What Kind of Person Are You? Paul affirms Tychicus as a dear friend, faithful minister, and servant of God Tychicus is a character in the Bible who most people don’t know. His name occurs only five times, once in Acts and four times in Paul’s letters. The letter to the Colossian church is one example. […]

The post What Kind of Person Are You? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Do We Have a Positive Influence on Others or a Negative One? The Evil Queen, Her Good-Bad Grandson, and the Influential Priest In today’s passage we read about Queen Athaliah, her grandson Joash, and the priest Jehoiada. Here’s their story. The Evil Queen Athaliah Athaliah’s son Ahaziah is King. As with most mothers, she influences […]

The post Do We Have a Positive Influence on Others or a Negative One? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

If You Could Ask God for One Thing, What Would It Be? Solomon Asks God for Wisdom to Lead Well and God Grants It God appears to Solomon and offers to grant him a request. This isn’t a genie-in-a-bottle situation; it’s the all-powerful God showing his love and appreciation. Solomon makes a wise decision. He […]

The post If You Could Ask God for One Thing, What Would It Be? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Be Like Berea: Are You of More Noble Character? Examine the Scriptures every day to see if what people say is true The book of Acts tells about the early church, with the latter two thirds of it focused on Paul’s travels and interactions with the various city branches of Jesus’s church. One brief stop […]

The post Be Like Berea: Are You of More Noble Character? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Pouring Out a Drink Offering to God During a time of war, there is a curious story of King David. He mentions that he is thirsty for water from a specific well. Three of his mighty warriors break through enemy lines, draw water from that well, and return to David with it. However, instead of […]

The post Pouring Out a Drink Offering to God appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

May We Receive the Right Hand of Fellowship We talked about the four times Paul said to “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” In another curious reference, mentioned only once, he mentions receiving “the right hand of fellowship.” In modern day context, this phrase seems like a euphemism for a handshake, but I doubt […]

The post May We Receive the Right Hand of Fellowship appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Why Does God Sometimes Withhold His Blessings from Us? We Must Put God First Before Worrying about Ourselves In the short book of Haggai, the prophet has a message for the people and an application for us today. God, through Haggai, chastises his people. They live in nice homes, while God’s home—the temple—sits in shambles. […]

The post Why Does God Sometimes Withhold His Blessings from Us? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

3 Lessons from the Early Church Dr. Luke describes 3 characteristics of the Acts 4 church The book of Acts unfolds as an historical narrative of the early church, the activities of the first followers of Jesus and those who join them. For the most part, Acts simply describes what happens, with little commentary and […]

The post 3 Lessons from the Early Church appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Judgment and Punishment Will Come God Doesn’t Give Empty Threats; He Will Do What He Says He Will Do God has expectations for his people. The Old Testament of the Bible covers this. The first five books of the Bible, often called the Law of Moses, details God’s expectations. He tells the people what to […]

The post Judgment and Punishment Will Come appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Elisha Goes All in to Follow Elijah Elisha’s Total Commitment to Follow Elijah Leaves No Option to Go Back After Elijah has a meltdown of sorts, God reassures him that he is not alone and gives him several things to do. One of those tasks is to anoint his successor, Elisha. Elijah finds Elisha plowing […]

The post Elisha Goes All in to Follow Elijah appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Do You Know What Your Mission Is? How closely do you do the things God tells you to do? Paul travels to Ephesus to tell people about Jesus. As a Jew it seems logical that he would go to his own people first to share this good news. He does. He goes to the local […]

The post Do You Know What Your Mission Is? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

The Four Parts of the Great Commission A few weeks ago we looked at Jesus’s final instructions as found in each of the Bible’s four biographies of him. Melding these together, we came up with three steps. First is to follow Jesus, second is to wait for Holy Spirit power, and three is to go […]

The post The Four Parts of the Great Commission appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

How to Deal with Religious Opposition Paul and Barnabas respond to hostile nonbelievers with boldness and perseverance In the Old Testament, the Israelites, God’s chosen people, are a set apart nation. They are to keep separate from the other nations around them and if they will, God promises to bless them. They also look forward […]

The post How to Deal with Religious Opposition appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

About Jesus: The Bible Points Us to Jesus Though the Gospels focus on Jesus, we see him throughout the Old and New Testaments In reading the Bible, we see that God the Father is the star of the Old Testament. In parallel fashion, Jesus is the focus of the New Testament, especially in the Gospels […]

The post About Jesus: The Bible Points Us to Jesus appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Don’t Fight Against God Too many people fail to see God at work and instead oppose those who follow him into his new ways Jesus warns his followers what awaits them. First, they’ll get kicked out of their church and then people will kill them. Their opponents will do so in the name of religion, […]

The post Don’t Fight Against God appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

The Last Words of King David Discover the Fitting Capstone of King David’s Life In the last recorded words of King David, we learn more about him and his relationship with God. David’s words may come across as bragging, but remember that God said David was a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 […]

The post The Last Words of King David appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Two Kinds of Baptism John baptizes with water and Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit The third chapter in the book of Matthew focuses on John the Baptist and makes the transition to Jesus, the star of the rest of the book. This chapter also contains some teaching from John. He quotes Isaiah and calls […]

The post Two Kinds of Baptism appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Tell the Truth Lying to Achieve a Better Outcome May Backfire Mortally wounded in battle, King Saul commits suicide. A young man, an Amalekite, later happens upon the scene and concocts a plan that he’s sure will bring him a reward. His strategy, however, isn’t to tell the truth about what he saw. Instead he […]

The post Tell the Truth appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

There’s a Time to Wait and a Time to Act Fear Causes Saul to Make a Bad Decision Though God chose Saul to be the first king over Israel, Saul has some character flaws that lead to his undoing. One time the Philistines come up against Saul and his army. Overwhelmed by the force opposing […]

The post There’s a Time to Wait and a Time to Act appeared first on Peter DeHaan.

Is Jesus Waiting for You? The Son of Man Stands to Welcome Stephen Into Heaven Stephen stands before the Sanhedrin. His testimony becomes a sermon, which smartly recaps the story arc of the Old Testament, starting with father Abraham and spilling over into the New Testament, ending with a sacrificial death of Jesus. Though I […]

The post Is Jesus Waiting for You? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.