The human habit of boasting

 

We live in a world that seems to reward noise. From politicians to athletes to influencers, the message is the same: promote yourself, celebrate yourself, trust yourself. Even ordinary people feel the pressure to live a life worth boasting about. Yet for all the noise, something inside us knows the truth—boasting is a fragile shield. It cracks the moment the pressures of life expose our weakness.

A quiet but unmistakable fact runs through the whole Bible. When a person finally stands before God, they will have nothing to boast about.

The gospel speaks about this with a clarity that startles and is liberating. When we meet God, boasting will be excluded. Not reduced. Not moderated. Excluded.

The End of Self‑Confidence

Paul writes, "That no flesh should boast before God" (1 Corinthians 1:29). It's a sobering thought. The very things we cling to—our achievements, our morality, our religious efforts—collapse in the presence of a holy God. Abraham himself, the great patriarch of faith, had nothing in his natural life that could earn him favour (Romans 4:2). If he couldn't boast, who can?

This is where the gospel begins: with the honest admission that we bring nothing. Not a shred of righteousness. Not a drop of merit. Not a single reason for God to accept us.

And strangely, this is not the point where hope ends—it's where it begins.

Storm Damage

 

So many storms

 

It has been one storm after another for weeks on end, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. On the east coast huge waves have pounded the sea walls and great fountains of spray have been shooting above the harbours and into the towns. It was spectacular to watch. Some brave souls tried to catch it on camera, but didn’t dare go too close! The fishing boats have hardly had a clear day to get to sea and some of their gear left in the sea has been destroyed. 

 

Sea walls along the coast have been badly damaged in some places. At Dysart the harbour wall was breached and now requires urgent repair, while along this way several stone-built retaining walls which have withstood storms for many years have been undermined and broken through, with the soft bank behind now crumbling into the sea. The foundations and the fabric are subject to terrible stress at times like these. There is so much force in these raging waves of the sea, spectacular and beautiful maybe, but devastating and costly to many people who might have thought they were safe enough.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Jeremiah

 

Jeremiah is the prophet who lets us hear the heartbeat of God—broken, grieving, pleading, yet unrelentingly loving and determined to save. Everything else flows from that centre.

Jeremiah’s Message in One Line

A holy God weeps over a wandering people, calls them to return, warns them of judgment, and promises a new covenant fulfilled in Christ.

The Shape of the Book: History, Biography, Prophecy

Jeremiah is not a neat, linear book. It is a woven tapestry of:

• History — the final decades of Judah before the Babylonian exile.

• Biography — Jeremiah’s own tears, imprisonments, beatings, family rejection, and lonely obedience.

• Prophecy — God’s warnings, pleadings, judgments, and breathtaking promises of restoration.

Jeremiah ministers during the same turbulent era as Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel—each speaking for God in different places and circumstances, yet all echoing the same divine heartbeat: “Return to Me.”

The Weeping Prophet and the Broken Heart of God

Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet”, not because he was naturally emotional, but because he felt what God felt. His tears were the overflow of divine grief.

• He weeps over the nation’s sin (Jer 9:1).

• He weeps over the coming judgment (Jer 13:17).

• He weeps because the people will not listen (Jer 8:18–22).

This anticipates the Lord Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), was rejected by His own (John 1:11), and suffered for speaking truth (John 7:7). Jeremiah’s life is a shadow of the Man of Sorrows who would come (Isa 53:3).

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Isaiah

 

The book of Isaiah stands like a great mountain in the Old Testament, and at its summit shines the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many have rightly called it "the Gospel of the Old Testament" because it proclaims—seven centuries before Bethlehem—the good news of a coming Saviour: His birth, His character, His ministry, His sufferings, His death, and His resurrection. Isaiah speaks as a prophet, a preacher, and, at times, almost an evangelist, pointing forward to the Lord Jesus with remarkable clarity.

The Gospel Thread Running Through Isaiah

Isaiah's message can be gathered around several great themes that anticipate the New Testament revelation of Christ. Each theme is rooted in Isaiah's prophecy and confirmed by the apostles.

1. The Virgin-Born Son: God's Sign to the World

Isaiah begins the Gospel story by announcing a miraculous conception.

• Isaiah 7:14 — "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

• Fulfilment: Matthew 1:22–23 quotes this directly, identifying Jesus as the promised Immanuel—God with us.

This is not merely a prediction of an unusual conception; it is the declaration that God Himself would step into human history. Isaiah's Gospel begins with grace: God comes near.