OUR SUCCESS IS IN THE LORD’S HANDS The Lord encouraged the Israelites not to fear their enemies as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. He reminded them of how He had brought them out of Egypt. He promised that He would be with them in the same way to take the land from their
SEEING THE GOOD NEWS SPREAD THROUGHOUT After Jesus interrupted a funeral procession to raise a widow’s son from the dead, the news of his miracles and teachings “spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.” This illustrates a truth easily discovered anywhere humans dwell, namely, news spreads. Whether it’s good or bad news, people love to
GREAT COMMISSION PRAYERS This psalm is a prayer that all the nations would one day know the Lord and his salvation. Centuries before Jesus gave the Great Commission to his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19), the psalmist prayed for such a day to come. It’s a good reminder
GIVERS ARE GLAD, BUT MISERS ARE MISERABLE Generosity is a blessing both to the recipient and to the giver. But misers are miserable. This is a spiritual principle that reverberates in the physical world, although its effect is often slow to see. The wealth of the generous is paid in dividends that include more than
HOW MANY OF YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN? When we confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that he died for sins, was buried and raised from the dead, we are saved. In that very moment, we have been saved from sin’s penalty (justification), we are being saved from sin’s power (sanctification), and we
REMEMBERING AND CELEBRATING WHAT GOD HAS DONE Reading through all the instructions concerning offerings and festivals in the Old Testament is pretty overwhelming. It seems impossible to keep up with them all. Yet, God was teaching His people to remember Him and what He had done for them. These holy-days/holidays were meant for remembrance, worship
HOW IS YOUR VOICE KNOWN? The coming of John, son of Zechariah, had not only been announced by the angel Gabriel, it had been predicted by the prophet Isaiah. John the Baptist was the Messianic Forerunner, coming in the spirit of Elijah, he was the Preparer of the Way. Every king must have a herald
FOUR AREAS OF HEALTHY CHRISTIAN GROWTH Luke is the only gospel that describes how Jesus grew up. The story of twelve year old Jesus talking with the teachers in the Temple, while His family was looking for Him, is a very interesting glimpse into His youth. And it begs the question, “What did it look
WHAT ARE THE “BAAL”s OF TODAY? Balaam was unable to curse Israel because they were under God’s blessing. So according to Numbers 31:16 he advised another way to harm them from within by tempting them to worship other gods. The Midianites and the Moabites were distant kin of the Jews. Yet, they had fallen into
LOOKING UPON THE SUFFERING SAVIOR WITH FAITH This is one of the more bizarre stories in the Bible. The Israelites were once again grumbling against God and Moses because of the lack of water and variety of food in the wilderness, so God punished them with poisonous snakes. God hates grumbling. Grumbling is the opposite