Only 2 more days – TWO MORE DAYS!! – and I can officially stop blogging my devotions every night (it’s usually at night). Most of the time I have really enjoyed it. Sometimes I’ve been so tired or burnt out, but I slogged through. And it was worth it. I wrestled with God and He won! … Continue reading »
Haggai and Zechariah prophecy the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple under Nehemiah and Ezra – seventy years after Judah is taken out by Babylon. But like most OT prophecies, many parts are fulfilled a second and a third time through the Messiah — and beyond (I believe to the New Jerusalem in the New Earth). … Continue reading »
These last few Psalms comprise a cacophony of praise. If my memory serves right, the pilgrims of Israel sang these Psalms as they made their way to the Temple and up its stairs during the great feasts. Each of the Psalms begins and ends with Praise the Lord. I was going to comment on Psalm 147 yesterday before I … Continue reading »
We just got back from our 11 PM Christmas service. I love this service because we sing all the carols, then welcome Christmas Day with communion, candles and Silent Night. I love singing loudly to God. But God singing loudly over me? That notion always stuns me – like the passage it comes from (which … Continue reading »
I liked this verse today: Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD! (Psalm 144:15 ESV) I don’t really relate to all the blessings described in the preceding verses (full granaries, fertile sheep and cattle), but I’ll take blessed children and no crying in the street. … Continue reading »
Tim Keller has mined the depths of Jonah in several Sermon series – and I’ve learned so much from the book because of Tim. I’d recommend listening in on one of the series. But I have one day to reflect on the entire book. I won’t forget from those sermons (back in the 90s) that … Continue reading »
Now this is just a great passage from Revelation! I believe this describes all the Saints – and what a time we’ll have! After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, … Continue reading »
I had a chain reaction as I read tonight. One verse reminded me of another which then reminded me of today’s sermon. It started here: I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Psalm 143: 6 NIV The thirst for God can be quenched at the fountain of His … Continue reading »
A few years ago a teacher friend – and then the book he recommended (Discipleship on the Edge) – gave me an insight into Revelation 5 that is seared into my mind. I took the opportunity to speak about in an earlier post. Well, as soon as I read today’s passages, I knew I’d mention … Continue reading »
A friend and I were emailing about the Cross today and he wrote, “I had an atheist get angry with me one time and tell me… ‘At least I don’t worship a stick!’” Which of course reminded me of my reading today where God tells Hosea: My people ask wooden idols for advice; they ask … Continue reading »
Hebrews has some great expressions of the Gospel. Here’s another: …when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent … he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means … Continue reading »
My PC is doing CHKDSK so I am forced to blog on an iPad… The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Psalm 118: 14 ESV This did not work on the iPad and the Nook is not much better. But I like the idea that God is my song. He … Continue reading »
I am having breakfast with a friend on Thursday. Frankly, I am sort of nervous about the prospect, about how to say what I plan to say. We got to know each other sitting together at our girls’ basketball and softball games. We talked about our kids and the financial difficulties we both faced because … Continue reading »
Oh, do I LOVE Romans 8: 18-39. Where do I begin to share the benefits God has given me through this passage? What a wonderful reminder of the now and the not yet. We suffer. We long. We fight the sin that remains. … but one day! One day all that was lost at the … Continue reading »
I’ve written here about my “dusky hour” of doubt. Where God seemed to have pulled a blind over His presence in my life. Where He did what was necessary to reveal sin and lead me to repentance. No matter what my emotional and spiritual state, I could never walk away. I could never “stop” being … Continue reading »
