The best way I love to hear from God is through the Bible. I simply open it and ask Him to speak to my heart. I read until He speaks. Then I stop and listen. This practice of communing with God brings me joy. And it can bring you joy too. It’s a daily joy I get to count to open God’s Word.5. Count It All Joy When You Walk“Enoch walked with God, and

But did honey and milk symbolically represent something else? We do know milk often has ties to fertility, so the milk could point to the abundance of the land. Honey tended to represent delight, joy, sweetness, and pleasure. This combination could imply that Israel would no longer experience a time of bitterness and barrenness when they entered th

Thank you that you care for us and your love over us is so great. We confess our need for you. Fill us fresh with your Spirit, renew our hearts and minds in your truth. We ask for your hope and comfort to continue to heal our hearts where they’ve been broken. Give us the courage to face another day, knowing that with you before us and behind us, we

What Does Water Represent in the Bible? In John 4 Jesus had just left Judea and was heading back to Galilee. On his way back, the Bible tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria. He could have gone around Samaria as many Jews in that day did because they did not want to associate with Samaritans. Jews looked down on Samaritans and considered th

Why Do We Say God Is Holy? God’s mysterious nature can be seen in many places. He is three persons in one - the Trinity. He is spirit, and yet took on a mortal form. He is everywhere and all-knowing. There are many ways to describe Him, but no man has ever seen Him. Fortunately, some individuals have gotten to see a glimpse of eternity, a glimpse o

He laid this premise out clearly in the Sermon on the Mount:“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22a).“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adul

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and

Tenderness“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care” (Matthew 10:25).As I have pointed out in a previous article, God cannot change His character. The character of God consistently displays tenderness through His care for the sick and hurting, the young and the weak. Such is shown

Two Views of Sovereignty and Free WillThere are two ways that God’s sovereignty and human free will can be reconciled. The first argues that God is in complete control. That nothing happens apart from his direction. In this view free will is either an illusion or what is identified as compatibilist free will – a free will where we freely make the c

God’s Care for Animals Shows His Love for Us We care for our animals the way God cares for us and for them. His care is recorded throughout Scripture.“You, Lord, preserve both people and animals” (Ps. 36:6).The rainbow is God’s promise to both humans and animals that He’ll never destroy the earth by flood again. One reason God relented from destroy

6. God Delights in Showing LovingkindnessDoes anyone ever begrudgingly give you a gift? Maybe they felt like they had to get you a Christmas gift, and you can feel the annoyance they have when they hand you the present.Doesn’t that cheapen the experience? Even if they give you something you desired, knowing that they did so in a grumbling manner ma

Psalm 3 My favorite verse from this psalm is, “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head” (Psalm 3:3).There may be days when it feels nearly impossible to lift your head. The heavy heart weighs a soul down and makes it feel difficult to rise up. But the hope we find in this psalm is that God is the lifter of the he

Jesus: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull” (John 19:17). Father and Son Working TogetherBoth fathers never left their sons’ sides. Isaac: “As the two of them went on together” (Genesis 22:6).Jesus: “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).Where Is the Lamb?Both sons understood the ne

Is Luke the Only Gospel That Includes This Phrase?For such an important command spoken by Jesus, we might imagine that it would be recorded in all four Gospels. Yet, this is not the case, and the phrase “Do this in remembrance of me” is only found in Luke’s Gospel. Does this give it less significance? Not at all!It is clear from Paul’s writings lat

Joseph is warned in a dream that Herod is going on the rampage. He is angry that the Magi deceived him and is determined to eliminate any threat of a rival king. So he commands that all male children, two years old and younger, be killed. The angel tells Joseph in no uncertain terms to move quickly and get out of town, directing them to Egypt.Josep

2. Confront the Disappointment, When Appropriate When disappointment happens, I encourage you to confront the disappointment – but only if it’s appropriate. There are times when it is appropriate to confront the hurt and there are times when the wound is too deep to heal in that environment. If that happens, the only remedy may be to leave that sit

Of course, no one wants to add work to their plate, but it is the idea that sometimes if you aren’t comfortable talking to someone you don’t really know, actions can speak louder than words. Whether it is offering to cut the grass of the little, old lady down the street, taking a neighbor’s garbage down to the street when you take your own, or brin

1. He Has Forgiven Your Sin If you are not careful you can make the mistake of putting quantifiers and qualifiers on God’s forgiveness. You can tell yourself he will forgive me a certain amount of times and only for certain sins. Let me tell you, this is not true. Let me explain.In Matthew 18, Peter poses a question to Jesus about forgiveness.“Then

Who Wrote Ephesians and Who Was it Written For? We are told in the first verse of Ephesians that it was written by “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1). This book is an epistle, meaning it is a letter, and Paul wrote this particular letter while in prison in Rome. He sent it to the church in Ephesus (a city which is now part

What Does "Body of Christ" Mean? “Body of Christ” is a significant term for the church and a good way to understand the church. It affirms that Jesus is the head of the church. We as believers follow Christ, listen to Christ, and let Christ guide our steps, just as the head of the body does. Likewise, this term for the church acknowledges diversity