Wednesday in the Word

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Series: Understanding Psalms

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

What do you do when obedience seems to backfire—when speaking truth, acting with integrity, or following Christ faithfully only lands you in trouble? In this episode on Jeremiah 38:1–13, we walk with Jeremiah as he’s lowered into a mud-filled cistern for preaching God’s word, and we wrestle honestly with the question: Why do I get punished for doing the right thing?

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• The story of Jeremiah’s imprisonment: a faithful prophet, threatened officials, a weak king, and a muddy pit that becomes the cost of obedience
• How power and self-interest often drive opposition to God’s truth—and why those in authority sometimes fail to protect the very people they should defend
• The broader biblical pattern of unjust suffering: Joseph, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, and ultimately Jesus Himself, who was handed over “into their hands” despite complete innocence
• What 1 Peter 4 and James 1 teach us about trials: why we should not be surprised by suffering, and how God uses it to test, refine, and prove the genuineness of our faith
• The tender details of Jeremiah’s rescue—old rags, ropes under the arms, and the quiet courage of Ebed-melech, an unnamed foreign servant who does what the king should have done
• How God often sends “nameless heroes” into our lives—ordinary people through whom He cares for us in extraordinary ways
• The shift from asking, “When will this end?” to asking, “Where is God taking me through this?” and how that perspective reorients our experience of hardship
• Why following Christ is both harder than we feared and better than we hoped: obedience may lead us into suffering, but it also leads us toward a glory and inheritance we could never secure for ourselves

After listening, you’ll have a clearer, more realistic expectation of the Christian life: that doing the right thing may bring painful consequences in this world, but never outside God’s wise and loving purposes. You’ll be encouraged to see your trials not as signs of God’s absence, but as part of His training of your faith, to watch for His surprising provision in the “nameless heroes” around you, and to trust that He will one day lift you from the pit and complete His work of redemption in you.

 Series: Questions Jeremiah Answered

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

Psalm 130 is an individual lament and a repentance psalm.

 Series: Understanding Psalms

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

n a world full of “spiritual books” and inspirational content, what actually makes the Bible different? In this episode on Jeremiah 36:1–32, we follow the story of a scroll dictated by Jeremiah, read aloud in the temple, carried to the palace—and then cut up and burned by King Jehoiakim. Through this dramatic scene, we explore what Scripture is, why God had it written down, and how He expects us to respond when we hear His Word. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• The historical moment of Jeremiah 36: political upheaval, Babylon’s rise to power, and why God chooses this moment to command Jeremiah: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you”
• What it means that the Bible is a divine book—ultimately authored by God Himself—and why that reality means we ought to listen
• How verse 3 reveals God’s stated purpose for His written Word: that people would hear, turn from their evil way, and be forgiven
• The danger of treating Scripture as a source of vague comfort (“God loves you”) while skipping the uncomfortable call to repentance that stands at the heart of the biblical message
• The very human side of the Bible: prophets, scribes, ink, scrolls, and “ordinary” language—why it matters that God speaks to us through normal people in words we can genuinely understand
• The contrast between two kings: Josiah, who hears the book of the law and tears his clothes in repentance, and Jehoiakim, who hears Jeremiah’s scroll and calmly slices it into the fire
• How we may not physically burn Bibles, but often imitate Jehoiakim by quietly ignoring or dismissing the parts of Scripture we do not like
• The indestructible nature of God’s Word: Jehoiakim burns the scroll, but God simply tells Jeremiah to “take again another scroll” and rewrite the message—with “many similar words” added
• Why God’s plans are never at risk—even when His Word is opposed—and what is at stake for us personally when we choose to either resist or respond in repentance
• How this chapter ultimately points us to Christ, the One through whom God fully deals with our sin so that His call—“hear, repent, and be forgiven”—can be answered with confidence

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of what makes the Bible truly unique: not just its moral teaching or historical influence, but the fact that in it the living God speaks, calls you to turn back to Him, and offers real forgiveness. You’ll be invited to consider whether your posture toward Scripture looks more like Josiah’s or Jehoiakim’s, and to approach the Bible not as a superstition or a mere rulebook, but as the place where God Himself meets you, exposes you, and leads you into life. 

Series: Questions Jeremiah Answered

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.