Frequently there is a battle between Yahweh’s desire to change us and our desire for Him to change our circumstances. It is difficult to imagine in the heat of that battle that He really wants to change us and our circumstances, but will only do it in His preferred order – when we accept being changed, He moves us into […]
Faith is weird. How do you get some? After you somehow find out after something went well that you actually had it (you think), how to you increase the amount of it that you have? What is it, even?? Maybe faith is doing something to prove you believe something. Sometimes it seems like faith is doing nothing, but in those times faith maybe […]
I don’t have lots of confidence in English translators to figure out what David meant by “rod” and “staff” in Psalm 23:4. Sometimes they translate the word they translate here as “rod” in other places as “staff”. No matter… Herders needed one tool with a crook at the end of it to grab an animal by the leg and pull it […]
What is your typical response when your good works are rewarded with evil consequences? Sometimes it seems when that happened to individuals whose lives are recorded in the Book, that the justice they received was not an immediate vindication. In the lives of Joseph and of the 3 friends of Daniel: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (who are sometimes better known by […]
When a basil plant, which has delicious leaves, starts to produce flowers, bees and other pollinators cause the flowers to produce seeds. When the flower has done that, the plant starts to die. The plant thinks that its purpose is to reproduce, so when it has built the engine that can accomplish that – the seeds – it thinks its […]
Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works […]
Suppose that you had no New Testament Scriptures. How would that affect your ability to share the Good News? What difference would it make in your daily devotions? What Scriptures would you have quoted on your refrigerator? What Scriptures were the Bereans reading as they first checked to see if what Paul and Silas were saying were true, and then, as many of […]
Samuel’s presence apparently terrorized many Israelis because he had great authority and power from Yahweh. When he was sent to find a replacement for Saul to rule over Israel (1 Samuel 16), the elders of Bethlehem went out to meet him. They trembled as they asked him why he was visiting them. Jesse seemed to be less fearful – when […]
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. They cried out with a loud voice: “O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9-11 from Holman Christian Standard Bible […]
Therefore don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah. (Colossians 2:16-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®) Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to […]