The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 1 Samuel 3:19 (NIV) I came across this verse the other day and it caught my attention. I looked at several Bible commentaries to see what that phrase meant. They either said nothing about this …
Rear-view mirrors make me nervous. Especially the one on the passenger side that says, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” How am I supposed to know how much closer? My exit is coming up and I need to get into the right lane so I check my mirrors. The right one looks like …
I like Numbers – the book in the Bible, not integers. Some of God’s best stories and best lessons can be found there. Like today I was reading in chapter 11 about the Israelites complaining about how hard life was. And God heard them and his anger burned and soon so did some of the …
I came across a quote from one of my favorite philosophers today, Anonymous. You know, it’s odd that I enjoy reading the wisdom of Anonymous so much, and yet I never answer the phone when I see “Anonymous” on the caller ID. I digress. Here is what Anonymous said as quoted in Reader’s Digest: “Ant: a …
I recently attended a memorial service for a young mother. During the service I recalled a verse from the Psalms: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:15 (NIV) “Precious” seems like a good thing, in fact, a very good thing. This death didn’t feel very precious to …
Joseph is one of my favorite Old Testament characters. I was reading his life story recently and something jumped out at me as I did. After his brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites and they took him far away to Egypt, Potiphar bought him as a slave. Then the Bible says, “the Lord gave him …
In Numbers 16 we read about three fellows — Korah, Dathan, and Abiram — who decide Moses and Aaron have too much authority and so they rebel. Moses instructs them to have their followers prepare incense burners to present before the Lord the next day. Aaron was to do the same. The next day Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with …
I’ve been reading about the life of Abraham in my morning quiet time. Sometimes he’s so human that I identify greatly with him. And sometimes his faith is so amazing that I’m in awe of him. For instance, when grazing land became scarce because he and his nephew Lot had so many animals that it …
Did you ever notice how many invitations there are in the Christmas story? Caesar Augustus “invited” Joseph to Bethlehem, the angel invited the shepherds to visit the stable and the new-born Savior, and Herod invited the Magi to come back to the palace after they had located the Christ child. The first was an invitation …