Well friends, give yourself a little pat on the back! We’ve made it through observation and are ready to move onto the next section, interpretation. Interpretation is the place where we seek to determine the original author’s intended meaning for the original audience. We should never ask the question, “What
She just needed a reminder… School had been tough. Too many tests mixed with middle school drama and this girl of mine was ready to tap out for the week. She entered my car with her shoulders down from either the strain of her backpack or the strain from her
Every few months I find myself tempted to delete all of my social media accounts. The negative energy overwhelms me. Facebook starts to suck my joy away, and I grow tired of scrolling through superficial Instagram selfies and beat myself up for not having a Pinterest perfect life. Social media
Today’s story is a story of deception. Joshua and the people of Israel had conquered city after city. The Canaanites were afraid of their powerful God. The Gibeonites didn´t want to fight against Israel and they made a plan to deceive them and force a peace covenant. “But when the
The prophet Micah certainly lived in wicked times! The people of Israel sinned against God over and over again. They didn’t want to live as God had commanded them to live, but like the other nations around them. They worshiped idols and disrespected the law God had given them. Their
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. – Psalm 106:44-45 Verse 11 of today’s reading compares Ephraim (Israel) with a dove, silly and without sense. The reason for this
If you and I were to grab a cup of coffee today and if I were to share my heart with you, this is what I’d say. I struggle with discouragement. I fight against it like a boxer in a ring. Some days I win, but many more days I
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” Matthew 1:23 Let´s look to Joseph’s story today. Joseph would not be the father of Jesus even though, as Mary´s betrothed, Jesus would be legally identified as his son
We don’t have much use for shields these days. Except when it comes to rain. Have you ever been caught in a downpour without an umbrella? You were at the mercy of the rain, weren’t you? It soaked through every piece of clothing you had on, and rainwater dripped off
It was a cold, wintery afternoon when I received the letter. This was back when people actually wrote letters. There was no return address – no indication of who wrote it. I scanned the letter until the words jumped off the page, “God has forgiven me, and I pray that