"And from among the priests: The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai . . . These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean." (Ezra 2:61-63) So it was in the days of Ezra. The priests...
"What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this." (Ezra 9:13-14 -- emphasis mine) The setting is Jerusalem. The people of...
"The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan." (Joshua 5:12) So often, when I have read children's versions of the battle of Jericho, I have had...
Nowadays it seems that too many people are getting too familiar with God. They think of Him as their best friend, who He is, but they treat Him that way most of the time. They might come to Him saying, "Old buddy, old pal, You say in Your word that You will do thus...
Was there a time when you were a child and you wanted a cookie but your mother said you couldn't have one? Did you sneak around when she wasn't there and get one thinking that your mother would not know you got one? The psalmist wrote about someone like this: Psalm...
"Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: 'At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.'" (Josh 6:26) After the fall of Jericho, Joshua, under the inspiration...
Welcome to the world of reality. Many have been running through this land, this place of realities with no resting place, no oasis in your desert. Maybe you've been in a testing place, maybe you've had your share of misery. My wife and I have, with the sudden death of...
What does it mean to really be a follower of Christ? What does it involve to be a true "Christian" in the literal sense of the word? The best definition I ever found was given by Jesus Himself in Mark 8:34 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take...
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, the author and perfecter...
"Movin' on Up" is the theme song of the television sitcom "The Jeffersons" where George Jefferson worked very hard with his dry cleaning business so that he could move his family to a "deluxe apartment in the sky". There have been many through the ages and still are...