Jeremiah 29:11 - ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah wrote his book during a time when the nation of Israel was in a state of falling away from God.  At that point in history, they had departed from God’s perfect plan.  God had warned them many times of the consequences He could already see.  On this occasion, the Lord was using the prophet Jeremiah to speak this warning – yet they persisted in unbelief.  Because of their disobedience, a foreign empire, the Babylonians, oppressed them.  They could have avoided this affliction if they had simply listened to and obeyed the voice of the Lord.   

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“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord , who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

Every day we see sensational events reported in the news – sometimes horrifying disasters and calamities, other times important scientific breakthroughs or personal triumphs.  We cannot ignore these events, but at the same time our relationship with the Lord should remain constant regardless of what happens around us.  The events of this life, and the situations we encounter in this world, are merely temporary.  Our eternal inheritance is the only thing that lasts forever.  We strive to keep this eternal perspective – the most important thing is the constancy of the Lord’s love for us, and His eternal plan for us, even if we live in an age of turmoil and change.   continue

Psalm 91:1  - “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…”

This verse has two halves with three words each in the original Hebrew.  This parallel structure, listed in columns below, is very common in Hebrew poetry.   Each word in the first half of the verse has a corresponding word in the second half to compare/contrast.  This study focuses on the second half of the verse.

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