And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Judges 6:12 REFERENCE Judges 6:11-16 God called Gideon, “Mighty man of valor,” when all things around him were not adding up, but rather falling apart; it looked like a contradiction. God has a way of talking to us about where we are going to, and not what we are going through. We see this play out in the life of the patriarch Abraham; God called him “Father of many nations” even when it was seemingly impossible for...
This is what the Lord says: “As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it, there is still a blessing in it,’ so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all. Isaiah 65:8 (NIV) REFERENCE Isaiah 65:1-10 (NIV) It is possible to still get fresh juice from a vine (cluster) of grapes that look like they are all rotten and should be destroyed. Knowing the likelihood of this happening, God here decided not to destroy the vine of grapes because there was still a blessing in it. In...
Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent…Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” II Kings 7:9 REFERENCE II Kings 7:3-11 The word ‘Evangelism’ is from the Greek word ‘Evangélio’ which means gospel – ‘GOOD NEWS!’ Evangelism is important because it is the heart of Jesus that the whole world hears the gospel and gets saved; but they cannot hear unless someone tells them. An unbeliever cannot do the job of reconciling the world back to God. Believers are the only ones...
Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?” II Samuel 9:3 REFERENCE II Samuel 9:1-13 “Lo Debar” was an ancient city east of Jordan. The name means ‘no pasture, no communication, or no word.’ It is a place of negativity, no advancement, and dryness. This had become Mephibosheth’s ‘reality,’ his residence until David sent for him. Mephibosheth was born a prince in the palace, but, through no fault of his, he suffered a great reversal of fortunes. He was forgotten, submerged in filth, dryness, lack,...
Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know, am I my brother’s keeper?’ Genesis 4:9 REFERENCE Genesis 4:3-9 God believes in interpersonal relationships, brotherliness, and friendships. He also believes in the family and marriage bonds in each of these relationships; they are responsibilities God has given us and He expects us to be accountable for how we take care of the other party and how we affect their lives for Christ. This kind of relationship is sacrificial and giving but not selfish; it looks for the good and benefit of the other,...
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Matthew 26:40-41 REFERENCE Matthew 26:36-41 Jesus teaches here the essence of spending quality time with God – it is easy to enter into temptation when you don’t spend time watching and praying. Even though your born-again spirit always desires to do the right thing, without spending time with God, it will be too timid to steer the flesh off the...
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Mark 10: 47 REFERENCE Mark 10:46-52 In life, we often find ourselves in situations where all we crave for is something new and different from our present reality. This was the case with Blind Bartimaeus in today’s account. He had been a blind beggar for perhaps, his whole life. His life was predictable, totally dependent on people’s goodwill, and locked in the vice grip of monotony – same old story. Tired and frustrated with the...
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Matthew 4:8-9 REFERENCE Matthew 4:1-11 We saw yesterday that Satan is a relentless tempter and eclectic in stratagem. He tried to tempt the Lord relentlessly and with various approaches. His first was to challenge (or call to question) His Sonship, and here, he tries to distract and misdirect His worship. The Lord knew better, “One must worship God...
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Matthew 4:3 REFERENCE Matthew 3:16 – 4:1-10 At Jesus’ baptism, God affirmed Him as His Son. However, Satan immediately came to tempt Him by attacking His identity in God. His identity was rooted in His Sonship with God. Satan hinted Jesus that whatever God told Him wasn’t true; he wanted Him to think that God couldn’t possibly love Him so much, and that He needed to ‘do’ something to ‘earn’ His sonship, hence the appeal to turn a...
“…He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long where children are born.” – Hosea 13:13 REFERENCE Hosea 13:12-13 This very graphic image painted by our text is quite a disheartening one. The tribe of Ephraim had sinned against God and because of that, God brought them into distress and trouble; sorrows like the pangs of a woman about to give birth. God intended that these pains will lead them to repentance and that a new Ephraim will be born – but Ephraim did not get it, they remained in their distress and trouble – they remained at the ‘door’...