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My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began. God, how difficult Your thoughts are for me to comprehend; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with You. - Psalm 139:15-18 HCSB

Ages ago, magma made its way out from the center of the earth to the relatively cooler upper mantle. There it solidified into some bedrock that from…  ( Click for more )

All those led by God's Spirit are God's sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!" - Romans 8:14-15 HCSB

“Abba! Father!” is not the cry of one calling out a calm acknowledgment of a universal truth like a night watchman identifying the passing of the night’s hours. It is the call of a small child for its father from a darkened room, seeking the security of its parent’s arms.

It is easy to look at the darkness of this world and imagine…  ( Click for more )

Pay attention, heavens, and I will speak; listen, earth, to the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants. For I will proclaim the LORD's name. Declare the greatness of our God! The Rock--His work is perfect; all His ways are entirely just. A faithful God, without prejudice, He is righteous and true. - Deuteronomy 32:1-4 HCSB

Until the arrival of John the Baptist, Moses was the greatest prophet that Israel had ever known.[1] Moses didn’t have visions, dreams or oracles.…  ( Click for more )

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt--we don't know what has happened to him!" Then Aaron replied to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me." So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving…  ( Click for more )

Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. - Hebrews 4:16 HCSB

An ancient Talmudic parable[1] tells of three sages who sought Rabbi Akiva’s help in their determination to enter the third heaven[2] and approach the Garden of God. Rabbi Akiva warned them of the terrible beauties of that place and how those wonders would prey upon their mortal minds. “When you approach the marble walls surrounding the Holy One, blessed be He, they may look like a wall of water about to…  ( Click for more )

or “How to Obtain Joy and Peace”

Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your instruction; nothing makes them stumble. – Psalm 119:165 HCSB

There once was a little golf cart who sought joy and peace in the excitement of adventure. “Perhaps if I taste of life’s thrills I will be fulfilled and satisfied.” So he tried to race in the Baja. Of course, being a golf cart, all he was beat up, dirty and received a loss on his record.

Then he decided, “I’ll try parachuting. Surely that will be so exciting that I will be happy!”…  ( Click for more )

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough--because there was no room for them at the inn. - Luke 2:6-7 HCSB

Ages ago, the Trinity created the world.[1] The process was not without its unique agony, involving the shedding of certain of the Son’s divine traits.[2]

Our ancestors quickly fell from grace and part of the resulting curse entailed birth pangs. Hashem said, “I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish.”[3]…  ( Click for more )

“For nothing will be impossible with God." "I am the Lord's slave," said Mary. "May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel left her. - Luke 1:37-38 HCSB

“Nothing is impossible with God.” What a wonderful truth. All true believers can attest to that fact, not only from their study of the Scriptures, but out of personal experience. Every believer has had God’s eternal light shine into the darkness of their lives, bringing order and structure where the soul had previously been unformed and void.[1] Every believer…  ( Click for more )

"If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.” - John 15:18-20 HCSB

Back in the days of feudal Japan, a caste system developed that had the emperor and his courtiers at the very top and a group of people…  ( Click for more )

Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil. - Proverbs 15:16 HCSB

There once was a tzaddik who continuously praised the Lord for His great providence. “Blessed art thou, Yawheh Yireh, the Lord Who sees and provides for all my needs.”[1] It seemed that his prayers were always answered. People would come from miles around to receive one of his blessings, or to ask this blessed elder to pray for them.[2] However, he never was heard to pray for himself.[3] “I have no need for anything,” he would claim, “everything…  ( Click for more )

But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:4 HCSB

Imagine that I built a beautiful deck for my wife. I carefully chose the most select quality lumber and painstakingly ensured that every cut was exactly on the line; each cut to within a sixteenth of an inch. Oh – only one problem. I forgot to put any sealer on our deck.

You would rightly cry out, “Fool! Don’t you know what will happen to all your work if you don’t preserve it somehow?” I would…  ( Click for more )

So then, in this way, my dearly loved brothers, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. - Philippians 4:1-5 HCSB

Euodia and Syntyche were leaders of the Philippian church. They still attended the worship…  ( Click for more )

History of the Bible

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, either by our message or by our letter. - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 HCSB

To discuss the history of the English Bible is to discuss languages. You must realize that only 1,000 years ago, English didn’t even exist. But the Bible is so much older than that. In fact, while some parts of the Bible are estimated to be over 3,500 years old, the most recent addition to it is 2,000 years old. That’s the modern part! So, in order to develop a proper understanding of where…  ( Click for more )

Not that I have already reached [the goal] or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also. – Philippians 3:12-15 HCSB

There is a deeply twisted…  ( Click for more )

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they were no more. - Matthew 2:16-18 HCSB

[1] So many innocent children killed for the sake of political expediency! We shake our heads…  ( Click for more )

The Law of God

Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them. - Psalm 115:3-8 HCSB

Two men in my church build cars for a living that are not like your father’s Neon. Their cars are sleek, powerful and wonderfully classy.…  ( Click for more )

Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace." This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. - Ezekiel 16:61-63 HCSB

There once was a man who had inadvertently committed a sin. He was mortified by his mistake and approached a righteous…  ( Click for more )

The History of the Bible

He said to them, "How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken! Didn't the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. - Luke 24:25-27 HCSB

About 500-400 BC, papyrus, a kind of paper that was made from the Papyrus plant, started becoming popular. The outer rind was cut off and the sticky inner pith was cut into strips that were laid side by side with…  ( Click for more )

…no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid--that is, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire. – 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 HCSB

The sages like to…  ( Click for more )

"Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: 'God, I thank You that I'm not like other people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, 'God, turn Your wrath from me--a sinner!' I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone…  ( Click for more )

Special Revelation – Interpretation and Animation

But as it is written: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what has never come into a man's heart, is what God has prepared for those who love Him. Now God has revealed them to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the concerns of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the concerns of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, in order…  ( Click for more )

Then He told them, "These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. - Luke 24:44-45 HCSB

There were several principal criteria that determined whether or not the early church considered a book to be canonical. The first was “authorship.” Was the book written by a prophet, an apostle or an accredited spokesperson of God? This stemmed from the view that God is the ultimate authority,…  ( Click for more )

Special Revelation – Inspiration and Illumination

Also, this is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers. - 1 Thessalonians 2:13 HCSB

The Thessalonicans understood that the letters they received from Paul were no mere human message. From the beginning, the letters were believed to be the message of God; sacred Scriptures that effectively worked in the hearts and minds of…  ( Click for more )

Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are spread out in the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face." - Job 1:9-11 HCSB

The apostle Peter warned us about the devil, saying that our adversary prowls around like a roaring lion seeking anyone he can devour.[1] The term Peter used was “diabolos” which means slanderer, traducer or malignant…  ( Click for more )