And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD… I Samuel 5:3 REFERENCE I Samuel 5:1-12 The account in this passage reveals God’s omnipotence (unlimited power) over all dominions, gods, rulers and kingdoms. Dagon – the god of Ashdod, had to bow when it came in contact with the ark of the Lord, which represented the presence of God in the Old Testament. The destruction caused by the ark in Ashdod was so bad that the people of Ashdod volunteered to take...

Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’  Romans 4:18 REFERENCE Romans 4:18-21 Having hope in God is not mere wishful thinking; rather, it is ‘absolute belief,’ ‘confident expectation’ or ‘firm assurance’ in the things He has promised. Abraham hoped in God in spite of his hopeless circumstances and this led him to develop strong faith - believing in what could not be seen, and so, he actually became the father of many nations just as it had been told him. When someone...

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? … and You have crowned him with glory and honor.  Psalm 8:4-5 REFERENCE Psalm 8:1-9 This is just a beautiful Psalm about how important man is to God. It starts with a focus on the beauty and glory of God, and then onto His amazing creations like the moon, stars and the heavens. Finally, it goes on to talk about how mind-full God is of man, to make man the ruler over all these amazing creations. Verse 5 says, ‘man is crowned with...

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6 REFERENCE Romans 8:1-8 & 12-14 Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 described believers who are sense-ruled, lacking spiritual discernment and carnal, as walking in the flesh. The flesh includes anything that depicts ungodly passions that draw men away from yielding themselves to the Lord and to the things of the Spirit. It...

The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine. Proverbs 4:18 (MSG) REFERENCE Proverbs 4:18 (MSG) It is God’s desire for every believer to get better the longer they live. In Deuteronomy 1:6, He expressed His dissatisfaction with the way His children lived in circles, dwelt too long in a particular station in life, and really never made any appreciable progress. To continually make progress in life, I believe, is also the desire of everyone. No right-thinking person would prefer stagnation or immobility to being stepped up. Thus, to step up is a goal we must...

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing…Ezra 1:1 REFERENCE Ezra 1:1-6 "That the word of The Lord might be fulfilled..." - It is remarkable to see here that God will control political events, and as a matter of fact, all of human events just to ensure that His Word (and prophetic declaration) in the mouths of His servants gets fulfilled. God declares in...

But the Philistines took him (Samson), and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Judges 16:21 REFERENCE Judges 16:4-31 Samson's name means the sun. The account of his life indeed reflects the rising and setting of the Sun. He began like the sun, rising from an obscure family, shinning in full strength as a hero, and on the last day of his life, as the sun set, it shot forth one strong ray as he pushed the pillars in the Philistine temple. After...

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” Judges 16:6 REFERENCE Judges 16:1-17 Today, we see Samson, a man with a great purpose, great power and great passion, tethering on the edge of sin, fighting his greatest battle of all against temptation. It is said, “New levels, new devils;” the higher a man is in life, the more prone he is to falling. Hence, great men must exercise great care. “Pirates look for ‘loaded’ vessels,” same with the devil; his target victims are those loaded with...

Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” Judges 14:3 REFERENCE Judges 14:1-3 A passionate person is one who has intense feelings about something or a strong belief in something. Such a person can be described as being ‘full of enthusiasm.’ One thing I have noticed about passion is that it is universal – passionate people often display passion in more than one...

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. Judges 14:19 REFERENCE Judges 14:1-19 Samson was a man greatly anointed with the Spirit of might; he could do unimaginable things with his strength. In today’s account, he tore a lion apart with his bare hands, and he killed 30 men just to give their apparels to those who solved his riddle. At other instances, he caught 300 foxes in one day,...