Exodus 13:17–When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” The more I look back on what I desired to happen, I thankfully appreciate what God didn’t let happen. Because humbly I […]
You can suffer without maturing, but you cannot mature without suffering. I believe God brings suffering to our lives in order to mature us. But suffering does not mature everyone. Some people will grow bitter and walk away from the Lord. However, those who remain in God, the suffering makes them more tender, compassionate, and humble. We […]
Job 29:2-4–“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, 3 when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, 4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, From time to time my wife will gather the kids around, and […]
I understood “God is with you” very differently than what it is. I thought that meant that everything you do will turn out to be successful, you will never fail, you will never suffer, and everything will go your way. But looking at Jacob’s life, it was anything but! God promises Jacob: “Behold, I am with […]
True or false? If God is absolutely for you, your children will turn out good. False! There was a time when I was a youth pastor, I judged the parents of some of the rebellious teenagers as ungodly or incompetent. I thought, naively and wrongly, that if parents were godly and raised up their children properly, […]
Exodus 8:15–But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. For all us, the fight to be consistent may be the most “telling thing” about our brokenness from sin. Having a proper view of ourselves as sinners saved by grace is important, because it informs us of […]
Luke 8:24-25–And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” … Where is God? This is the question of our hearts when circumstances are more overwhelming than His presence…In the […]
Would you let your parents choose a mate for you? I know it is laughable, but in biblical times, that is often how a mate was chosen. The times that a young man chose his own mate, he usually chose wrong. When Isaac was of marrigeable age, his father, Abraham, chooses his wife for him (Gen. […]
I don’t know how many times I’ve read it, but I’m still shocked that God has asked Abraham to sacrifice his precious son in Genesis 22! Knowing that Isaac mattered to him more than anything else, God asks him to sacrifice him…!As a pastor, I’m always careful asking people for money because I know money […]
Exodus 2:11-12–One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people andlooked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. We see Moses having […]