God’s Spirit to Be Poured Out on All People Many passages in the New Testament of the Bible quote parts of the Old Testament, which was written hundreds of years before. In some versions of the Bible, footnotes—added by the translators—refer us to the original text. One verse, however, cites the source in the text, […]
The post God’s Spirit to Be Poured Out on All People appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Do You Seek God for Healing When You Are Sick? Jesus Came to Save and to Heal Azariah, son of Oded, comes to Asa, King of Judah. The prophet tells the king, “If you see God, you’ll find him. If you walk away from him, he’ll walk away from you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). King Asa […]
The post Do You Seek God for Healing When You Are Sick? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
What Do We Do When God’s Commands No Longer Make Sense? Contrary to the Law of Moses King David Reassigns the Duties of the Levites In the book of Numbers, Moses details the assignments and responsibilities of the tribe of Levi, mentioning them over fifty times. Though the priests, descendants of Aaron, are from this […]
The post What Do We Do When God’s Commands No Longer Make Sense? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Obey God Regardless: Paul Speaks to the Elders in Ephesus The seventh sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 20:16-37 (specifically Acts 20:18-35). Setting: Miletus Speaker: Paul Audience: Elders from the church of Ephesus Preceding Events: Paul, compelled by the Holy Spirit, is steadfastly traveling to Jerusalem. Overall Theme: Paul gives his personal testimony (he […]
The post Obey God Regardless: Paul Speaks to the Elders in Ephesus appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
My Favorite Verse in the Bible My favorite verse in the Bible is about an honorable man. His name is Jabez. What did he do? He prayed. That’s it. Does that sound boring? It could be, except for the outcome. The result is profound. After Jabez prays, the Bible says that “God granted his request.” […]
The post My Favorite Verse in the Bible appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Paul Talks about Resurrection from the Dead The ninth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 24:1-27 (specifically Acts 24:10-21). Paul gives his testimony and talks about his belief in the resurrection from the dead. Setting: A hearing before Felix in Caesarea Speaker: Paul Audience: Felix (the governor and judge), Jews, and Ananias and Tertullus, […]
The post Paul Talks about Resurrection from the Dead appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Our Present and Future Hope God Will Answer When We Pray After Zechariah’s discouraging implication that God is weary of his people and will no longer be their Shepherd, Zechariah has some good news. He concludes his prophetic writings with an optimistic prophecy of a better tomorrow, a future hope. This is a hope that […]
The post Our Present and Future Hope appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
The Warning Signs of a Preacher Gone Bad Peter writes to caution the early church about false teachers, leaders who misguide, doing more harm to the church of Jesus than good. We need to watch out for them. Here are some of the characteristics of a preacher gone bad. False Teachers Scoff at what they […]
The post The Warning Signs of a Preacher Gone Bad appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
3 Unusual Examples of God’s Healing Power God Uses His People to Heal the Hurting Elisha dies, but his influence lives on. Yes, Elisha continues to teach us today, thousands of years after his death, through the words recorded about him in the Bible. However, he also has a practical effect on someone postmortem. It’s […]
The post 3 Unusual Examples of God’s Healing Power appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
King Solomon’s Wives: A Subtle Source of Distraction Consider the foreign wives of King Solomon King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wasn’t so wise with his love life. In all he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Even worse, many of King Solomon’s wives were foreigners, something God prohibited because he feared they […]
The post King Solomon’s Wives: A Subtle Source of Distraction appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
A Different Prescription For Prayer In Matthew 20, Jesus shares a parable, predicts his death, and teaches about serving. He also heals two blind men. Nowhere in this chapter does he mention prayer, yet in this passage I see two insights about prayer. It’s a different prescription for prayer, and we will do well to […]
The post A Different Prescription For Prayer appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Who Do You Worship? A Lesson for Today from Zephaniah A too-common practice in the United States (and perhaps around the world) is to take parts from different religions and philosophies, mashing them together to form a personal belief system. Doing so is a consumer-centric mindset. People keep the parts they like, and they ditch […]
The post Who Do You Worship? A Lesson for Today from Zephaniah appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
How Do You Handle Disappointment? When God Wants to Give You a Second Chance Make Sure You’re Ready to Receive It You’re probably not familiar with Ahithophel in the Bible. His life serves as a lesson in how not to respond to disappointment. Though his name does show up a few times during the reign […]
The post How Do You Handle Disappointment? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
The Medium of Endor Not Everything That’s Spiritual is Good Here’s the situation. The prophet Samuel is dead. God has abandoned King Saul, and the once-promising ruler is losing his grip on power. Saul prays, but God doesn’t respond. None of the ways Saul has heard from God in the past are working now. In […]
The post The Medium of Endor appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Having a Q and A with God In the short book of Malachi, there is a reoccurring phrase “but you ask” (along with a few of variations thereof). This turns into a Question and Answer monologue, with God voicing the people’s unspoken questions and then responding. It’s like having a Q and A with God. […]
The post Having a Q and A with God appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Similarities Between Zechariah and Revelation The book of Zechariah contains prophecy given by God to the prophet Zechariah about future events. A few centuries later the apostle John also had a revelation from God in the form of a dream, which he recorded in the book of Revelation. Consider the similarities between the books of […]
The post Similarities Between Zechariah and Revelation 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.
The Wicked Acts of Sodom and Gomorrah Even if you’ve not read the Bible, you have likely heard about Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities God destroyed for their extreme wickedness. The account of this is found in Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. In this text, the sexual depravity of the men of Sodom is portrayed. […]
The post The Wicked Acts of Sodom and Gomorrah appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Consider the Timing of God’s Blessings In the post about the effects of priority we saw that wrong priorities produces wrong outcomes, whereas right priorities results in God’s blessings. It is, however, worth it to consider the timing of these two events. The prophecy is given on the first day of the sixth month. The […]
The post Consider the Timing of God’s Blessings appeared first on Peter DeHaan.
Do You Offer God a Sacrifice of Praise? The term “sacrifice of praise” is only found in one verse in the Bible. It’s a curious phrase. What does it mean? Whatever it may refer to, the first thing we see is we are to do it continually. We are to offer a constant sacrifice of […]
The post Do You Offer God a Sacrifice of Praise? appeared first on Peter DeHaan.