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Ubiquitous Pride 8 In the last two verses of this encounter, after finishing the telling of the parable, Jesus turns to the law expert and asks him a question about it. This is Jesus’ second question to this man and it makes a direct connection back to the beginning of this encounter. Back then the

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Ubiquitous Pride 7 In His final words describing the actions of the Good Samaritan, Jesus describes what happened after he took the Jewish traveler to the inn. First, take note of the first two words of verse 35. They indicate that the Samaritan didn’t just drop this man off at the inn, but went on

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Ubiquitous Pride 6 Yesterday we looked closely at the history of these two men (the Jewish victim by the roadside and the Samaritan). They were the definition of enemies of each other (remember that neither group of people wanted anything to do with the other). These strong attitudes were the

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Ubiquitous Pride 4 After the traveler was left by the roadside for dead, Jesus describes how he was visited by two people who just happened to be walking by on that road. The first was a Jewish priest from God’s temple. The role of the priests was that of a mediator or one who represents God to His

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Ubiquitous Pride 3 In verse 30, Jesus responds to the second question that was just asked by the law expert (“And who is my neighbor?”). However, this time instead of answering with another question, Jesus begins to tell this artful story that is rich with meaning to illustrate lessons for those

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Ubiquitous Pride 2 The first five verses of the parable of the Good Samaritan establish the scene where Jesus will illustrate initial seeds of pride that are obvious to see. Notice the facts that we are given about this man who confronts Jesus. He is described as an expert at the law, which is

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Happy Thanksgivings Everyday Today’s devotional is a continuation from yesterday. The brief theme this morning continues the thought that Paul told the Christians in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. In the middle of this statement of encouragement, he says to “Give thanks in everything.” It is from that premise that

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Be Thankful In All Things It is easy to be grateful during times of abundance and prosperity at every level. When our store houses overflow, our bodies are strong, and we can feel God’s presence, it is easy. The bible calls for us to be thankful in all things. In his final advice in the first letter to

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Eternal Intercession Based on God’s Promise There is a mysterious character in the Old Testament named Melchizedek. He is mysterious because he is the first priest ever mentioned in the bible who received and gave an offering (intercession) for the people. He did this as a priest before Levi was ever born when the

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The World Will Celebrate Prematurely This is the theme that the Lord placed on my heart as He woke me up early this morning. It was the theme of how this world of darkness would begin to celebrate because they will think that they have won. They will think that they can fully implement their evil plans to control

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A Comparison of Jesus and Moses In today’s message, we will take a look at how the writer of Hebrews makes a stark comparison between Jesus and Moses. For the purpose of proper context, remember that this person was writing to an audience of the New Testament Jews for the purpose of communicating an important

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God’s Jealousy and Dangerous Human Influence As this book of Hosea draws to an end in the penultimate chapter, the Lord finishes His message to His people by reminding them of why He is angry with them. The essence of His displeasure is one of jealousy. He has openly done a lot for them, providing for all of their needs

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A Father’s Un-Dying Love for His Children In several chapters throughout the middle of this book of Hosea, God has been presenting His case for all of the things that Israel has done to betray and reject Him. He has now had Hosea speak for several chapters about the coming judgment and how they would be mocked and

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The Storm – Israel Gets What She Has Demanded After spending the beginning of this book trying to reason with Israel, God finally gives her what she desperately wants. In today’s chapter the door closes as He has Hosea pronounce the judgment that is now coming. That judgment is that He will completely withdraw Himself from

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Be Careful of What You Ask For Up until this point in this story of these two kingdoms, Israel has been flirting with disaster. Earlier in chapter 7 we saw how she put on a form of Godliness, claiming to be the people of God while she simultaneously colluded with pagan nations and worshiped their gods.

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Waiting Here for You I have written before about the blessings to be found by us when we wait on the LORD. This morning He continued that theme with a word for TODAY about the tremendous blessing in how He waits for us. The bible says that He has always waited patiently for us and continues to do so

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The Fear of the LORD Is Truly the Beginning My given morning word of nourishment today is a reminder for all of us about where it all begins… with a healthy fear or reverence for the LORD. This is an important theme for all of us to remember everyday as we purposefully enter the presence of the LORD. This fear is really a

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That Day When the Lord Redeems His Bride Earlier last week in our discussion of Hosea, we looked at the end of chapter 2 where all of creation was waiting for “that day.” This was when God’s people would come to their senses and return to Him from their ways of prostitution. Today we will look at all of chapter 3, which

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The True Source of Our Power Today It is not by our own ability (our pride), strength or understanding, but by the Spirit of the Lord (humble surrender) that we do all powerful things to the glory of God!

4 Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?” 5 “Don’t you know?” the angel asked.

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It is God Who Sets up Kings and Removes Kings On this day after early voting ended and the weekend before Election Day, I have a special word that the Lord initially placed on my heart this past weekend. It’s a word about how in the end, it is the Lord who selects and equips kings and leaders. It is also Him who removes

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The Worst Type of Prostitution and Infidelity This has been a long night as I struggled to sleep while also pondering the events that are developing all around us today in our country. You see, it is becoming more and more evident every day that there are incredible levels of corruption and shear evil that have permeated the