone’s love again. That settled conviction may even include the love of God.

The remarkable thing about God’s love for us is His promise that it will never end. The prophet Jeremiah experienced devastating circumstances that left him emotionally depleted (Lam. 3:13-20). His own people rejected his repeated calls to respond to God’s love and follow Him. At a low point, Jeremiah said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord” (v.18).

Yet, in his darkest hour Jeremiah considered God’s unfailing love and wrote, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lam. 3:22-24). A person may vow to love us forever yet fail to keep that promise, but God’s love remains steadfast and sure. “He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). That’s a love we can trust.

Read: Genesis 1

When he was a teenager, my son asked me one of those questions that make you earn your pay as a parent. “Dad,” Steve inquired, “if God has existed for eternity, what was He doing before He created the universe?”

So, what was happening in the eons before “God created the heavens and the earth”? (Gen. 1:1). For one thing, we know that there was “wisdom” before creation itself, which came from God’s character. Wisdom, personified in Proverbs 8:23, said, “I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.”

Also, we know that God’s salvation plan of grace was in the works before the world was hung in its place. In 2 Timothy 1:9, we read that grace “was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Likewise, Titus 1:2 says that eternal life was promised “before time began.” We also know that Jesus was glorified and loved in God’s presence “before the world was” (John 17:5; see also v.24).

These tiny glimpses of God before He created the earth help us see a little of the essence and magnitude of our awesome, eternal God. We see His majesty and greatness. Amazing, isn’t it? We worship a God who existed from the beginning . . . and beyond.

Read: 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Recently I was reading about how easy it is to mishandle the message of the Bible. We may try to make it support what we already believe is true instead of allowing it to speak to us with God’s intended message. Some people use the Bible to defend one side of an issue, while others use the Bible to attack that same issue. Both quote Scripture to support their views, but both can’t be right.

It is important as we use God’s Word that we are committed to saying no more and no less than the Scriptures actually say. If we mishandle the Word, we misrepresent it, which ultimately misrepresents God’s character. This is why Paul challenged Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). A key priority for unashamed, approved workers for Christ is to accurately interpret (“rightly divide”) God’s Word. As we study, we can depend on the Spirit, who inspired it, to give us understanding and wisdom.

Through our words and actions, we have opportunity to represent God’s Word in ways that genuinely reflect God’s heart. That is one of the greatest privileges of the Christian life.

Read: Psalm 23

I’ve heard people say, “I’m not afraid of death because I’m confident that I’m going to heaven; it’s the dying process that scares me!” Yes, as Christians, we look forward to heaven but may be afraid of dying. We need not be ashamed to admit that. It is natural to be afraid of the pain that comes with dying, of being separated from our loved ones, of possibly impoverishing our families, and of regret over missed earthly opportunities.

Why don’t Christians need to be afraid of death? Because Jesus was raised from the grave, and we who are in Christ will also be raised. That is why in 1 Corinthians 15:56-57, Paul proclaimed: “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The dying process itself is but an escort that ushers us into eternity with God. As we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” we can have this confidence from God’s Word: “You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4). The picture here is of the Lord coming alongside us, giving comfort and direction as He escorts us through the dark valley to the “house of the Lord.” There we will dwell with Him forever (v.6).