This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit (Amos 8:1 NIV).
Ease and comfort are dangerous beds for a Christian to sleep on. For often they breed sin. It was just like this for the nation of Israel. They were lounging in their security and indulging in sin.
But what … Read the rest
Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her (Lamentations 1:9a NIV).
Prophet Jeremiah is mourning over the total destruction of Jerusalem. Among many other things he finds one sure reason why this most favored city of God was destroyed–“she did not … Read the rest
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded (2 Chronicles 15:7 NIV).
There is no man of God who has not experienced discouragement in his work. It sometimes comes in unexpectedly. It plunges a man into the valley of despair and doubt as no other thing … Read the rest
Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord (Isaiah 63:13b, 14a NIV).
This passage is a clear reference to the deliverance that God gave the Israelites through the hand of Moses from the Egyptian army … Read the rest
Who despises the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10a NIV)?
God begins all His great works from small things. In this passage people were asked not to despise the day of small things. This is because it is part of human nature to look down upon small beginnings.
People are generally impressed only by the … Read the rest
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare (Isaiah 55:2 NIV).
In these lines you are called to listen carefully. If you will do so you will be … Read the rest
Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you (Genesis 13:17 NIV).
Go! Do not keep on looking at what God has given you. Now you have got to move. But you will say, “Lord, let me enjoy the scenic beauty for some more time.” This hesitancy … Read the rest
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23,24 NIV).
Can you pray this prayer with an honest and earnest heart? If you can do so you can be assured that … Read the rest
Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice (2 Samuel 1:20 NIV).
Here we are in the beginning of the lament which David composed concerning Saul and Jonathan when he had heard of their death … Read the rest
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, ‘Destroy him!’ (Deuteronomy 33:27 NIV).
These words are part of the concluding verses of Moses’ farewell blessing to the tribes of Israel. Here he points out the fact that the eternal God is their … Read the rest
Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning (Hosea 8:11 NIV).
God is here giving us a solemn warning. It points out great pretensions that can happen in our spiritual life. God had given the Israelite people the ability to build a temple for His name. They were asked … Read the rest
The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules (Daniel 4:26 NIV).
King Nebuchadnezzar is the “stump of the tree” referred to here. He was a great king who enjoyed great glory and splendor. He once had … Read the rest
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 chapter opens with a very important statement. It tells us that during the times described here “the word of the Lord was rare.” And it is also added … Read the rest
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you”(Hosea 10:12 NIV).
There is a description about the sins of Israel given in this passage. Yet in the midst of it there is … Read the rest
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18,19 NIV).
Here is God’s blueprint for our lives. He is telling us the secret … Read the rest
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me” (Psalm 66:18,19,20 NIV)!
The psalmist is here calling people to come and listen to … Read the rest
Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land (Ecclesiastes 11:1 NIV).
What the writer is advocating is really surprising! He is asking us to throw our bread upon the … Read the rest
In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go (Deuteronomy 1:32,33 NIV).
The Israelites are now … Read the rest
… Read the restMen cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’
I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten–the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm–my great army that I sent among you (Joel 2:25 NIV).
Prophet Joel describes a great invasion on the land of Judah by an army of locusts. Their devastation was thorough and … Read the rest
Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down (Leviticus 9:22 NIV).
Aaron and his sons were ordained as priests to serve before the Lord. They were anointed with oil and also sprinkled by the blood of … Read the rest
A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed! (Jeremiah 48:10 NIV).
The context here is God’s command of the destruction of the Moabites. That is why there is mention of bloodshed. The command is so important that God has put a … Read the rest
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined (Genesis 39:19,20 NIV).
Resisting temptation does not automatically bring praise or rewards to you. In fact, … Read the rest
One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house (Genesis 39:11,12 NIV).
Joseph had taken all precautions … Read the rest
“How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her (Genesis 39: 9b,10 NIV).
It is amazing to note that this incident is not from modern times. Actually this happened … Read the rest
He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in–a river that no one could cross (Ezekiel 47:5 NIV).
Prophet Ezekiel was given a lengthy vision of the New Temple of God in Jerusalem. He was given … Read the rest
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them” (Psalm 126:1,2 NIV).
The people of Jerusalem were in captivity in Babylon for … Read the rest
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2 NIV).
This is God’s promise to Abram (later Abraham) when He called him to leave his country and go to the land that God would show him. Even … Read the rest
When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth (Genesis 8:11 NIV).
God may have caused you to be shut up in His ark. You may have thought that being shut up like that … Read the rest
Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel (Jeremiah 18:6b NIV).
God asked Prophet Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house. God promised to give Jeremiah a special message there. At the potter’s house Jeremiah saw him working at the wheel. He saw that … Read the rest
