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But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. Judg. 14:3-4 ESVSamson wanted to marry a Philistine woman and it upset his parents terribly. What on earth is wrong with that kid? his parents must have thought....

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. Acts 15:28–29 NIV After Jesus ascended to the Father and the gospel started to spread, non-Jewish people...

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2:26 ESV Growing up on a farm with two brothers and ten step-siblings, I got to see first-hand those who were pleasing to their parents, and those who were not. The parents could ask one child to do something and they would. This pleased them and there would sometimes be a reward for the child. The child...

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Luke 7:33–34 ESVThere was a melancholy feeling that settled over us when we entered the sanctuary. Everyone was somber with long faces...

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Phil 4:5 KJVThere are so many things in this life that God has given us to enjoy and He wants us to have pleasure while we are here. Relationships, eating, drinking, work, health, exercise, hobbies, are all valuable pursuits. However, none of these are to become the end goal and focus of your life.When something becomes more important...

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV)Twenty years ago the Lord gave me a word that I would be a pioneer of new things in ministry and to prepare myself. I was excited and told some friends, but they just gave me a dumb look and asked if I was...

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 ESVAre there any benefits? I asked when they told me the pay. I had worked so many low-end jobs that had...

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of...

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the rightness of your rising. Is. 60:1 ESVNightfall came faster than I was anticipating and it was black night as I made...

And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, Thus says the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys, therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 1 Kings 20:28 ESVWhen the Syrians attacked Israel, they thought that God was only a god of the mountains and not of the valleys....

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the...

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? Genesis 3:8-9 ESVAdam walked with God in the garden but then after disobeying His command, withdrew and tried to hide because of it. Sin brings...

The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. Ex. 4:2-3 ESVMoses had a staff that he carried, and it was nothing special at the beginning. Then after meeting with God, it transformed into an object of power. At the same time...

14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 1Kings 17:14 ESVBecause of a string of bad choices by the leadership of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, the entire land suffered a famine. It did not rain for years and they could not plant crops in the dry dust....

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, The LORD is with you, mighty warrior. Judges 6:12 NIVDust and chaff drifted through the air as Gideon threshed the wheat. He was hiding inside of a winepress so the Midianites would not come and take the little that he had. With no breeze at all, it was dirty and hot. While he was working, the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and called him...

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matt 23:11 ESVWhen I showed up at a church work day event, the job that got assigned to me was scrubbing all the bathrooms: upstairs, downstairs, and down the hall. I did not remember the church having that many bathrooms. Though I had once been a painting contractor, they...

There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. John 19:1719 ESV   We read these familiar words and often fail to see the depth of them. Jesus was falsely accused, condemned, beaten, stripped naked, and nailed to a cross where He was left...

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:7–9 ESVOne night we watched a movie where the people made a sacrifice every day so that the sun would come up. One day everything went wrong and they failed to make the daily sacrifice. The people were terrified, but then the sun came...

And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give...

But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. Ruth 1:16–17 ESVRuth walked along the road thinking about what had recently happened. Her husband had died, her father-in-law had died, and her brother-in-law...

And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. Josh. 23:14 ESVWhen I was young, the Lord spoke to my heart that one day I would be in the ministry and to begin to prepare myself for it. I...

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? Job 7:17-18 ESVWe used to sing a song in church that was “More of Jesus, Less of Me.” While this is a neat saying, and I even like the song, that is not what God actually wants. It would be better sang as “More like...

the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” (Joshua 4:1–3 ESV)   February Newsletter - 2015 Hello there,  Thank...

and they went a three days journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. Numbers 33:8–9 ESVThe Israelites had been traveling for three days through a desert wasteland when they arrived at Marah, thirsty and out of water. The water at Marah was bitter...

These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey. So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. Joshua 9:13–14 ESVJoshua and the Israelite leaders had believed a lie and now were betrayed. Some strangers had came to them pretending that they were from a faraway...

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Judg. 3:7 ESVCenturies ago when it was time to go to church, there was an excitement in the air and no one wanted to stay home. It was a convenient religion. Baal was the god of materialism and money. Asheroth was the god of sex and fertility. Molech was the god...

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked. 1 Chronicles 4:10 ESVSome people that I have met are often ashamed to ask God for anything. They feel that they have messed up so bad that they are lucky to be on the...

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Job 2:11 NIV  When Job went through a terrible trial, three of his friends came to comfort him. One by one they gave long-winded speeches...

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 NIV  This is an amazing story to me. The Lord called to Samuel three times and each time he got up and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am.” Eli, after the third time, told him to go back and if He calls you...

The LORD said to Gideon, The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me. Judg. 7:2 ESV  Gideon started out with thirty-two thousand men but ended up with three hundred at the start of the actual battle. God Himself took them away and separated them from him. Gideon was not abandoned, and it was completely...