Ask Bigger

Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. (Psalm 2:8) Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26, Matthew 2:13-3:6, Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 1:7-9 Relate: I don’t often get interrupted when I am praying. Even if someone else in my hearing might not be in “agreement” with what I am praying, I honestly can’t remember…

And It Was Good

And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12, 18, 21, 25) Read: Genesis 1:1-2:25, Matthew 1:1-2:12, Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 1:1-6 Relate: This is the time of year when those new, New Year’s Resolutions come into effect. Maybe that’s a big thing for you. Maybe not. For me its huge. I love the ability to start new. I love the…

You Got Your Days Wrong

Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day when the cornerstone of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully. I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from…

In Silence

But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. (Habakkuk 2:20 NLT) Read: Habakkuk 1, Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk 3, Revelation 9, Psalms 137:1-9, Proverbs 30:10 Relate: In a crowd, silence is a rare experience. This is why it is so striking when it occurs. Walking through the Holocaust Museum…

Heaven Interrupted

Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and…

The First Christmas Gift

Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.” So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said. (Amos 7:2,3) Read: Amos 7:1-9:15, Revelation 3:7-22, Psalm 131:1-3, Proverbs 29:23 Relate: How do you display mercy without compromising justice? This is the problem Amos was confronted with in…

Oh Come All You Faithful

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:1-2) Read: Hosea 6:1-9:17, 3 John 1:1-14, Psalm 126:1-6, Proverbs 29:12-14 Relate: Rabbi Ken Spino…

Can You Imagine The Scandal?

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” (Hosea 1:2) Read: Hosea 1:1 – 3:5, 1 John…

Do We Need More Radicals?

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.Dear friends, since God loved us…

Away In A Manger

He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. (Psalm 121:3-5) Read: Daniel 9:1 – 11:1, 1 John 2:18 – 3:6, Psalm 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28 Relate: Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,…