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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 )

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

The three Hebrew youth, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, knew this lesson all too well. They faced the hottest, fiery trial possible, that of being cast into a fiery furnace because they were not willing to compromise with the world, or go back on their belief in God. They were steadfast and unmovable[1], even in the middle of the flames.

I like their answer to King Nebuchadnezzar when he commanded them to bow or burn.

· Daniel 3:16-18, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to…  ( Click for more )

Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. I hated all my work at which I labored under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. – Ecclesiastes 2:17-19 (HCSB)

Even the best of jobs can become too much to bear at times. Doing the thing we love best can also become overwhelming. What was once therapeutic…  ( Click for more )

But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God's grace. - Acts 20:24 HCSB

Paul learned to put God first in his life. At the end of his life, when he had faced the fiery trials and tests of his long and profitable service to the Lord, his final testimony was, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. In the future, there is reserved…  ( Click for more )

If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 3:6-9 HCSB

A lot of people claim that they have fellowship with God[1].…  ( Click for more )

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came, and then morning: the sixth day. – Genesis 1:31

One of the weaknesses of American fundamentalist Christianity has been a very weak eco-theology, making room for their being characterized as ecological rapists – right-wing, capitalistic materialists.

This is primarily because some of these professed Christians have mistakenly taken God’s commandment to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it; rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls…  ( Click for more )

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and He issued His verdict last night… The God of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor-the gods of their father -will judge between us." And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. – Genesis 31:42,53

Years ago, as I was pulling into a mall parking lot I passed by two young men. I heard a loud bang, looked in my mirror and realized that as I went by, one of the two had kicked…  ( Click for more )

And they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it. Many people spread their robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Then those who went before and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! – Mark 11:7-10[1] HCSB

When Jesus approached Jerusalem, the scene was intense because He had arrived at Passover time. A crowd of Jewish religious pilgrims had already flooded the city. And…  ( Click for more )

And they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it. Many people spread their robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Then those who went before and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! – Mark 11:7-10 HCSB

What’s a “Carnival Christian?” A Carnival Christian is someone who only enjoys the fun. They get caught up in the excitement of cheering for Jesus, but…  ( Click for more )

Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith. – Habakkuk 2:4 HCSB

Many Christians love to quote Paul’s famous verse, “God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.[1]” It is the flagship verse of those who take grace to the point where they claim that works are totally unrelated to righteousness. But these misguided folk fail to recognize the history behind this verse. Paul is actually quoting Habakkuk who clearly taught that faith is not…  ( Click for more )