Jun 23, 2024
Proverbs Lesson 3
The topic today is that, not so much speech, as the use of words in speech. The Bible frequently addresses the issue both positively and negatively, using the word tongue metaphorically for speech.
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
(James 3:5)
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Jun 16, 2024
Proverbs Lesson 2
We increasingly find ourselves in a world that is characterized by anxiety and instability. It is easy in a world of-too-much-coming-at-us through the media, and other sources, to find tranquility in that we have more than we can handle. The net result can be anxiety manifested and rooted in uncertainty, fears, and insecurity. The answer, at least in part, is focus. What we put in our minds is what we involuntarily think. We all need good input in what Dr. Swindoll calls, “a world that has lost its way.” How do we do that? The answer is simple but we are complex. We need to fill our minds with good thoughts that lift us above our fears. What brings us happy, wholesome thoughts “that allows us to lie down in green pastures [peacefulness] leads us beside quiet waters [contentedness], and restores our soul leading us in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake (Ps. 23:1-2].” There are times when we all need to be quiet and refocus.
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Jun 09, 2024
Proverbs Lesson 1
The title of the book, which comes to us from the Latin Vulgate, reflects to some degree its content. The root of the noun in Hebrew means “parallel,” “comparison,” or “a saying.” The comparison is often between folly and wisdom in everyday life. A proverb teaches through graphic contrasts. It is “Wisdom Literature.” In essence a proverb is an ethical maxim or a saying that describes human behavior. The function of such literature is to instruct the people of God in practical living.
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Jun 02, 2024
Daniel Lesson 12
Four visions or revelations are in this section: Two in the first and third year of Belshazzar (chapters. 7, 9) and two to Medo-Persian monarchs (unless Darius and Cyrus are the same person, chapter 8 and 10-12).
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May 19, 2024
Daniel Lesson 11
Four visions or revelations are in this section: Two in the first and third year of Belshazzar (chapters. 7, 9) and two to Medo-Persian monarchs (unless Darius and Cyrus are the same person, chapter 8 and 10-12).
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May 05, 2024
Daniel Lesson 10
The take-away for me in this chapter is that failure will describe man’s efforts to bring about a time of universal peace using force and conquest. The reason is an invisible war in the spiritual realm between the angels of God to protect the people of God in the nations and the forces of Satan who are constantly seeking to destroy God’s intervention. In the end of times (the Great Tribulation) it will appear that Satan has won the battle for supremacy through the anti-Christ and the false prophet. On the brink of his total victory, God will come, destroy all evil, and bring His people from all ages and nations into a kingdom without end.
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Apr 28, 2024
Daniel Lesson 9
God is sovereign over near and distant events. Just as He has set the limit of the seas, He has set limits upon what nations, even mankind, can do. In the subtle twists and turns of our lives, we can be assured that the One does as He pleases. God finds pleasure in His covenantal relationship with each one of us and we will be gathered into His kingdom when time shall be no more.
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Apr 21, 2024
Daniel Lesson 8
The vision of chapter 2 spanned the entire period from the gathering of God’s people to the regathering into God’s eternal kingdom. The vision of chapter 7 focused up the fourth beast or empire, its divisions, weakness, and crushing. Chapter 8 narrows the focus to two beasts, the second and third.
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Apr 14, 2024
Daniel Lesson 7
Chapters 1-6 were preparatory for what is found in 7-12. The previous chapters established the integrity of the exile, Daniel, in his walk with God and his elevation to political prestige personally in the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires. Most importantly, it established his authority to speak to issues of the future for the Jewish people, his people. If God revealed the secret dream of Nebuchadnezzar (chap. 2), the meaning of handwriting on a wall in Belshazzar’s place (chap. 4) and delivered him from a den of lions (all through the power of Daniel’s God), he possessed the ability to know future events if revealed by his God for His people.
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Mar 24, 2024
Palm Sunday 2024
In the Christian calendar, this week has one rival for the heart of every Jesus-devotee, the other being the incarnation of our Lord. “The Word became flesh and dwelt (“tabernacled”) among us… (John 1:14).” While the first celebrates the gift of a child who will become the “King of Kings,” this week brings us to a second stunning reality, totally unique in many ways for royalty. As in the birth of our Lord, this one met with extreme hostility, yet proved unpreventable. In this instance, it brought hostility and death once again, but also proved unpreventable. By His death, resurrection, and ascension (enthronement), He establish His right to rule over a people that He has and will gather, the only true king ruling in an eternal monarchy. At the end of this unusual week, this king departed and we celebrate His triumph over death and destruction, yet He left us with a promise of a return and the accomplishment of having gathered a people over whom He will reign forever and ever.
To prepare us for this amazing week, I want to reflect on it through the lens of a promise revealed four centuries before “Palm Sunday” and yet to be ultimately fulfilled in a day to come.
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