Message: In 1 Samuel 1 There was a woman named Hannah who was barren. She was deeply anguished over it and when she came to the temple with her sacrifice to pray she vowed to God that if he would... Continue reading →

Message:  In Ruth 4 we read the finale to the story of Ruth & Naomi, except that it wasn’t the finale at all. It was just the beginning. The details are difficult to understand without knowing a little bit of... Continue reading →

Message:  In1 John 5 John was talking about what it means to know God. It’s so much more than believing in God because it requires a response of obedience from us. It’s not enough to say that we know God... Continue reading →

Message: In Ruth 2 Ruth decides to go to a field and harvest grain behind the workers. There were laws about leaving behind pieces in the field for the poor and the foreign to eat. This was necessary for their... Continue reading →

Message: In Ruth 1 we read about Naomi, who lost her husband and then both of her sons. Death is hard enough, but in those times, women were not able to sustain themselves. They had to have a husband or... Continue reading →

Message: In 1 John 2 John was answering many of the things that we often wrestle with in our minds. It almost sounded like he was talking in circles as he clarified that we are not to intentionally and freely... Continue reading →

Message:  Yesterday we read the very difficult chapter in Judges 19 and today we continue on to see how it was handled. Where we left off reading, the Levite man had taken his concubine’s raped, abused and unresponsive body home,... Continue reading →

Message:  Judges 18 tells one of the most disturbing stories I know of in the bible. Every time I read it I feel sick and I pray for understanding because it’s not one of those stories you can explain away... Continue reading →

Message: Today I found another interesting parallel between what we read in Judges 18 and what we read in 2 Peter 2. In Judges 18 there had been a young Levite who was traveling in a foreign land. The Levites... Continue reading →

Message: In 2 Peter 1 Peter seems to be talking to Gentile believers because he is confirming them as “those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with ours through the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ.”... Continue reading →

Message: Judges 16 is the ending to the fascinating, but sad story of Samson. He was marked for great things even before he was born. His mother abstained from certain things during her pregnancy and he took a Nazirite vow... Continue reading →

Message: In 1 Peter 4 we continued reading about suffering. Since chapter 4 is a continuation of chapter 3 we had left off reading about the suffering of Christ in the flesh. Peter challenges us that Christ suffered with purposeful... Continue reading →

Message:  I Peter 3 is a continuation of the call to submission we read yesterday. Chapter 2 began with a command to submit to government authorities and local leaders, then slaves submitting to masters, and now in chapter 3 he... Continue reading →

Message:  In 1 Peter 2 Peter was talking about suffering. Several times in this chapter he refers to the believers as temporary residents to remind them that the kingdoms of earth are not the ones we are hoping in or... Continue reading →

Message:  In 1 Peter 1 Peter is encouraging the believers in several providences of Rome because they were gentile believers foreign to the land they were in and they were enduring quite a bit of persecution. Peter is reminding them... Continue reading →

Message:  Today I noticed an interesting parallel between the story and Judges 11 and the directive in James 5. In Judges 11 we read about a man named Jephthah who had been driven out of his homeland by his brothers... Continue reading →

Message:  In chapter 4 James is addressing the fighting and wars going on within the church. According to the footnotes in my bible there was jealousy, conflict and division and there were factions within the church. As hard as it... Continue reading →

Message:  James 3 is a well-known chapter about taming the tongue. I have always read this as a warning against gossip and negativity. While I still feel like that applies, reading through it all in context gave me a different... Continue reading →

Message:  James 2 starts off by warning us not to show favoritism. The example used was treatment of a poor man versus treatment of a rich man. If we elevate the value of a rich man and devalue the poor... Continue reading →

Message: James 1 starts off with a bang when he tells us to “count it all joy when we experience various trials knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance.” As Christians I feel like we spend a lot... Continue reading →