“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.” (Numbers 2:2, ESV) To say that God gave Moses a challenging undertaking in leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land would be an understatement. The company of people was large, the living conditions difficult, and their devotion to the task at hand questionable. At the best of times, the Israelites vowed to follow God and live by His commandments. At the worst of times, they became rebellious,…
“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1, ESV). Parking garages confuse me. Row upon row of cars and every row looks the same. It’s so easy for me to forget where I parked, especially if I’m gone…
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you . . .…
“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24, ESV) When my now college-age grand was still pre-school age, she was a very determined child. She wasn’t pushy or mean, just very firm in her likes and dislikes. When she liked something, she really, really liked it—to the point of holding onto her favorites forever. I discovered this when I…
“Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NKJV) Esther, the young Jewish exile who married Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), was in the right place at the right time to bring deliverance to her people. However, in the time leading…
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2, ESV) When life gets busy and things on our schedule begin to slide, is prayer one of those things? Surely the Lord understands. Doesn’t He? I could quote statistics on how many pray daily, weekly, or whenever. I…