Throughout the Bible We See Examples We Can Apply in Our World Today As we move toward the end of the book of Numbers, we see God allocating Canaan—the Promised Land—to the twelve tribes of Israel. First, God gives Moses the western, northern, eastern, and southern borders of the nation. Then he indicates which tribes … Continue reading The Book of Numbers Shows Us a Wise Step to Follow →
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God Loves Us and His Favor Lasts a Lifetime The book of Psalms gives us glimpses into God’s character and his love for us. Though some people view God, as portrayed in the Old Testament, as angry and vengeful, a more careful read gives us a different perspective. We see his love and his patience; … Continue reading God Is Slow to Anger and It Only Lasts for a Moment →
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God Promises Rewards for Obedience and Punishment for Disobedience As we read through the book of Leviticus, which is a struggle for most of us, we read instruction after instruction of what God expects from his people. With precise detail, his commands come forth one after another. Then, in chapter 26, the book begins to … Continue reading We Must Listen to God and Do What He Says →
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The Bible Gives Us a Framework for Why We Should Be Holy Reading through the book of Leviticus challenges most people. Its words fail to engage our imagination as they drone on with seemingly repetitious commands. But there are gems buried within its verses—if our minds aren’t too glossed over to see them. In today’s … Continue reading Be Holy Because God is Holy →
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The righteous walk in God’s ways, while the rebellious trip over his words As the prophecy of Hosea winds down he urges Israel (and us) to turn from our shortcomings and return to God. When we do this, blessing will follow: blessings for us and for others through us. Once again, we have this concept … Continue reading Walk with God and Do Not Stumble →
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The Bible is filled with praise to God, and we should follow its example The word praise occurs in more than 360 verses in the Bible. Most of these refer to praising God. They tell of people who praise God and their need to do so. Consider the short, six-verse Psalm 150. It’s filled with … Continue reading God Is Worthy of Our Praise →
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The Bible Teaches Us Leadership Principles The book of Proverbs overflows with wise advice and thought-provoking sayings. Often these one-liners produce the material for great soundbites or social media memes. Yet some parts require a bit more work before we can find value in their words. Such is the case with Proverbs 14:28. It says, … Continue reading 2 Key Truths About Leadership →
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Job and his Friends Contend with God Job’s life has crumbled. His wife turned on him. And his friends don’t help. After listening to their back-and-forth dialogue that accomplishes nothing, God interjects. At last he speaks. At one point God says, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?” (Job 40:2). In this … Continue reading Is it Okay to Contend with God? →
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When God speaks to us, we need to be ready to listen Job’s friends come to comfort him. At least that’s how it appears, but in actuality they’re not much help. Their words assault Job and his character. In exasperation Job goes on a sarcastic rant against his so-called friends and then becomes poetic as … Continue reading God Speaks to Job—and to Us →
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If we claim to know the truth, that implies every other perspective is wrong The book of Job is mostly dialogue between Job and his four “friends,” with God having the final word—as he should. The words of Job’s four friends aren’t much help. At one point in Zophar’s monologue he claims that Job said … Continue reading Our Beliefs Are Flawless. Or Is It That Our Beliefs Are Flawed? →
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We can only guess about battles in the spiritual realm, but angels fight for us The book of Daniel contains six stories and four prophetic visions. In Daniel’s final, and longest, vision, we get a glimpse— perhaps metaphorically—of what happens in the spiritual realm and how angels fight for us. Starting with chapter 10, Daniel … Continue reading Do Angels Fight for Us? →
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Sunday should not be a day of restriction but a day of freedom and celebration In the book of Exodus, God and Moses have a face-to-face meeting. That is significant. How cool would it be to have a direct conversation with the Almighty? Certainly, we’d remember what he told us and be careful to follow … Continue reading The Sabbath Day →
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For Forty Years the Israelites Had a Pillar of Cloud and a Pillar of Fire to Show Them Where to Go After spending four-hundred years in Egypt, the repressed children of God finally get a chance to leave. This comes under the leadership of Moses. We know of Moses’s meetings with Pharaoh to negotiate the … Continue reading What If God Sent a Pillar of Fire to Guide You? →
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God instructs Jacob to go to Egypt, but he doesn’t intend for him to stay Just like Cain and Abel, along with Ishmael and Isaac, Joseph and his brothers have problems, too. There are two reasons why Joseph’s brothers don’t like him. First, he’s Dad’s favorite. Second, he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth … Continue reading When God Tells Us to Do Something, Does He Mean Forever? →
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There are many ways to solve family problems, but kicking out your son isn’t one of them. Last week we looked at the story of Cain and Abel. We examined the first case of sibling rivalry. Things escalated out of control with one brother ending up dead and the other sentenced to wander, forever carrying … Continue reading Ishmael and Isaac: Two Half-Brothers Who Don’t Get Along →
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The First Brothers in the Bible, Cain And Abel, Also Provide the First Account of Sibling Rivalry. The first two people mentioned in the Bible are Adam and Eve. The next two people are their sons, Cain and Abel. It would seem these four people should get along. They can’t. The result of the conflict … Continue reading What Can We Learn from Cain and Abel? →
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When we talk to others about God it’s critical we teach sound doctrine Paul writes a letter of instruction to his protégé Titus. In it he devotes a lengthy section instructing Titus about how to teach others. Paul opens this passage with the simple direction that Titus must teach whatever’s appropriate for sound doctrine (Titus … Continue reading We Must Teach Sound Doctrine →
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The Bible reminds us to pray for those in authority, which includes our politicians In Paul’s first letter to his protégé Timothy, he adds an important command. We can likewise apply Paul’s wise instruction as something for us to follow today. He tells us we are to pray for those in authority. This includes our … Continue reading We Need To Pray For Those In Power Over Us →
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Discerning the will of God isn’t hard; the Bible is clear what we are to do As Paul wraps up his first letter to the Thessalonian church, he slips in three quick instructions. These concise commands seem like soundbites. And once he delivers them, he concludes that doing these things is the will of God … Continue reading Discover the Will of God →
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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. Each time Tychicus’s name is mentioned, … Continue reading What Kind of Person Are You? →
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