Category: Bible Reading & Meditation
“Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts.” –Joel 2:12-13 Because we are all members of Christ’s Body and therefore need each other (1 Cor 12:12ff), we must not absent ourselves from the assembly (Heb 10:25). Instead, we should “call an assembly; gather the people, notify the congregation; assemble the elders” (Jl 2:15-16). God the Father wants His family together. Jesus prays that we would be one as He and the Father are one (Jn 17:21). The Holy Spirit makes us one body (1 Cor 12:13)....
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“Are your minds completely blinded? Have you eyes but no sight?” –Mark 8:17-18 Jesus was appalled at His disciples’ spiritual blindness. They were blinded to the significance of the two multiplications of the loaves and fishes. They were blinded to Who Jesus was. This blindness would eventually lead His disciples to abandon Jesus on Calvary. Spiritual blindness caused Jesus’ death on the cross. It caused the Third Reich, the Holocaust of six million Jews, slavery for centuries, and countless other atrocities. Spiritual blindness causes starvation, racism, the sexual abuse of children, mass murder from abortion, etc. Spiritual blindness is caused...
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“Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.” –Genesis 4:4 Both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. God accepted Abel and his offering, but He did not look with favor on Cain and his offering. Although we don’t know the details of this event, Scripture does provide us with a clue into what God looks for in a sacrifice. Abel brought to the Lord his “best” (Gn 4:4). Cain simply brought “an offering” (Gn 4:3). The Lord repeatedly emphasizes offering the best we have, without blemish (see Lv 1:10). What we give to...
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“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest.’ ” –Leviticus 13:1-2 Do you have a spiritual scab, pustule, or blotch? Do you need inner healing? A scab is a past hurt beginning to heal but still a touchy subject. You feel like picking at it or at a certain person and opening the wound once again. Don’t touch the scab. Don’t reverse the healing process. A pustule is an effect of spiritual infection....
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“By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat.” –Genesis 3:19 When God created the human race, He gave us dominion over all creation (Gn 1:28). Created things did not resist us but were in perfect harmony with us. Working the land was a pleasure, not a burden. We didn’t have to struggle to provide food for ourselves. After we sinned, we changed and the world changed. We and the rest of creation were no longer in harmony. For the first time there was such a thing as bad weather, sick people, and dangerous wild animals. Work...
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