Bible Reading

Psalm 25 From shepherd boy to king, David’s life was one of hardship, danger, exaltation, grief, remorse, redemption, joy, and friendship with God. He was crowned and chased and tempted, impoverished and blessed. He was a rags to riches epic tale, and a story of how the mighty can fall. He victoriously faced a giant, […]

We are experiencing upheaval in our way of life as we work through the ramifications of this pandemic. We are at home when we should be working. Students are not leaving the house for school. Buses are delivering meals instead of children. Businesses are closed. For the first time in many of our lives, we […]

I Peter 1:1-6 Peter wrote a message of hope and security to the Christians who were scattered throughout the known world. Read it for yourself, because it is written to us as well. Here is my take on the first six verses: You have been persecuted and scattered throughout the world. You are strangers here. […]

Psalm 28 Crisis brings out the best and worst in us! Have you seen the news lately (silly question)? What about the reports of people who purposely contaminate food and supplies? Then there are the hoarders and price gougers. Behaviors are surfacing that are destructive and deviant. While many people are working diligently to solve […]

What God has said will be accomplished! The world may question and belittle. We may fear that the wicked will overcome. I may struggle to see light in the darkness, but my heart can be settled on the truth that: God will fulfill His Word; Christ will come again. Therefore, life is too short for […]

The first chapter of the book of James gives us a lot of practical teaching. I like to think that it tells me where to focus my attention and my energy. Focus on the outcome when you are immersed in trial – patience yielding maturity. (verses 2 – 4) Focus on the wisdom God gives. […]

My mind is feeling quite cluttered. ‘Tis the season’ – right? Bombarded by input from advertisements and impeachment rantings and weather reports and planning emails and angry people and troubled souls and newsletters and great causes and ‘to do’ lists and ‘should have done’ regrets my thoughts ricochet rather than focus, and spin rather than […]

For years I avoided the task. Well, actually, I would begin on January 1st and then somewhere in Leviticus I would wimp out and skip over to begin in my favorite books of the New Testament again. I justified my actions by thinking, there is no requirement that I read the Bible through. I just […]

When I was a child, mom would send us up to the local grocery to pick up a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. The store was about two blocks away in city terms, but we didn’t live in the city. When we got to the store, we would pick up the needed […]

Mark 6:31And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. We pride ourselves on being busy people. On accomplishing and making things happen. We can’t stop, because life just wouldn’t go on if we […]

Photo by Donald Tong, Pexels The Prodigal Son is a familiar Bible story, and it is often used as an illustration when someone has wandered into an unhealthy or overtly sinful lifestyle. Sometimes we listen comfortably and think, “Wow, he was really a goner!” But we forget that there were two sons in the parable […]

Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He had preserved them through the wilderness. He had prepared and called them into the Promised Land, and He […]

The excitement was over. The disciples had lived through the horror of the arrest and trial, witnessed the agony of the cross, and experienced the resurrection at the tomb and through their own interactions with the resurrected Christ. Now what? They didn’t see Him everyday like before. They probably felt like they were living in limbo […]

Sometimes I have a better opinion of myself than I should. Sometimes I fail to see my own shortcomings, but when I really look at the fruits of the Spirit, and meditate on how they appear in my life, I notice a few things. This isn’t about self-bashing, but it is about looking realistically at […]

If you are as old as me, you may remember the old Burger King commercial where the elderly lady came into a hamburger establishment and remarked, “Where’s the beef?”. We laughed about that scene, and the phrase, “where’s the beef?” became a part of the vernacular of the day. In Mark 11, we read a […]

Psalm 3 – You have been there. I have, too. Surrounded by trouble, misunderstanding, and discouragement, life can rival Alexander’s day in the book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” I think you can get the gist from the title. Sometimes we blame other people. Sometimes we blame God. King David […]

Principles from Psalm 15 – Psalm 15 is only five verses long, but the psalmist packed some important principles for life in those few short stanzas. He begins the psalm with a question for God – “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” (Psalm 15:1) The principles below […]

Proverbs 4 We play with sin like a child plays with matches. We rub against the world, and it feels good. “No harm,” we say. So, we venture a little closer, excusing habits and actions that have the potential to maim and destroy. “All in good fun,” we say. But we don’t see the ignition […]

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. There is – certain, absolute therefore – because Jesus Christ has delivered me from the body of death now – […]

Esau and Jacob – the twins. Esau was born first, but Jacob was holding onto Esau’s foot when he came out. Jacob’s name means ‘supplanter’ or ‘he who supplants’, and he pretty much lived up to that title. Esau’s name means ‘hairy’, so you can guess what he looked like at birth. As they grew […]