In this study

Hope amid seeming hopelessness (Hosea 14)2 steps to repentance: turn away, turn towardFaithful in compassion (Micah 7:18–20)The most important of what was lost in correction will be restored in compassion (Joel 2:15–27)

The Torah section וַיֵּלֶךְ Vayelech (“he went,” Deuteronomy 31) discusses Moses giving the mantle of leadership to Yehoshua ben Nun (Joshua son of Nun).

It’s a good reminder that human leaders come and go. There are some who were really good, some who were really bad and some in between. No matter what administration is in charge of things where you live, it is the Rock of Israel, who is the most dependable king.

We see that in people such as the patriarch Joseph, who was Pharaoh’s right hand. Joseph was dependable and Pharaoh knew it. The same was true for the Prophet Daniel. He was a rock-solid, dependable man. Both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius sought out and followed his counsel. Both men had been slaves, they were captive and subjugated. Yet, because of their noteworthy character and God’s hand upon them, they were elevated into positions of great responsibility, and also great favor.

Yeshua (Jesus) told a parable about building one’s house on the sand compared to building one’s house on the rock (Matt. 7:21–27; Luke 6:46–49). If you want to be a real leader of men (and women), building your life upon an opinion poll is not how to do it. You can put your finger and make decisions based on which way the winds blowing and then going in that direction. That’s not the way to live your life.

So many in our country have allowed their moral judgements to be unmoored from reality. What many in America thought was dependable has proven unreliable. Ecclesiastes warns us about chasing after things that are vain and not lasting.

This brings us back to looking at what is dependable. If we spend our time cultivating friends online, for example, when hard times come to us, either by our mistakes or by life challenges, these “friends” turn out to be quite unreal and unreliable. Those connections we thought were real are often fake and vacuous.

Often, it’s only when we have run out of luck, when we are at the bottom, that we are ready to remember and practice every words that proceeds from the mouth of God. We ponder, guard and protect them.

Think about it as “spiritual gravity.” One of the laws of thermodynamics is that things will tend to go from order to chaos; they’ll go from heat to cold. For example, if you leave your dinner out on the table, and it was cold, it just doesn’t suddenly get hot. However if the dinner starts out hot, then you set it on the table, it will get cold.

Likewise, with our spiritual lives, we can start out hot and go cold. Yeshua, in one of His admonitions to the seven congregations in Revelation, warns about the spiritual dangers of being lukewarm. He says, “I wish you were either hot or cold” (Rev. 3:14–22). What is in between hot and cold is what we call lukewarm and Yeshua warns strongly against this.

It’s very clear where you are this lukewarm thing where you’re neither hot nor cold,