Ezekiel had a vision of God restoring life to dry bones, a picture of his ability to restore anything.  Yet we struggle with discouragement and hopelessness because we don't believe that he can restore  things in our lives.  God wants us to grow in  trusting him and his ability to restore everything we really need.

The final kings of Judah provide vivid picture of what it means to be hard or soft-hearted toward God. The Christmas story also features the soft hearts magi and hard hearts of Herod and the religious leaders but the softest heart of all was Jesus.  He gave up his privileges as a member of the Godhead in obedience to the Father and out of love for us.  Hebrews call us to watch over our own hearts and to admonish others not to allow their hearts to become hardened.

God had a purpose for Jeremiah that was determined before he was born.  He was to be the deliverer of a sad and unpopular message that no one would listen to.  Like Jesus, he was emotionally and physically invested in the message.  God has a calling on our lives as well which we will come to understand as we faithfully pursue obey and follow him.

Joel is just three chapters long but it mentions the day of the Lord more than any other book.  The day of the Lord is closely linked to repentance as that is the Lord's goal in bringing difficult circumstances.

Samaria was the capital of Israel.  Jerusalem was the captial of Judah.  Both experienced the onslaught of the Assyrians.  For Samaria it was the climax of Gods efforts to call them to repentance for their idolatry.  They refused to repent and were over-run and carried off as a result.  Hezekiah, king of Judah was seeking to obey God and the Assyrians mocked his trust.  God miraculously delivered Jerusalem for the sake of his name,

Isaiah saw God and found that his glory was so entirely other that he lacked human words to describe it.  God's glory revealed Isaiah's sinfulness (even though he was a righteous man by all human standards).  God's mission for Isaiah was a discouraging one - to preach God's message to a people who would not listen.