God’s Character
The Power of the Commandment
After the military campaign to take The Promised Land, Joshua assembled the Israelites and gave them the commandment. This was significant because he actually consolidated 613 laws into one: “to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him…
Read MoreGod Knows
“When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting Me and breaking My covenant. 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this…
Read MoreThe Plague of Division
Jesus warned that the final days would be terrible times where people would be pitted against each other who might otherwise to be respectful and supporting. It is alarming, but perhaps not so surprising to see it in national factions, but when it appears in the church, it is especially…
Read MoreWhat is the Kingdom of Heaven Like?
God created man with a zeal for obtaining knowledge, making discovery a special euphoric experience. Satisfying man’s curiosity brought about the invention of the wheel, and has continued beyond the technology for space travel. Yet the illusive exploration of the afterlife has remained: is it real, what does it look…
Read MoreGuard the Door
My husband and I grew up in a small town where everybody knew everybody, the vast majority of people were Christians, and most neighbors never locked their doors. The combination of those conditions saw people practicing hospitality with those who would just “pop in,” and demonstrating consideration by not “popping…
Read MoreFor Tumultuous Times
The days of the prophet Ezekiel were overwhelmingly frightening and full of despair. The northern kingdom had already been decimated by the Assyrians, and the Babylonians in Judah were escalating that level of destruction by pillaging God’s temple and burning all of Jerusalem. When it looked as if the entire…
Read MoreThe Rock in the Hard Place
Taking a “step of faith” without knowing what comes next is one of the most challenging things we do as Christ-followers. I’ve known people who have sold their possessions to move with small children to foreign countries without having return tickets. I’ve seen others give away valuables when they needed…
Read MoreNot What It Seems
The Sunday school lesson of Samson taught to children presents him as a Herculean character, the strongest man in the world. His brute strength enabled him to tear a lion apart with his bare hands, to shred new ropes binding him by simply flexing his muscles, and to kill 1000…
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