“Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.” ~ Ruth 1:6 REFERENCE: Ruth 1:6-10 Location is critical. Being in the right location significantly affects our lives, but we rarely think much of it. The right location will determine whether the rice you plant yields a harvest. Rice does not grow in arid lands, nor will yam tubers grow in sandy soil. No matter how grown a fish becomes, it will never reside...
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." ~ John 9:2-3 REFERENCE: John 9:1-7 Trouble sometimes comes back-to-back and never seems to diminish. I have experienced days like that; questions quickly arise: "God, what have I done wrong? Where did I miss it? Lord, why me?" There are a few times that these questions are appropriate, but primarily, trouble comes because we are in this world. Still, the comfort we have is that God...
“Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.” I Kings 2:1-4 King David lays on his death bed, giving his farewell speech as he gazes at heaven’s gates, ready to embark on the journey all men must travel. He has many important things to say about life in the kingdom when he’s gone: the building of the temple, execution of justice, etc. Top on his list, however, is that his son, Solomon, who...
"Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held — To subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut." ~ Isaiah 45:1 REFERENCE: Isaiah 45:1-4 Do you sometimes wonder if you have what it takes to do what God has called you to do? Do you feel you are to bless multitudes but struggle with the how or capacity to? What you need is divine enablement to do the work of God. That divine enablement is...
"And he said to him, 'Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!'" ~ John 2:10 REFERENCE: John 2:1-10 As the year winds down, I prophesy that it will end better than it started for you, in Jesus' name. God's plan is that the latter's glory is greater than the former. It is what Jesus did at the wedding in Cana when He gave good wine, better than what they started the party with. It was so good that...
“For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.” ~ Job 22:6 REFERENCE: Job 22:5-11 Eliphaz wrongly scolded Job as a great sinner. He concluded that his suffering was because of his social injustice. He charged him with wickedness, extortion, oppression of the poor, denial of sustenance to the weary, and insensitivity to widows and the fatherless plight. He said that for these reasons, snares, darkness, and sudden troubles surrounded Job. Eliphaz was wrong because Job wasn’t all he said; Job’s situation was by divine permission. Although Eliphaz was...
"Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?"- II Kings 7:3 REFERENCE: II Kings 7:1-8 Nothing moves until you move; this truth is one of Newton's laws of motion: 'Every object will remain in a position of rest unless acted upon by a greater external force.' The word of God is a powerful force; God created the world by it. However, as long as it remains on the pages of the bible or in our heads, it profits nothing. We must act...
“So, the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.” ~ Exodus 2:2 REFERENCE: Exodus 2:1-10 Moses was one of the greatest leaders who walked the face of the earth. He was a friend of God and was the only one recorded to have seen God’s body parts. God attested that He spoke with Moses face to face as a man talked to his friend. Described as the meekest of men, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Reading about Moses gives...
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” – Genesis 8:22 REFERENCE: Genesis 8:15-22 God has set some universal laws in place that, if we understand and deploy them, we can influence our outcomes in life. One such is the law of seedtime harvest. It is a timeless principle of sowing and reaping. For every seed, there is a corresponding harvest. In other words, if you plant any seed, God sees that it yields a harvest after time elapses. Today, one seed you can sow in...
"Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening... And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? ...” ~ Joshua 7:6-7 REFERENCE: Joshua 7:1-9 'Why?' is often the pivot upon which our life improves. It forces us to probe our situation, seek for reasons, and discover solutions/answers. Isaac asked God, "Why?" when Rebecca had a difficult pregnancy. When in depression, David questioned, "Why are you cast down...