God’s Sovereignty At Work In the story of Jonah, we see God’s sovereignty at work, with God exercising control over nature. Here’s what God does: He sends a wind (Jonah 1:4). He calms the sea (Jonah 1:15). He provides a fish to...
Jonah and the Big Fish You likely know the story of Jonah: He tries to run from God Spends a 3-day “time out” in a fish Is given a second chance Then does what God commands, albeit with a bad attitude He proclaims, “Forty more...
What is Really Important? If we’re not careful, it’s all too easy to end up doing things that, at best, are secondary, and at worst, don’t matter at all. Such was the case of the people of Israel a few millennia ago. The prophet...
Obadiah Proclaims Justice The book of Obadiah in the Bible contains a prophecy about the nation of Edom. Among other things, Edom is criticized for their pride. The primary issue, however, is not what they did, but what they didn’t do...
Amos Protests and God Relents Amos was a shepherd, called by God to be a prophet.His story is found in the book of Amos in the Bible. Amos says what God tells him, but after a while, the people of Israel—the primary target of his God-given...
Joel and the Locust The book of Joel is classified as one of the Bible’s prophetic books, as it contains a foretelling of the future. After multiple reads, however, this short, 3-chapter book begins to emerge more as poetry than prophecy...
Hosea Shows Us God’s Unconditional Love In the Bible, many of the prophets are instructed by God to do some strange and bizarre things. Isaiah is a case in point. Perhaps the most extreme, however, is Hosea. In short, God tells him to marry...
How Do You Read the Bible? Some people read the Bible like a textbook—to amass knowledge. Other people read the Bible like a book of law—looking for precedent and loopholes to justify themselves, ideas, and behavior. Still, others read the Bible...
What’s the Deal with Evil Spirits? When reading the gospels (the stories about Jesus) in the Bible, it doesn’t take long to run across the phrase “evil spirit.” (Some translations use “unclean spirit” or a...
God’s Sovereignty Allows Him to be Benevolent God is sovereign; it is one of his characteristics. To be sovereign means to have supreme rank, power, and authority. The word sovereign appears hundreds of times in the Bible (mostly in the Old...
