“The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22, English Standard Version) Have you ever wondered about the richest person who ever lived? I assumed it would be some present-day entrepreneur such as Jeff Bezos (Amazon) or Bill Gates (Microsoft), but I was wrong.…
“Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault, and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his death will be our fault.” (Joshua…
Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. They include the Anakites, a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is…
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5, English Standard Version) Have you ever forgotten a name? Or walked into a room only to forget why you came? We all have memory lapses—and all aren’t…
“So that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” (Philippians 2:15, New Living Translation). Light is a luxury we take for granted, at least until a storm brings down a wire…
“There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. So even though wisdom is better…
“Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” (Colossians 3:22-23, Christian Standard Bible) Living for God involves more than…
“Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians 4:5, New King James Version) Gentleness. It’s listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as one of the nine attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, but I confess it’s not one I’ve thought much about until recently. When I…
“And this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’s. He will hand you over to us.” (I Samuel 17:47, Christian Standard Bible) A favorite Bible story from childhood tells of the shepherd boy David slaying…