The Next King? David’s first four sons are Amnon, Kileab, Absalom, and Adonijah (1). Each one has a different mother, making them all half-brothers. Absalom kills Amnon for raping their sister Tamar. Then Absalom dies in a coup attempt. The Bible only mentions Kileab once, so he likely does nothing noteworthy nor notorious. As a […]
The Holy Spirit Helps Us Move into Our New Beginnings Today’s passage: Romans 5:1–9 Focus verse: God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5) In many of our readings, we talked about the Holy Spirit. As a member of the three-in-one Godhead, […]
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 […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 34 Today’s passage: Luke 22:1–6 Focus verse: He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. (Luke 22:6) Let’s take a moment to review. Jesus has ridden into town in a grand procession, and the people hail him as king, their Savior […]
Stand Before the Lord Are we worthy to stand before the Lord? The answer is, it all depends—not on us, but on God. Left to ourselves, we fall short. Our shortcomings separate us from God. Our sins prohibit us from standing before a perfect and righteous King. Not Worthy In the parable of the lost […]
In Service to the King Abishag is a young, beautiful Shunammite woman. She’s carefully selected to attend to King David in his old age. Despite her sleeping next to him to keep him warm, their relationship isn’t sexual—though I’m sure people thought otherwise. When the king dies, we might assume her ordeal is over. But […]
If the Lord Is With Us, We Should Have Nothing to Fear Today’s passage: Psalm 118:1–7 Focus verses: The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. (Psalm 118:6–7) The authors […]
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 […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 33 Today’s passage: Luke 21 Focus verse:He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.” (Luke 21:8) When I read Luke 21, I want to focus on the opening passage about […]
Delight in the Lord—Especially the Parts We Don’t Understand I delight in the reality that there are aspects about God I don’t understand, of things I can’t comprehend. I savor the wonderful mystery of God. So does the apostle Paul. In many of his letters, he talks about aspects of God as mystery. If there […]