“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7). To know God in a more intimate way should be the believer’s passion; but to be known by God is the believer’s peace. To “know” (yada) = “dedicating ourselves to intimately care for someone.” […]
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6). “Train,” elsewhere translated “dedicate,” comes from a root meaning to narrow. By a repeated pattern, show children how we narrow our options to the best ones, the ones that honor God. […]
“…Your gentleness has made me great” (2 Sam 22:36). “Gentleness” is often translated “humility.” Is God not humble when He stoops to pick us out of the sheepfold, or factory, or home, to be His “kings and priests”? Who can’t love a God like this! […]
“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3). This world has its share of “stars,” but they all fade away with the passing years; THESE stars, however, reflecting the glories of the Sun of Righteousness into […]
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all” (1 Chron 29:11). The Targum renders the first phrase, “Thine, O Lord, is the […]
“… the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). The word “strength” refers to a fortified place. The Jews were rebuilding their capital with its great walls, but their true protection from trouble, and ours, is finding joy in the Lord Himself. […]
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Ps 27:4). One secret of getting the important things in life done is leaving […]
“If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (Jas 1:23-24). A friend recently shared that the word “natural” is genesis, suggesting that a hearer […]
“Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies; for as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov 23:6-7). How does a man become a miser? One thought at a time! What consumes your mind controls your life. Remember, “It’s not what you think you are, but what you think—you […]