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...
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20 REFERENCE Matthew 1:18-25 Can you imagine how Joseph felt when his fiancée Mary told him she was pregnant? He knew he wasn’t responsible for her pregnancy, so he must have felt all sorts of emotions. Maybe he felt betrayed, angry, rejected, and relegated. Perhaps, he thought to disgrace her publicly as...
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’...
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18:14 REFERENCE Matthew 18:11-14 One of Satan’s tricks against believers is to use guilt and condemnation to keep them in a prison of fear and shame, thereby making them shrink from having an intimate relationship with God. He will lie to a believer who is struggling with a moral weakness that he is not good enough to serve or come close to God because God is disgusted with him. Such a believer then stays away from God,...
“But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” Hebrews 12:8 REFERENCE Hebrews 12:5-11 Do you remember your growing up years and how daddy was there to instill discipline? Yes, you were spanked sometimes, and at other times, you were told to serve a punishment. The experience was often unpleasant and you didn’t like it. In fact, some of us wondered if our parents (especially mums) gave birth to us, because if they did, they wouldn’t have inflicted so much pain on us, nor denied us certain fun times or...