Ehud killed the king of Moab, Eglon, by plunging a sword into his stomach. However Eglon’s death was a result of God’s punishment for oppressing the people of Israel for eighteen years. It is not a question of murder serving God’s will. Rather, God used Ehud Continue reading HOW DOES MURDER SERVE GOD’S WILL AND WIN GOD’S APPROVAL?
The Bible provides examples of both effective and ineffective financial planning in the face of economic adversity. Examples of good financial planning include Joseph’s preparation for famine in Egypt (Gen 41:34-36), the servants who wisely invested their master’s money (Luke 19:13-19), and the Corinthian believers who laid aside money to help others (1 Cor 16:1-2; cp 2 Cor 9:1-5). Proverbs 27:23-27 counsels a shepherd to know well the condition of his flocks so that they will provide for him in the future, Diversification of investments is advised in Eccles 11:2. Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (FINANCIAL PLANNING)
We all have someone in our lives with whom a close relationship seems impossible. Maybe it’s a sibling, a parent, a child, or even a spouse. For whatever reasons, we just can’t seem to get along. Outside of our families, most of us have other difficult relationships-with bosses, neighbors, business associates, coworkers, clients. Continue reading WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (RUTH: THE DREAM DAUGHTER-IN-LAW)
Refraining from eating food. The Bible describes three main forms of fasting. The normal fast involves the total abstinence of foods. Luke 4:2 reveals that Jesus “ate nothing”; afterward “He was hungry.” Jesus abstained from food but not from water.
In Acts 9:9 we read of an absolute fast where for three days Paul “did not eat or drink” (HCSB). The abstinence form both food and water seems to have lasted no more than three days (Ezra 10:6; Esther 4:16). Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (FASTING)
Wisdom, the opposite of ignorance, is a gift from God. It is a gift that He gladly gives to those who ask for it in all earnestness and faith (James 1:5). Real wisdom and knowledge are spiritual in nature, having to do with the inborn cunning of our common sense or the learned themes of education. “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of Continue reading IS IGNORANCE, AT ITS CORE, A SPIRITUAL PROBLEM?
This imagery of a white stone has been explained in various ways by interpreters: as a badge of acquittal in a legal case, as an expression of welcome by a host to his guest, or as a voting token used by a voter to indicate his choice of a candidate. Continue reading A STONE FOR THE WINNER
1.Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (1 CORINTHIANS 13: 1-8 LOVE IS THE GREATEST)
Usually understood as the final abode of the unrighteous dead wherein the ungodly suffer eternal punishment; the term translates one OT word and several NT words.
OLD TESTAMENT USAGE – The only Hebrew word translated “hell” in the KJV (though not in modern translatons) is Sheol. Sheol itself is a broad term that, depending on the context, may signify the abode of the both the righteous dead and the ungodly dead. Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (HELL)
JOHN 11:5 – “Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.”
The New Testament informs us that Martha lived in the little village of Bethany (on the east side of the Mount of Olives, a couple of miles from Jerusalem). Some speculate she was married to the man known in the Gospels as Simon the Leper (compare Matt 26:6-7; Mark 14:3; and John 12:1-3). Continue reading WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (MARTHA: THE ‘GET-BUSY, GET-IT-DONE!” GAL)