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The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." – Exodus 3:9-10 HCSB

One day while minding his own business, Moses came across a thing of wondrous beauty – a bush that burnt continuously without being consumed[1]. While gazing at it in awe, a voice suddenly emanated from the bush telling Moses to remove his sandals, because the ground he was standing on was holy.

Moses did exactly as Adam and…  ( Click for more )

The nations will see your righteousness. Kings will be blinded by your glory. And the Lord will give you a new name. – Is. 62:2

A great general was surrounded one time. He was in his tent discussing strategy with his subordinates when an aide came running in. “General, the enemy has surrounded us with eight regiments! We are outnumbered 20 to one!” Everyone turned to the great man as he gazed calmly at the panicked aide. “Well that’s outstanding!” he replied “We’ve got them right where we want them. We can shoot anywhere…  ( Click for more )

He is the one who was in the congregation in the desert together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our forefathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our forefathers were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him away, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's become of him. They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. – Acts 7:38-41 HCSB

The…  ( Click for more )

Why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? Matthew 7:3

A man went to his doctor for a physical examination. The doctor gave him an initial exam and then sent him to five other physicians, who checked him out in their areas of specialty. A week later, the man returned for a report on the results.

Sitting behind his desk, the doctor fingered several sheets of reports, lingering over a few pages. Finally, he closed the manila folder and reported, “You are in fine shape – your heart, your lungs, all those things are in good order.…  ( Click for more )

The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. - Genesis 18:1-3

One day while walking with some children, Queen Mary was caught in a sudden shower. Quickly taking shelter on the porch of a home, she knocked at the door and asked to borrow an umbrella. “I’ll…  ( Click for more )

"Have your brother Aaron, with his sons, come to you from the Israelites to serve Me as priest-Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty. You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron's garments for consecrating him to serve Me as priest.” – Exodus 28:1-3 HCSB

Frankly, I have a problem with Aaron. I don’t understand why God chose him to be a priest. Yes, I know that he had the same lineage as his worship-team-leading sister…  ( Click for more )

Even now-[this is] the Lord's declaration-turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, [so you can] offer grain and wine to the Lord your God. – Joel 2:12-14 HCSB

Most of us have seen the crazy guys on the streets wave their signs, “Repent, the end of the world is near!” But when God…  ( Click for more )

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15 HCSB

Have you ever read a passage of Scripture and thought, “So what?” Or, perhaps even worse, you shrugged your mental shoulders and wondered, “What the heck did that mean?” Have you ever left your prayer closet, prie-dieux (a prayer kneeler), meditation pillow or kitchen table with the nagging feeling that there was more to what you just read in the Bible but you just couldn’t put your finger…  ( Click for more )

I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. For certain men, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. – Jude 1:3b-4 HCSB

People come into our lives claiming to be great teachers, spiritual gurus, or possessors of inside knowledge of the spiritual realms. How do we tell who’s real and who’s not?

False teachers worm their way in. Their attack…  ( Click for more )

These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who walk in the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and worship-they will be like this underwear, of no use whatsoever. – Jeremiah 13:10 HCSB

Jeremiah 13 is definitely one for the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” books. God told His prophet to go buy some linen underwear, to put it on, and to be careful to not get it wet.[1]Euphrates River and hide it in a rocky crevice.”[2] Okay, why was that last part necessary? I have no idea because God shortly came back to Jeremiah…  ( Click for more )

The Lord’s searchlight penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. – Proverbs 20:27 NLT

King Solomon had a remarkably pithy, if not always pleasant, way of putting things. “Don't eat a stingy person's bread and don't desire his choice food, for as he thinks within himself, so he is. ‘Eat and drink’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit the little you've eaten and waste your pleasant words.”[1]

We immediately recognize the truth of what he said, but like children first trying to grasp algebra, we can’t…  ( Click for more )

So she named the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, "Have I really seen here the One who sees me?" That is why she named the spring, "A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me." It is located between Kadesh and Bered. – Genesis 16:13-14 HCSB

Hagar, the Egyptian slave that Sarai offered to Abraham as a surrogate mother, was fleeing her mistress’ mistreatment when she came to a spring[1]Egypt,[2] her home country. The fact that her son, Ishmael, later settled in Shur[3] would seem to support this theory. Wherever she was going, as…  ( Click for more )

Both the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Anyone who hears should say, "Come!" And the one who is thirsty should come. Whoever desires should take the living water as a gift. - Revelation 22:17 (HCSB) Water is an important feature, appearing some 722 times in the Scriptures. For obvious reasons in the Middle East, water is often used in the Bible to illustrate the concept of life.

It is cited as the first place that life occurred.[1] Taking the common element of pregnancy that we call the “water breaking”, Jesus used water as a metaphor to contrast…  ( Click for more )

"Get out of the way!" they said, adding, "This one came here as a foreigner, but he's acting like a judge! Now we'll do more harm to you than to them." They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door. – Genesis 19:9 HCSB

The Son of God told Abraham that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was immense, and that their sin was extremely serious. He had decided to go there to see if what they had done justified the cry that had come up to Him.[1]

This statement caused me to wonder, “Who was raising that cry?” It was certainly…  ( Click for more )

This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and hound from town to town.So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.I assure you: All these things will come on this generation! – Matthew 23:34-36 HCSB

What an amazing statement to come from the Master Who also said “Do not judge, so that you won’t be…  ( Click for more )

Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them. But His disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me; don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them. – Mark 10:13-16 HCSB

Childlikeness differs from childishness. A person with a childlike attitude is humble while a childish person…  ( Click for more )

The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. Then the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the sky. He overthrew these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. – Genesis 19:23-26 HCSB

Things were so bad in Sodom and Gomorrah that the Son of God Himself came down to see if what the inhabitants had done justified the cry that had come up to Him.[1] Apparently it was as bad as He’d heard, and He decided to make the cities…  ( Click for more )

Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him." – Genesis 18:17-19 HCSB

Fathers, may I speak to you for a moment? Yes, I know you are busy with your career, family, church and hobbies. You may even have a ministry to which…  ( Click for more )

The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian." The…  ( Click for more )

The Lord says: “I will not relent from punishing Israel for three crimes, even four, because they sell a righteous person for silver and a needy person for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the poor on the dust of the ground and block the path of the needy. A man and his father have sexual relations with the same girl, profaning My holy name. They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken as collateral, and they drink in the house of their God wine obtained through fines.” - Amos 2:6-8 HCSB

God said, “I will not relent from punishing Damascus…  ( Click for more )

“Now if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find favor in Your sight. Now consider that this nation is Your people." Then He replied, "My presence will go [with you], and I will give you rest." – Exodus 33:13-14 HCSB

Ah, love’s sweet boldness. What courage rises within the lover’s heart! A tzaddik, after initial doubts and fears[1], here finally discovers the true possibilities of d’vekut, the mystical communion between God’s Spirit and ours.

When first called, Moses…  ( Click for more )

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. – Matthew 14:45 HCSB

It’s amazing how the cycles of life affect us. Even the Son of God was subject to them. Jesus’ popularity had grown to the point that He had to preach from a boat floating offshore so that the crowds could see and hear Him.[1] Even his hometown people were at first amazed by His wisdom and power.[2] Soon, however, the crowd’s amazement transformed into jealousy and resentment.[3]

Another cycle began when His…  ( Click for more )

Man born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. - Job 14:1 HCSB

When he said this, Job was experiencing some of the worst trials faced by any man who ever lived, except for Jesus. He learned the lesson of this verse the hard way. Yet Job never failed to believe in God.

Oh yes, there were times when he grew weary of life. And who wouldn’t in his circumstances? Job had lost everything. His home was wrecked, his children were dead, his servants were gone, and his wealth had been destroyed or stolen. Even his health had left him leaving him completely desolate.…  ( Click for more )

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord's work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 HCSB

There is a story that goes like this: Years ago one of the largest, most powerful battleships that the world has ever known, the USS Missouri, was cruising off the coast of Nova Scotia. A gale wind was blowing, whipping the waves into a frenzy.

The great ship, nicknamed the “Mighty Mo”, commanded the seas wherever it sailed. Every ship that approached her would quickly give way for no one…  ( Click for more )