Archive - November 2020

Ezra 3:11 “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”   Psalm 7:17 “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.”   Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”     Psalm 35:18 “I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among[…]

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” James 4:8a It was a great afternoon with my four kids as we enjoyed dinner and some shopping together. After dinner, we meandered in and out of some stores in the mall, when my middle daughter, who I call my “blond-haired, blue-eyed angel,” reached over and put her arm around me. It wasn’t a hard squeeze, but certainly warm enough that I could feel my eyes begin to water. It was just one of those special moments that you didn’t want to end, and where nothing needs to be[…]

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Luke 17:19   A bonus is always a great thing. It may be for hitting your sales goal, for the company’s quarterly profit share, or what the company gives out at Christmas, but a bonus is something everyone enjoys. In Genesis 43 we see one such bonus being handed out to Benjamin, the youngest brother of Joseph. Benjamin received five times as much food on his plate as his other brothers. Five, is the Biblical number for grace. We’ve been called the “Benjamin Generation.” Just like Benjamin,[…]

 “And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?” Luke 12:28  Jacob found himself playing a bizarre game of chess with his Uncle Laban, and he had certainly met his match when it came to trickery. His Uncle Laban tricked him by giving him Leah instead of Rachael and made him work an extra seven years for the bride his heart was set on. Then, after they had made a deal for the spotted and speckled members of[…]

“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,     so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.” Psalm 86:5   Our ten-month-old has this new thing where he doesn’t want Mom to feed him anymore, but instead only prefers to eat what he can pick up and put in his mouth himself. It’s such a cute thing, but it’s got my wife wondering what kind of food options that gives her right now considering he only has two little bottom teeth that have popped in. It’s amazing to me the things you don’t have to teach a[…]

So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Hebrews 13:6 Never before had the furnace been so hot, but King Nebuchadnezzar, in his anger and rage, ordered that it be fired up seven times hotter than it had ever been. In fact, it was so hot that the guards who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace perished from the heat. What caused the king to be so enraged? It was simply the fact that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down[…]

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up”. Galatians 6:9 I have a lot of admiration and respect for the American farmer. They are entrepreneurs who have very few paydays throughout the year, and that’s usually only once a year when they take their harvested crops to market. When they start their planting in the spring, they don’t even know what the market prices will be in the fall, but they plant their crops with the hopes and anticipation that the[…]

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I was blessed to have two grandmas who each knew how to make some good biscuits, and their specialty was “Cat Head Biscuits.” Now I understand if that name doesn’t sound too appetizing, but those biscuits got their name because they were the size of a cat’s head. They were hand formed, without a biscuit cutter, and baked in a round pan. Once done, you could pull those flaky biscuits apart and throw a slab of butter[…]

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” Hebrews 10:10 Joseph, who saved Egypt from famine, had been long forgotten, and now many generations of Israelites had been born into slavery and oppression. The Israelites had grown accustom to the atmosphere and culture of their surroundings, sharing in the same foods and even worshiping the same gods as their Egyptian captures. But on one particular night, something made a huge distinction between these two people groups. Moses had been raised up by God to deliver[…]

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 This may be one of those analogies that is difficult to relate to, but I clearly remember being in Marine Corps Boot Camp and hearing the command our drill instructor gave when he wanted everyone to look at him. In a loud, authoritative voice he would yell, “Eyeballs,” to which all seventy-some recruits would reply, “Snap Sir,” as we[…]