Can you believe that this year is half gone as of today?  Where did it go?  New Year’s Eve was just a couple weeks ago!  Wasn’t it?  How can July be here already? As you reflect back over the last six months, think about a few questions: What have you done for God in the last 181 days? How many days (of…

Christians are instructed and encouraged in Scripture to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) and that we “always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  In Luke 11, Jesus used the present tense verb eight times in just two verses to emphasize the continuous nature needed in our prayers.  Notice how the present tense makes these verses come alive with…

This is the philosophy by which many people live today.  They want the attention.  They want people to notice them.  And, especially when they do something good, they want everyone to see it.  Jesus talked unfavorably about those who would do “charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them,” those who would pray to “be seen by men” and those who…

Flipping channels found a female comedian that joked, “I had a pregnancy scare a few weeks ago.  No, not scared that I might be pregnant, but scared because I didn’t know who the father might be.  My mother got excited that she was going to be a grandmother.  Of course, I told her, ‘You can be excited until Tuesday afternoon, but then…

A search for the phrases “the Lord knows,” “God knows,” “Father knows” and “He knows” returns about 25 such occurrences in our Bibles.  Meditate on this summary of what God knows: “The Lord knows the way of the righteous” (Psa. 1:6). “The Lord knows the thoughts of man” (Psa. 94:11). “He knows our frame…that we are dust” (Psa. 103:14). “He knows what…

God used the word “Selah” over 70 times in the book of Psalms.  The exact meaning is a topic of discussion, but it seems to indicate a place for a pause, perhaps (as some have suggested) for the reader (and singer) to meditate on what was just said.  “Selah” is not found in Psalm 19:14, but with the idea of a pause…

Five times in the book of Proverbs the happy person is described (with the words “happy is…”).  Get your happiness gauge out and see how happy you are in God’s eyes. “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and…gains understanding” (3:13). “He who has mercy on the poor, happy is he” (14:21). “Whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he” (16:20). “Happy…

It is so hard to believe that when Jesus was on the earth that He could make this statement, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20).  How is it possible that no one would give Jesus a place to live?  Not just a room in their…