Things To Beware In the book of Hebrews, we are exhorted to take heart in our resistance to sin. We are encouraged by the fact that we are children of God, who took the form of man and suffered hostility at the hands of sinners as well. In our struggles as a church against sin,…
Jonah’s Sin
End of the Story Unfortunately, for many, the significance of Jonah ends shortly after the fish spits him up. He rebelled against God and tried to run from responsibility but then God turned him around and set him back on the path. Then he delivers his message and the city repents! God relents of the…
Worst Kind of Fool
Harsh Word Anyone who has read through the wisdom literature in scripture knows that the word “fool” is a very harsh term. In fact, Proverbs says that corporal punishment is intended to be used in order to correct them as one would an animal. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and…
Trusting The Lord
Saul Couldn’t Wait In 1 Samuel 13, Saul was preparing for war with the Philistines. Samuel, the prophet, was to come and offer sacrifices on behalf of the people of Israel before the fighting began. He had been told to wait for 7 days for Samuel’s arrival, but people started leaving and he began to…
Temptation Vs. Wisdom
Proverbs 7 Women This chapter of Proverbs, on the surface, is a warning against adulterous women. It outlines the destruction that these women bring to those young men who lack sense and follow along with the temptation “as an ox goes to the slaughter” (verse 22). Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the…
Powerful Peace
Fearful God From sermons to Bible studies, whenever the topic of fearing God comes up people begin stumbling all over themselves to explain how it may say fear, but it doesn’t really mean fear. While many who do this wouldn’t say that they deny the power or righteous anger of God, it’s hard to see…
Approving Excellence
Abounding Love In Paul’s greetings to the Philippian church, he encourages them with the knowledge that they are in his prayers. Specifically, he prays that their love may grow. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more Philippians 1:9a This is a common theme in all of the Epistles. The Apostles…
For His Name’s Sake
Appeal to God Not only has God told us about the amazing privilege we have been given through Christ to come before the creator of the universe with our thanks and concerns, but we are regularly commanded to practice that privilege. Prayer is so important that even when we don’t know how we ought to…
Unwanted Defense
Job’s Friends When people read the book of Job, it is understandable for us to relate with Job’s judgement that his friends were miserable comforters. He is in suffering and, because we have behind-the-scenes information, we know that it’s not even a consequence of bad behavior. In fact, we know that the reason trials are…
When To Answer
Rapid Response Many of us have grown up with a world of opinions at our fingertips. I’m revealing my age by admitting that I’m old enough to have lived through a childhood where you at least had to sit at a computer to access the internet (and I could only use mine when nobody was…