And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, 'Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?…' - I Samuel 4:3 REFERENCE I Samuel 4:1-3 It is interesting to note the kind of understanding Israel had in this verse – that their military success or defeat was in the hands of the Lord and never in their enemy’s. It can be further postulated that they understood also that it didn’t depend on the size of their army or the enemy’s, their strategy or the enemy’s, their weapon of war or...
So the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' He said, 'A rod.' - Exodus 4:2 REFERENCE Exodus 4:1-5 When God encountered Moses, he had a shepherd’s rod in his hand. He was tending his father-in-law’s flock. However, the rod in his hand became the starting point of all that God did in his life. Although he looked at the rod as an ordinary stick. In life, no man’s hand is empty; God Himself sees to it that either by birth or through the process of life and living, every man soon finds something in...
I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. - II Samuel 17:2 REFERENCE II Samuel 17:1-4 People are so quick to turn against their heroes when fortune has first turned against them. Those who once shouted “Hosanna, will soon shout, ‘crucify Him!” The praise of man is transient and is only bestowed on their hero, when they have a present benefit in them or in their exploits. The plan to strike King David...
While He spoke these things to them, behold , a ruler came and worshiped Him saying, 'My daughter has just died, but come lay your hand on her and she will live.' - Matthew 9:18 REFERENCE Matthew 9:18-26 This man was asking for medicine after death. No right thinking physician wants to go administer treatment to a dead body, but Jesus is no ordinary Physician – He is Lord over both life and death – He is a Physician, even after death, for He is the resurrection and the life. The fact that this man came to...
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.' - Matthew 25:24-25 REFERENCE Matthew 25:14-30 Continued from yesterday… Often those with one talent fall into the temptation of despising what they have been given. They think it is too small and they complain about it like the wicked servant. Also, they think those who have more talents are better off...
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. - Matthew 25:15 REFERENCE Matthew 25:14-30 The first thing that strikes you about the parable in this passage, is the ‘seeming imbalance’ in the way the Master shared the talents amongst these servants; it looks almost unfair, but in His foreknowledge, He did it according to each person’s ability. Talents here can mean any God-given gifts, opportunities, graces, congenital blessings and life changing ideas. Although God gives us these talents...
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. - John 16:33 REFERENCE John 16:33 As Christians, many of us don’t want to come to terms with the truth Jesus expressed in today’s text concerning tribulation (i.e. trouble) coming to us; because trouble gets us worried, it brings discomfort, anxiety and inconvenience. Although nobody prays to have trouble, yet we experience it one way or another in our lives. The times we find ourselves in trouble,...
Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. - Ephesians 6:6-7 REFERENCE Ephesians 6:5-8 As Christians, we should be guided by the principles in the Word of God concerning different aspects of life. As it regards the works of our hands or serving others, the Word of God recommends that we do it to please God; not our employers or those in authority over us, and definitely not in eye service. Our assignment therefore is to...
For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? ~ Esther 4:14 REFERENCE Esther 4:1-14 God is interested in getting His blessings to us, so we can extend them to others. Genesis 12:1-3 alludes to this truth; He made Abraham great, and blessed him, so that all nations would be blessed through him. Whatever resource God has blessed you with (a position of...
And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, 'For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.' - Genesis 26:22 REFERENCE Genesis 26:12-22 One of the devil’s deceptions is to make people think they have lost time and opportunity, and that starting all over again may be too difficult, if not impossible. We see in our society today many people who have bought into this ‘lie’ and have given up on themselves....