The Call to Arms

womens bible study

The account of Exodus 13:17-18 describes Pharaoh finally conceding to let the Israelites leave Egypt and includes a couple interesting details.  The first is that they did not travel by the shorter route toward the Red Sea, and the second is that they left armed for battle.  God addressed the…

Read More

The God of Things That Are Not What They Seem

creche

The prophet Isaiah described the coming of the Messiah thusly in Isaiah 9:6-7: “For to us a child is born,    to us a son is given,    and the government will be on His shoulders.And He will be called    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 Of the greatness of His government and peace    there will be no end.He will…

Read More

The Kingdom of God Is Here

When we think of the Kingdom of God, do we see ourselves living in it here and now, or is it something far away to be attained?  For the most part, I believe we see the Kingdom of God as very different from our current state of existence, because we…

Read More

Just Add Water

water being poured into a glass

Many years ago, there were TV commercials introducing instant coffee, instant tea, instant gravy, and instant soups.  “Just add water!” was the tagline.  It was such a wonderous thing to have immediate access to foods and beverages that used to take 30 minutes to hours to prepare. On our recent…

Read More

God’s Permissive Will

Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking that God’s Kingdom manifest in our physical world, and that His will would be carried out exactly the same way that His will is absolute and dominate in Heaven. NOTHING takes place in Heaven that is not His will. This is…

Read More

Starting a New Year

For the Lord delights in his people;     he crowns the humble with victory. 5 Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them.     Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds. 6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths,     and a sharp sword in their hands—              Psalm 149:4-6 This past…

Read More

Thankfulness Reset

meal

Many of us have experienced surprising joy by simply adopting an attitude of being thankful. While it is more natural to have an initial “screaming meemies” response to difficulties, navigating to the other side of the issue generally elicits relief and gratefulness. That was where the Pilgrims found themselves after…

Read More

Not 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…

Read More