Category: Bible Reading & Meditation
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverb 4:23 Our thoughts control our lives. If your spirit harbors thoughts of bitterness, hate and envy, your mind will be drenched with negative and destructive thoughts, and you will never experience the dynamism of the Christian faith. By living in harmony with the living Christ, and allowing His spirit to become an inspiration to your spirit, you can achieve the impossible. Embrace God’s ways with joy, build a healthy and profound prayer life and engage in faithful Bible study. This will give your mind the inspiration...
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“Both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.” –Ruth 1:5 Ruth’s husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law had died. All of these men had moved to Moab to escape death from starvation (Ru 1:1), but they only delayed death for ten years (Ru 1:4). Ruth swallowed up death in victory (1 Cor 15:54) by her faithfulness to Naomi in obedience to God. She reversed the march of death by marrying Boaz, giving birth to Obed, and becoming the great grandmother of David (Ru 4:22). It was from David’s family that Jesus...
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“Whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord. I shall offer him up as a holocaust.” –Judges 11:31 In our secular humanistic society, we are rather ignorant concerning spiritual power. Many ancient peoples were in some ways more advanced than we are in regard to spiritual realities. Jephthah knew what few people in our society realize: that there was exceptional power in taking a vow to offer a human sacrifice (see Jgs 11:30-31). When he took this vow, he defeated the Ammonites in...
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“Must I give up…?” –Judges 9:9, 11, 13 In Jotham’s story, three trees were asked to lead the other trees (Jgs 9:8ff). All three trees declined to serve because they would have had to give up what was most precious about themselves. Jotham’s story teaches us that: Love, leadership, and service mean sacrifice. The Lord calls us to sacrifice not only little things but the most important aspects of our lives – indeed, our very selves. A refusal to sacrifice hurts others greatly and will eventually destroy us. “Whoever would save his life will lose it” (Lk 9:24). Jesus was...
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“The last shall come first.” –Matthew 19:30 The Israelites were oppressed externally by the nation of Midian, and internally by their own idolatry. Joash the Abiezrite, father of Gideon, had built an altar to an idol (Jgs 6:25), as well as a sacred pole used in idol worship. God called the fearful Gideon to deliver Israel from Midianite oppression (Jgs 6:14). When Gideon assembled a large army, God told him, “You have too many soldiers with you for Me to deliver Midian into [your] power” (Jgs 7:2). So God told Gideon to send the fearful men home, which reduced the...
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