Category: Bible Study

“Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase.” –Exodus 1:10 We live in a modern-day Egypt. Many groups conspire to stop our increase: doctors, nurses, therapists, talk show hosts, magazine authors, government agencies, groups such as Planned Parenthood, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances. At the head of this conspiracy is Satan, who is still dealing shrewdly with God’s people to keep children from being conceived, birthed, and raised to healthy Christian maturity. Shrewd remarks and putdowns may stop increases as effectively as artificial contraception, abortion, and sterilization. Satan has used his pawns to shrewdly attempt to take control...

“In Him…” –Ephesians 1:4, 11, 13 St. Paul is completely preoccupied with being in Jesus. In today’s passage from Ephesians, Paul mentions benefits and blessings that come from being in Jesus numerous times in twelve verses. Paul is underscoring the critical differences of our location: it makes an eternal difference whether we live our life in Jesus or outside of Jesus. Paul proclaims that in Jesus we: have “every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph 1:3), have been “chosen” before the world began, to be holy and blameless (Eph 1:4, 11, 13), have been chosen “to be full of love”...

“Can I take the place of God?” –Genesis 50:19 Joseph is a “type” of Jesus, that is, he is an Old Testament figure whose life foreshadows the future coming of the Lord. In a sense, Joseph “took the place of God” in showing forgiveness to those who turned their backs on him (see Gn 50:19). Joseph not only forgave those who hurt him, but he reassured them repeatedly and even provided for them the rest of their lives. We too, in a sense, can take the place of God. As disciples of Jesus, we imitate the Lord in His character...