David and the men who had joined themselves with him along with their families were living in a town called Ziklag. While the men were away from home the Amalekites invaded the region burning Ziklag with fire and taking their families captive. In their grief the men seem to have blamed it on David and […]
Psalm 121 begins with “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help” KJV. The punctuation in this version may be a little misleading; I rather like the ESV “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” What was in the Psalmists mind when […]
In Colossians 1:23 the apostle is speaking about the importance of the followers of Christ continuing in the faith and not being “moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven.” We understand these last words to be a Hebraism meaning the whole human race, […]
God has so orchestrated His plans and ways so that everything we understand from “nature”, from His creation, has a very similar spiritual truth and application. So do you want to understand more about spiritual life, about God and His ways? Then look to the seasons and to agriculture. Jesus constantly used things the people […]
Proverbs – a book of wisdom – in 4:18 says, “… the path of the just is like the shining sun (light, KJV), That shines ever brighter (more and more KJV) unto the perfect day.” What a perfect verse to portray the journey of the righteous through the world of darkness that is all around […]
In a world filled with suffering, disappointments, broken promises, abuse, terrorism, addictions, bullying, immorality, bloodshed, and every other vice and evil, when life’s storms are raging high and it appears that all hope is gone, and we like Paul and those on board a ship with him in a violent storm at sea in Acts […]
In 2 Corinthians 1:20 we are told, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen to the glory of God through us.” When God makes a promise you can rest assured of its fulfillment, whether it be that of blessing for the obedient or judgment for the disobedient. In […]
Faith and hope are so intertwined that it may be difficult to separate them. It appears that one cannot operate without the other as its companion; without faith hope has no certainty, without hope faith has no object to believe for, or entity to believe in, no aim, goal, or target if you will. Romans […]
The book of Lamentations portrays the people of Judah, God’s covenant people who were given the covenants and promises, but had now rebelled and disobeyed, breaking the covenant. For this reason God withdrew His hand of blessing; punishment, destruction, and judgment had come upon them, and under these conditions hope seems to have been lost, […]
The book of Habakkuk begins on a note of despair as the prophet views the conditions around him, and dialogues with God. Then in the middle part of the book God brings him to discover the truth that “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). I believe this truth must have revolutionized the […]