Consider What Drives Your Accomplishments A thought-provoking line in the book of Isaiah grabbed my attention. I’ve plucked it out and meditated on it. It addresses the true source of success. This one-liner, a mere half of a sentence, says, “All that we have accomplished, you have done,” Isaiah 26:12. This statement emerges as both surprising […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 24 Today’s passage: Luke 12 Focus verse:“But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” (Luke 12:31) Jesus teaches about worry. Specifically, he says not to do it. We aren’t to worry about life, about what we eat or wear. I’m sure Jesus’s audience then had […]
What We Do After We Pray Matters We know that we should present our concerns to God. Paul writes that we shouldn’t worry about anything. Instead, we should pray about everything (Philippians 4:6-7). But praying is just the first part. We must do our part too. We must pray and act accordingly. When we in […]
Mary Receives Shocking News An angel visits Mary, a teenage girl engaged to be married. The angel celebrates her as one highly favored by God. Perplexed, she wonders about the angel’s shocking greeting. Then he further stuns her by saying she will become pregnant, and her child will save her people. “How,” Mary asks? “I’m […]
Where Do We Place Our Trust? Currency in the United States declares, “In God we trust.” But do we? Most people who follow Jesus would say the same thing. But do they? Is In God we trust a lifestyle choice or an empty platitude? Consider these areas for many people place their trust: Money In […]
Embrace the Common Good for the Sake of Others and Our Faith I often write about the importance of Christian unity. I even covered it in my dissertation. Yet I live in a society that celebrates the individual. These two ideas stand in conflict with each other. We can’t achieve the unity of believers when […]
If We’re Ready to Listen, God Can Speak to Us through His Holy Spirit In the book of Ezekiel we come across an interesting passage. Some of the leaders of the nation of Israel approach Ezekiel. They ask him to seek God’s input for them. They want to hear God, but they can’t do it […]
Let God Built and Protect All That We Do There are fifteen songs of ascent in the Bible. Five of them are in today’s reading. Four of the fifteen are ascribed to David and one to Solomon; the rest are anonymous. Most of them are quite short. We understand the people would sing these songs […]
Even If God Sets Us Up for Success, We’ll Fail If We Don’t Obey Him God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, ask for a king. This isn’t what God wants, but he gives them what they request. He gives them a king. At God’s direction, Samuel anoints Saul as king, appointing him ruler over […]
Consider What Job Believes in the Midst of His Suffering After Bildad’s attack, Job stares into the distance. He sits in silence as if this time he will not respond. Still, his anger bubbles within him, slowly at first and then building until it boils. He scans the three men and closes his eyes. He […]