Ten times in Scripture a reader will find this petition addressed to God, “Be merciful to me,” and over half of them come from David’s pen.  One such passage is Psalm 56, where David cries out for mercy from his enemies.  His enemies, he said, “…would swallow me up…would hound me all day…fight against me…they twist my words; all their thoughts are…

The story of Gideon’s initial hesitation to fully trust the promise of God has many lessons that we can learn.  Obviously, there is the lesson that we need to trust God and His Word fully, no matter what!  One wonderful part of this story is that even after Gideon doubted and then put God to the test, God still loved him and…

The story of Gideon’s valiant army of 300 against the 135,000+ Midianite army is one of my favorites in the Bible.  But, it took Gideon a while to really believe God and go to battle. In Judges 6:12, God made this statement to Gideon, “The Lord is with you…!” Pretty simple.  Pretty straightforward.  But, Gideon had trouble believing God’s Word.  He said,…

When Gideon took his valiant army of 300 up against the 135,000+ Midianite army, “he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers” (Judges 7:16).  These were their “weapons” to use in battle!  Weapons?  What good is an empty pitcher in battle? What good is a torch inside a pitcher? When you read the story…

Close your eyes and imagine for just a moment.  (Ok, don’t close your eyes—you’ve got to be able to read this!)  While you have had various struggles as a Christian, nonetheless you have devoted yourself to serving the Lord to the absolute highest level you can reach.  Your commitment to the cause of Christ is where you have focused your life, as…

The Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6) came and said, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division” (Luke 12:51).  Wow!  Jesus knew (and foretold so that everyone would know) that full surrender and loyalty to Christ will result in division.  It will divide family members; it will divide friends; it…

The Lord made it very clear that “we are no longer under” the old covenant, for “He has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross” (Gal. 3:25; Col. 2:14).  However, in order to find justification for beliefs or practices, some look to the Old Testament and use Old Testament teachings and practices as their authority.  Because the…

I think every Christian man knows Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:28, but for some reason many have convinced themselves that the words do not apply to them.  Jesus’ words are straight to the point – “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  The man who…