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Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead, expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. -- Ephesians 5:11-12 HCSB

I was recently asked, “If an unmarried adult couple who lives together in their own home comes to stay with you for the weekend, do you ask them to sleep in separate rooms?”

Hospitality is a practical way to serve God. It should be an automatic response to a perceived need and the Ransomed should be passionate about it. When we have guests, we should serve them and give them our best.[1] After…  ( Click for more )

For anger kills a fool, and jealousy slays the gullible. - Job 5:2 HCSB

When Hashem created us in His image, He gave us the full panoply of emotions that were available. He gave us the potential to feel love and hate, joy and sorrow – everything ranging from acceptance to zest.

The reason He gave us these feelings is so that they would motivate us to right action. There is an appropriate time and place for each one.[1] For instance, we would normally say that hatred is a wrong feeling, but Yahweh hates.[2] Jealousy is not normally encouraged, yet the Lord God feels…  ( Click for more )

Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). They said, "Does the LORD speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?" And the LORD heard it. - Numbers 12:1-2 HCSB

Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses, using his marriage to a black Cushite[1] woman as a pretext. I say a pretext because everything they said afterwards leads us to believe their words were completely motivated by jealousy. It is important to note the Lord’s reaction to their accusation. The Lord’s anger burned against…  ( Click for more )

My soul, praise the LORD, and do not forget all His benefits. He forgives all your sin; He heals all your diseases. - Psalm 103:2-3 HCSB

Like any good father, Hashem is interested in both our spiritual and physical health. On 14 distinct occasions Jesus performed miracles of either physical or mental healing. He then commanded His disciples to carry on His ministries, which included healing.[1] This ministry continued in the book of Acts.[2] Even if we believe that this type of miraculous healing was reserved for the early New Testament church as a way of demonstrating that the…  ( Click for more )

Then one of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil. When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and…  ( Click for more )

Deborah, a woman who was a prophet and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. It was her custom to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her for judgment. - Judges 4:4-5 HCSB

By all accounts, Deborah was well named. Her name means “honeybee” in Hebrew and like that popular insect, she provided nourishment while also carrying a sting!

In a day (between 1209,1169 BC) when most women stayed at home and took care of the children, Deborah became the nation’s premier…  ( Click for more )

And in the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. - James 2:24-26 HCSB

Jericho was the second oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, having apparently been established around 9,000 BC. Its walls were enormous! There were two sets of walls. These were not simply free standing walls like those of Jerusalem. Each was cut directly into the mountainside with the mountain backing them up like…  ( Click for more )

Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). They said, "Does the LORD speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?" And the LORD heard it. - Numbers 12:1-2 HCSB

Moses owed his sister Miriam. She watched over him as floated in the reed basket his mom had made. She rescued him and reunited him with their mom when he was discovered. She stuck it out in Egypt under horrific conditions after he took off and hung out in the desert for forty years.[1]

She was equally used and called of…  ( Click for more )

Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. – Genesis 29:30 HCSB

Unfortunately, women have always been susceptible to the vagaries of human ideas of beauty. Leah probably grew up in the shadows cast by her beautiful sister’s limelight, for Rachel was both beautiful and well favored (i.e. curvaceous). In contrast to these physical attributes, Leah was described as being “tender eyed” which, in context, would seem to imply she struggled with poor vision.[1]

Imagine being Leah…  ( Click for more )

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 HCSB

Dying to self means we no longer stand condemned by the old quasi-ascetic judgments of human religion; religiously unclean food or drink, ceremonial festivals, new moons or Sabbath days. These things are mere shadows; insubstantial, ephemeral ghosts of the real thing –…  ( Click for more )

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 HCSB

We rise each morning with this thought on our mind, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live today in the flesh, I will live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”[1]

Then we go out to face our challenges, seeking…  ( Click for more )

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 HCSB

Elohim is not interested in religiosity or ascetic practices. His foremost concern is a broken spirit. He is always attracted to broken, humbled hearts.[1]

While it is true that He considers our physical deaths valuable,[2] what He truly seeks from His disciples is an ability…  ( Click for more )

"Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch"? All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value against fleshly indulgence. - Colossians 2:21-23 HCSB

There once was a poor man whose job was being the king’s janitor. The work was considered by most to be physically demanding and tedious. However, this man was known for whistling cheerful tunes as he swept. He would sometimes…  ( Click for more )

One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water. - Proverbs 11:24-25 HCSB

There once was a wealthy man whose riches were only surpassed by his greed. He lived alone, lest a wife should spend his money on frivolous dresses. He had no children and congratulated himself on not having to buy toys.

In that same town, there lived a godly man who knew that true wealth lay in love extended. This tzaddik heard that a poor family was in trouble.…  ( Click for more )

Next he will take the two goats and place them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting. After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other for Azazel, he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for Azazel is to be presented alive before the LORD to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness for Azazel. - Leviticus 16:7-10 HCSB

When the high priest was finished purifying the most holy place, the tabernacle and the altar, he would be given a live male…  ( Click for more )

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ – Philippians 3:8

I am something of an expert on forgetfulness, seeing as I routinely lose money. I tend to use it as a page holder instead of its original, intended purpose. I often lose my way as I travel around in the pursuit of pastoral duties because I am thinking…  ( Click for more )

For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham's offspring. - Hebrews 2:16 HCSB

Whenever we struggle with low self-worth, we need to meditate on the ramifications of this verse. The only begotten Son of God did not die for angels.

The angels, faced with Lucifer’s pitiful hubris,[1] made their decision to either remain loyal to their Sovereign or to join the rebel’s camp. Those who chose the side of sin were locked into their decision and their fate was sealed. A place called the Lake of Fire was prepared for them.[2] They know…  ( Click for more )

The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children, and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ--seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:16-18 HCSB

A godly woman loved to attend the lectures of a local tzaddik (righteous elder). Her husband was not a believer and had grown jealous of the love and respect the woman had for the holy man. One day, the tzaddik’s…  ( Click for more )

So the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt--over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs--and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers. – Exodus 17:19 HCSB

There are two principle ways in which people approach the miracles described in the Bible. Some say that each was completely supernatural and that there were no natural explanations. Others say that though the timing was fortuitous, the events were natural phenomena…  ( Click for more )

Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. - 1 John 3:2-3 HCSB

I watched an interesting TV show on which the host helped make terra cotta architectural ornaments and facings. He had to first make the terra cotta material before he could pour it into huge moulds and it was that initial step that caught my eye.

Terra cotta is hard-fired clay that is brownish red in color…  ( Click for more )

An inheritance obtained early in life is not a blessing in the end. – Proverbs 20:21 (NLT)

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi and Solomon ben David both agree. Wealth obtained without work is a curse, not a blessing. Gandhi listed what he termed the Seven Deadly Sins of society and put wealth without work at the top. Why? Why did Solomon, probably the richest man in the world in his day, and who inherited most of it from his father, King David, say that it was not a blessing in the end?

Ill-gotten gain has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. (Proverbs 10:2)…  ( Click for more )

“Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself; how I praise You!” Psalm 63:3

There are few things in life more irritating than a spoiled brat. We hate hearing that whining tone from our kids. So, why use the same tone with God? He gives us so much. How grateful are we? Every time something comes along that we don’t particularly care for, we murmur and complain. “Why me?” we ask. We develop negative attitudes and wonder why we haven’t heard from God lately.

We should be grateful for anything we get. We were the ones who broke the…  ( Click for more )

Women received their dead raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided…  ( Click for more )

We are all skilled in the art of making excuses. We try to obtain exemption or release for what we know we should have done. Excuses are offered by the very young for failure to do household chores. As children grow older, they are confronted by more situations in life which often require excuses; such as being late or failing to do one's homework. Adults find it necessary to offer excuses for being late to work, or being late in paying bills, or forgetting appointments. We have heard most of the excuses; they are all too familiar. No…  ( Click for more )