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Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh's glory has risen on you. For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3 WEB. Nightfall came faster than I was anticipating. It was a black night as I made my way through...

During Hurricane Hugo, I saw a barn fall from the sky and land in the middle of the road, but you couldn't see the wind that did it. You could hear it roaring, and the wind would almost blow you down, but it was invisible to the eye. Though we can't see the wind blowing, we can certainly observe its effects and feel the air movement on our skin. For example, you can see someone's hair blowing...

A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Yahweh says, 'Because the Syrians have said, "Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys;" therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.' 1 Kings 20:28 WEB. When the Syrians first attacked Israel, they thought the God of Israel was a god of the mountains...

But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and entered into the city. On the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe. Acts 14:19–20 WEB. After Paul and Barnabas healed a crippled man and preached the good news in the city...

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. Matthew 13:44 WEB. Jesus told a parable about a man who found some hidden treasure in a field. He joyfully sold all that he had so he could buy the land and make it his own. The man couldn't take the treasure without first purchasing the...

For my eyes are on you, Yahweh, the Lord. I take refuge in you. Don't leave my soul destitute. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall together into their own nets while I pass by. Psalms 141:8–10 WEB. A simple but effective trap design that has been used through the ages is the pit trap. Hunters dig a deep pit and place...

Moses answered, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, 'Yahweh has not appeared to you.' Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it. Exodus 4:1-3 WEB. Moses had a shepherd's staff that he carried around with him. It was...

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son. For Yahweh, the God of Israel says, 'The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.' She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, and...

In all types of sports, competitors may make mistakes, get frustrated, and even ruin the rest of their game. Sometimes, they get so focused on the goal they missed, the throw they botched, or the catch they dropped, that they let it affect their next play. This tendency has to be trained out of them. A key part of becoming a great athlete is learning to shake off mistakes and keep their focus...

Yahweh's angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. Yahweh's angel appeared to him, and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!" Judges 6:11-12 WEB. Dust and chaff drifted through the air as Gideon threshed the wheat. He was hiding inside a winepress...

But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12 WEB. When I showed up at a church workday event, the job that got assigned to me was scrubbing all the bathrooms: upstairs, downstairs, and down the hall. I did not remember the church having that many bathrooms. Though I was tempted to complain...

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2–4 WEB. My Dad was born during the great depression of the early 1930s. They had no electricity or running water in the rural areas where he grew up. There was no refrigeration,...

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. After my skin is destroyed, then I will see God in my flesh, whom I, even I, will see on my side. My eyes will see, and not as a stranger. Job 19:25-27 WEB. The book of Job is the oldest in the Bible, except for the first ten chapters of Genesis. Wealth in this book was still measured in livestock. Yet, even then,...

Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock. Matthew 7:24–25 WEB. When I was little and stayed with my mom for the summer, she took us to the beach. My brother and I built a giant sandcastle...

and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald cried aloud, "To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. Whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle...

Too often, we find ourselves playing it safe, staying on the sidelines, and hesitating to fully trust God with our lives. Maybe we choose comfort over stepping out to serve or avoid difficult conversations where we could share our faith. This approach can leave us with a watered-down faith - bland, colorless, and without the power that makes Christianity truly alive and compelling. It's the kind...

He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called "The Place of a Skull", which is called in Hebrew, "Golgotha", where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS." John 19:17–19 WEB. We read these familiar words but often fail to see their...

He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. Psalms 147:3-5 WEB. When sharks sense blood in the water, they go into a feeding frenzy. They will attack the wounded and devour them, even if it is another shark. They get so caught up in this frenzy that...

For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24 WEB. It's easy for us, who are used to having positions, titles, and seniority in the workplace, to carry those ideas into the church. After we've been around the church for a while, we can feel we have earned our position,...

Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. Many there are who say of my soul, "There is no help for him in God." Selah. But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. Psalms 3:1-3 WEB. David wrote these words while on the run from his son Absalom who plotted to kill David and become king in his place. Almost everyone David...

The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:17-19 WEB. I grew up as the least of my family, who happened to be the least of another family. I was the youngest of thirteen children...

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10 WEB. One night, we watched a movie where the people made a sacrifice every day so the sun would come up the following morning....

Moses had been tending sheep for forty years in the land of Midian when the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush. The bush was on fire but never burned up. The Lord told Moses that He had heard the cries of the Israelites who were suffering as slaves in Egypt. Then He said, "Come now, and I will send you." (Exodus 3:10). Then, an interesting conversation unfolded. Moses knew how powerful the...

Yahweh says, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Every man return to his house; for this thing is of me." So they listened to Yahweh's words, and returned from going against Jeroboam. 2 Chronicles 11:4 WEB. When Solomon, the son of King David, passed away, his son Rehoboam became the king of Israel. Soon afterward, a servant of Solomon named Jeroboam led a rebellion that divided...

When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant toward James and John. Jesus summoned them, and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall...

Ruth said, "Don't urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." Ruth 1:16–17 WEB. Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi walked along the bumpy road...

To provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:3 WEB. Have you ever felt so down, so sluggish, that you begin to ask yourself, "What is the point of it all?" There are many things in...

Come now, and let's reason together, says Yahweh: Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land Isaiah 1:18 WEB. I grew up in the country and have always loved ATVs, four-wheel drives, dirt bikes, off-roading, and mud bogging. For a while, a group of us would...

Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 1 Samuel 15:24 WEB. The Lord sent Saul, the king of Israel, on a quest, but he failed because of his fear of man. He told Saul through the prophet Samuel to completely wipe out the Amalekites. Yet, Saul conveniently "overlooked" the command of...

Jesus was only hours away from being arrested. He had poured His life into the twelve Apostles, teaching them all things. Yet, on their way to their last supper together, the Apostles argued over who was the greatest among them. Add in a little pride and a little knowledge, and young men tend to puff up (1 Corinthians 8:1). It reminds me of seminary all over again. During their last supper together,...