Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:9) It's funny how sometimes the holidays can bring out the worst in people. Perhaps you have visited or you will visit family or friends who tend to get under your skin this Thanksgiving weekend. It's easy to get frustrated and annoyed and eventually lose your cool. But ... [Continue Reading]
The Afterglow Never Lasts (Ecclesiastes 1-4)
For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! (Ecclesiastes 2:16) Given enough time, everyone will be forgotten. It doesn't matter how great you are or how big your afterglow is, there will come a point in time when you are not the topic of everyday conversation, ... [Continue Reading]
Do Good (Proverbs 1-3)
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. (Proverbs 3:27) It isn't possible to help every person in need, but it is possible to help some people in need. Solomon gives wise counsel in Proverbs 3:27 when he encourages his sons to do good whenever possible. Whenever it's within your power to do good for someone else, then you ... [Continue Reading]
A Fresh Start (1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8)
The Lord said to [Solomon]: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” (1 Kings 9:3) Sometimes it's important to get a fresh start in life. The finishing of the Temple and the kingship of Solomon was a time for a fresh start ... [Continue Reading]
Giving Thanks (2 Chronicles 6-7)
When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 7:3) After Solomon finished praying to the Lord, a fire from heaven consumed the offerings, and the glory of the ... [Continue Reading]
Perfect People Need Not Apply (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5)
“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near... then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.” (1 Kings 8:46, 49) There is a misnomer in our culture that Christians need to be ... [Continue Reading]
A Great God (2 Chronicles 2-3)
“The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?” (2 Chronicles 2:5-6) God is big. How big? Well, let's just say He's big ... [Continue Reading]
A Pleasing Heart (1 Chronicles 28-29)
I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. (1 Chronicles 29:17) God cares more about your heart than He does about your actions. Christ's death on the cross made it possible for us to be made right with God in spite of our actions but not in spite of our hearts. David was called a man after God's own heart, and this title was given to him ... [Continue Reading]
Careful What You Count (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21-22)
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” (2 Samuel 24) There are some things that are very valuable to count. For instance, I was leading a group of students on a trip to Chicago ... [Continue Reading]
Fighting to Be King (2 Samuel 13-15)
Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.” (2 Samuel 15:25-26) David never fought to be king. That was true when Saul was ... [Continue Reading]
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