Sunday, February 22, 2026
Saturday, February 21, 2026
A Father’s Cry, A Prophet’s Burden, A Savior’s Cross
There’s a moment in the life of David that’s hard to read without feeling it.
His son—Absalom—is gone.
And David cries:
“O my son Absalom… would God I had died for thee.”
It’s not theology.
It’s not doctrine.
It’s a father undone.
And yet, in that cry, there’s something deeper—
a longing that has no way to fulfill itself.
David loves…
but he cannot save.
The Same Heart in the Prophets
As you move through the prophets, that same weight shows up again—but now it’s not just one son.
It’s a nation.
Through men like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you start to see it:
-
warnings given
-
rejection returned
-
judgment coming
But underneath it all…
there’s grief.
Not cold anger.
Not distant judgment.
Something closer to:
“Why will ye die?”
The prophets aren’t just delivering messages.
They’re carrying the weight of a people who won’t listen.
It begins to feel familiar.
Like David… but larger.
From Wish to Promise
Then something shifts.
In the middle of warnings and judgments, a different note appears.
Isaiah speaks of one who will:
-
bear griefs
-
carry sorrows
-
be wounded for others
Now the thought that lived in David’s heart—
“I wish I could take his place”—
is no longer just a feeling.
It becomes a promise.
Where It All Meets
Then you arrive at the cross.
And what David could not do…
what the prophets could only speak of…
Jesus Christ does.
Not for a son who loved him—
but for those who rejected him.
Not after judgment—
but to bear it.
Not as a cry of sorrow—
but as a willing offering.
And Then—Something David Never Saw
David’s story with Absalom ends in grief.
The prophets often end in warning.
But the cross does not end there.
There is a resurrection.
Death is not the final word.
The place where love seemed to lose—
becomes the place where it overcomes.
A Thread Worth Following
David shows us the heart of a father.
The prophets show us the heart of God toward a people.
The cross shows us that heart acted out in full.
Not forced connections.
Not strained parallels.
Just a line that runs quietly through Scripture:
From a cry…
to a burden…
to a finished work.
Something to Consider
David said:
“Would I had died for thee.”
The prophets pointed forward.
Christ said:
“It is finished.”
Friday, February 20, 2026
Character Witness: Enoch — Walking Into the Unseen
Some lives in Scripture are loud.
Others are almost silent… yet they speak across the whole Bible.
Enoch is one of those.
A Man Who Walked With God
We’re introduced to Enoch in Genesis in the middle of a genealogy—a list most people read quickly.
But then the pattern breaks:
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
That’s it.
No battles.
No sermons recorded.
No long story.
Just this: he walked with God.
And then—he was gone.
Not Just Living… Walking
A lot of people in Genesis “lived.”
Enoch walked.
That word matters. Walking implies:
-
direction
-
relationship
-
agreement
It’s not a moment—it’s a life.
In a world that was quickly descending into corruption before the flood, Enoch lived differently. Quietly, steadily, consistently aligned with God.
The Commentary in Hebrews
The New Testament gives us insight we wouldn’t otherwise have. In Hebrews 11, Enoch is pulled forward as a witness:
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death…”
Now we understand:
-
His walk was by faith
-
His removal was not random—it was pleasing to God
The passage goes further:
“For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
Enoch didn’t just believe God existed—he lived in a way that agreed with Him.
A Pre-Flood Voice
There’s also a small but important note in Jude:
Enoch prophesied…
That tells us something surprising:
Enoch wasn’t just walking—he was warning.
Before the flood ever came, there was already a voice saying:
-
judgment is real
-
God sees
-
accountability is coming
So while Genesis gives us a quiet picture, the New Testament lets us hear his voice.
Taken, Not Lost
“God took him.”
That phrase sets Enoch apart from everyone else in that chapter.
Over and over Genesis says:
“and he died… and he died… and he died…”
But not Enoch.
He becomes a living testimony that:
-
death is not the final authority
-
fellowship with God is stronger than the grave
He didn’t escape reality—he stepped into a greater one.
A Witness of What Faith Looks Like
Enoch’s life answers a simple but deep question:
What does faith look like when no one is watching?
Not dramatic moments.
Not public displays.
Just a steady walk with God in the middle of a broken world.
A Quiet Foreshadow
Without forcing it, you can see why Enoch stands out in the larger story:
-
He walks with God in a corrupt age
-
He speaks of coming judgment
-
He is taken before that judgment falls
It’s not the full picture—but it’s a pattern worth noticing.
Why Enoch Matters
Enoch doesn’t give us much to analyze—but he gives us something better to consider:
-
Faith is not noise—it’s direction
-
Pleasing God is not complicated—but it is costly
-
A life aligned with God may not make headlines—but it will be seen by Him
Final Thought
Enoch never wrote a book.
Never led a nation.
Never built anything we can point to.
But he walked with God.
And that was enough to leave a testimony that still speaks.
Character Witness: The Open Ending
There’s something unusual about how the Old Testament ends.
Not in our English Bible—but in the way the Scriptures were arranged in the Hebrew tradition. The final words come from 2 Chronicles, and they don’t sound like an ending at all:
“Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.”
Those words are spoken by Cyrus the Great, the king who allowed Israel to return from captivity.
But instead of wrapping everything up neatly, the text leaves us standing at the edge of something unfinished.
An Ending That Feels Like a Beginning
Israel had gone into exile because of disobedience. Now, by God’s mercy, a door had opened.
“Go up.”
Go back to the land.
Go rebuild the temple.
Go restore what was lost.
But if you keep reading the story through Ezra and Nehemiah, something becomes clear:
They returned… but not fully.
They rebuilt… but not completely.
They resumed worship… but something was still missing.
The deeper restoration—the kind the prophets spoke about—had not yet come.
So the Old Testament, in this order, doesn’t close the story.
It leaves it open.
A Long Silence… Then a Voice
Centuries pass.
No new prophets. No new writings. Just expectation.
Then the New Testament opens with the words of Gospel of Matthew:
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David…”
Matthew doesn’t begin with an explanation—he begins with a declaration.
The King has come.
From “Go Up” to “He Has Come”
If you hold these two moments together, a pattern starts to emerge:
-
Chronicles ends with a call to return
-
Matthew begins with the arrival of the King
Chronicles points people back to a physical land and a physical temple.
Matthew points to a person.
What the return from exile could not fully accomplish, Jesus comes to fulfill.
The restoration Israel longed for wasn’t just about geography—it was about redemption.
The Witness of an Unfinished Story
In that sense, Chronicles becomes a kind of “character witness.”
Not by telling us everything—but by leaving something unresolved.
It testifies that:
-
God keeps His promises (they returned)
-
But the promise was always pointing beyond itself
The command “go up” was real and necessary.
But it wasn’t the end of the story.
Why This Matters
It’s easy to read the Bible as a collection of completed moments—finished stories neatly tied together.
But this ending reminds us:
God’s work often moves forward in stages. As it states in Ephesians 3:10.."the manifold wisdom of God..."
What looks complete in one generation may only be preparation for the next.
And sometimes, the most powerful testimony isn’t in what is finished…
…but in what is still waiting to be fulfilled.
A Final Thought
The Old Testament closes with an invitation:
“Let him go up.”
The New Testament opens with an answer:
Jesus Christ has come.
The story didn’t restart—it continued.
And the One who arrived is the fulfillment of everything that was left unfinished.
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Character Witnesses Of Faith. Abel: Faith That Speaks Louder Than Sacrifice
Hebrews 11:4 – “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…”
Have you ever felt unnoticed or overlooked, even when you were doing the right thing? Abel did. In a world where appearances and outward gestures often get attention, Abel reminds us that God sees the heart—and faith matters more than recognition.
Who Was Abel?
Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve, a shepherd living in the shadow of his older brother Cain, a farmer. Though his life was simple and his role seemingly minor, Abel’s story teaches us that faith elevates ordinary acts into extraordinary worship.
Abel’s Act of Faith
Hebrews 11 highlights what made Abel’s offering special: he brought the firstborn of his flock with the right heart, seeking to honor God rather than impress men. His faith was active, obedient, and sincere—even when no one else could see it.
-
Faith in action: Offering the best, not the leftover
-
Faith in principle: Trusting God’s standard, not human approval
-
Faith with risk: Standing rightly while his brother chose wrongly
This faith was so genuine that God accepted Abel’s offering, but Cain’s was rejected. Tragically, Abel’s commitment led to his death at the hands of jealousy—but Hebrews 11 reminds us: “Though he died, he still speaks.”
Lesson from Abel
Abel shows us that faith isn’t measured by size, wealth, or recognition—it’s measured by the heart. True faith honors God, not people. It may not be applauded, and sometimes it may even bring opposition—but God remembers.
Applying Abel’s Faith Today
-
Prioritize heart over show: In work, family, or service, seek God’s approval first.
-
Offer your best: Faithful actions, even small, count for God.
-
Stand firm quietly: Don’t compromise when others take shortcuts.
Your “Abel moments” may seem unnoticed, but your faith has eternal impact. Just as Hebrews 11 says, Abel “still speaks”—his faith echoes beyond the grave.
Reflection Box: Abel’s Character Witness
-
Faith Action: Offered a pleasing sacrifice to God.
-
Faith Lesson: God values sincere faith above outward appearances.
Saturday, February 14, 2026
In the Shadow of Empires: Psalm 44 and the Voices of Suffering
Earlier we looked at how the fall of Egypt at Carchemish and the rise of Babylon shaped the prophetic world of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. But there is another voice, softer yet piercing, that captures the human side of living through these events: Psalm 44.
This psalm reads like a diary of a nation in crisis — a people who remember the victories of the past but now face daily humiliation and suffering. Its words echo the tension we see in Jeremiah as the Babylonian threat looms over Jerusalem and Judah.
Psalm 44 and the Historical Context
Psalm 44 is not a chronological history, but when we line it up with the events Jeremiah witnessed, a pattern emerges:
| Psalm 44 Theme | Corresponding Historical Event |
|---|---|
| Remembering past victories (vv.1–8) | Judah recalls the promises of God and the triumphs of earlier kings, yet contrasts them with current defeat. |
| National defeat and humiliation (vv.9–16) | Babylonian armies sweep through Judah, deporting nobles and craftsmen (597 BC), threatening Jerusalem and temple worship. |
| Scattering among nations (v.11) | Early deportations, captives taken to Babylon; Jeremiah sees the exiles leaving their homeland. |
| Daily suffering, oppression (vv.12–16) | Hunger, fear, and public shame under the shadow of foreign power. |
| Protest of innocence (vv.17–22) | Judah’s faithful remnant cries out: they have not abandoned God, yet judgment still comes — echoing Jeremiah’s lament for a people suffering despite covenant faithfulness. |
| Plea for God’s intervention (vv.23–26) | A cry for rescue and redemption, a hope that mirrors Jeremiah’s visions of restoration (Jeremiah 29:4–14; Jerimiah 32). |
What This Teaches Us
Psalm 44 is powerful because it captures the experience of God’s people under duress:
-
Faithful suffering: They are not rebelling, yet feel crushed.
-
Covenant awareness: They remember God’s promises and their identity as His people.
-
Hope in crisis: Even in humiliation, the psalmist calls for God to act.
When read alongside Jeremiah, we see the human side of prophecy — the fear, the protest, the faithful persistence in hope.
