Category: Bible Study

SELF-“IMPROVEMENT”

Daily Word of God (விவிலிய முழக்கம்) –  Today’s Reading and Message in Tamil (Audio) :  “Their heart is false.” –Hosea 10:2 The more the Israelites prospered, the more they slipped into idolatrous worship, setting up altars and pillars dedicated to false gods (Hos 10:1). Isn’t that like us? We delude ourselves into thinking that once we strike it rich, we’ll give God His share of our attention. However, this is self-deception. We’ve inherited a fallen nature, warped by original sin. Our flesh is never satisfied; it always wants more. The more we have, the more we want for ourselves, and...

PLANTING A HURRICANE

Daily Word of God (விவிலிய முழக்கம்) –  Reading and Message in Tamil (Audio) :  “When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.” –Hosea 8:7 The prophet Hosea compares our sins to planting the wind. However, he compares the fruit of our sins to a hurricane! (Hos 8:7) Each sin we commit is like a gust of wind. If the wind is unabated by sincere repentance, the winds gather and escalate to a hurricane or tornado that blows us and our nation further away from Jesus. Jesus and the Father have sent the wind of the Holy Spirit to...

AMERICA, AMERICA

“I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” –Hosea 2:16 On this Independence Day, the Lord is telling us to pray for the Christians of the United States to come back to God. Many Christians in the USA have lost their first love (Rv 2:4). They no longer respond to the Lord as they did in the days of their youth (Hos 2:17). They must repent of compromising with the world and be espoused to the Lord in fidelity (see Hos 2:22). Some Christians are like the woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years. Their commitment to...

BRAND LOYALTY

“I bear the brand marks of Jesus in my body.” –Galatians 6:17 Livestock are branded so that others can tell who owns them. St. Paul bore the brand marks of Jesus on his body, so all could determine that Jesus owned him. Paul’s brand marks were scars and bruises from the beatings, stonings, and other sufferings he endured for Jesus (see Acts 14:19; 16:22ff; 2 Cor 11:23ff). Other saints, like Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio, have borne the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, in their hands and feet. Could someone tell by looking at your body that you belong...

THE KISS OF PEACE

“Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.”–Psalm 85:11 What a beautiful image! Kindness and truth meet. Justice and peace kiss. How can this be? So often, kindness and peace are overshadowed by the need to right a wrong. Many times, truth and justice are compromised by the desire to avoid offending anyone. Is the above passage merely a poetic ideal that could never be achieved in the cold, hard world of everyday living? These potentially conflicting ideals come together as one in the Person of Jesus. Jesus is Truth (Jn 14:6). He is our Justice (1 Cor...