Blogs in this category are designed to present something to think about. They may present a different angle on a familiar passage. Or they may simply present a challenge for the reader to relate to the passage in a way they may not have before.
“The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail…” Zephaniah 3:5 NIV ….He is righteous, it is His very nature, He ALWAYS does what is right and best, He does not make mistakes, He …
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. John 5:2-3 NIV For an angel of the Lord went down …
And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:4 NIV What was life like for the people when they were living in Egypt? They had slave masters over them who oppressed them with forced labor. Ex. 1:11 The Egyptians worked them …
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you …
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live …
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel 1:8 NIV Today is a popular time to take stock of where we are in life and consider the changes we need …
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:1-2 NIV Dead branches are not only unfruitful, they jeopardize …
“Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,” Job 29:4 NIV How do you perceive God? Do you see Him as a friend? When Job was going through so much difficulty he thought back to earlier days and one of the …
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 4:34 NIV Jesus had one single focus, to complete the purpose for which He had been sent. The Lord has work for each one of us to finish. He has …
This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jeremiah 29:1 NIV The people reading this letter were …
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2: 13 NIV As God begins to speak to His people through Jeremiah, He defines for them their two biggest mistakes. First, …
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 David understood that the Lord was his hope. He was the only One who could shine light into the darkness. We all …
That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only …
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the …
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian …
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you …