This post is by Christy Tennant. It has been excerpted from Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book.
I must confess that sometimes I read about the forgetfulness of Bible characters and chide them in my mind. I think, “If God showed me a burning bush, I would never doubt him again.” But I would. And so would you.
This post is by John Barry. It has been excerpted from Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book.
I say, “Help comes from God.” I tell people, “You’re not alone.”
Both are empty phrases if I don’t live like I believe them. The book of Numbers shows us that as the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, they, too, struggled to live out these words. After 40 years of wandering, they were likely wondering if God had fallen asleep on the job.
This post is by Aubry Smith. It has been excerpted from Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book.
After worship one Sunday, I overheard a teenager recounting the latest scandal at her school. Another student reprimanded her, “Don’t gossip, you’re in church!” He certainly ended the conversation, but his words revealed an underlying view by which many Christians compartmentalize life—church is “holy,” everywhere else is “unholy.”
You do not have to read as far in the Old Testament to find Levitical rules about holiness and sacred space. The book is replete with them. God demands holiness from Israel, repeatedly commanding them to “be holy because I am holy” (Lev 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26). But how do cleansing rituals for birthing practices and skin sores relate to holiness?
This post is by Aubry Smith. It has been excerpted from Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book.
At times in my life, I see evidence of God’s presence beyond any doubt. Passages of Scripture light up with meaning, and prayer flows easily. Worship brings me joy as I reflect on how palpably God keeps his hand over my circumstances. Walking with God seems tangible during these times, as if he is physically beside me, and my love overflows in easy obedience. But then there are times that it seems God has gone on vacation. The same passages of the Bible seem devoid of life; I trudge through prayer and push myself to worship. Why does God sometimes feel so distant?
This post is by Jeannie Seery. It has been excerpted from Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book.
Perhaps it’s because of the immense joy and pain I’ve experienced being a parent that I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about how the actions of Adam and Eve, our first parents, influence our daily lives.
As I’ve read it and heard it preached, the curse itself seems to be pretty straightforward: Women will toil in childbirth while men toil in work. I find myself wondering, though, how is this ancient curse evidenced in our modern existence, as we seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?
We’ve seen a lot of discussion and debate in recent years on the nature of heaven, hell, and what happens after we die. But these discussions are nothing new. The church has been debating eschatology (the study of last things) ever since the time of Christ, and the Jews before Christ were discussing the same.
Scripture provides many insights about the afterlife. But when theologians combine these insights into a coherent whole, they come to some very different conclusions about what the Bible teaches. The nature and duration of hell is one such example.
When news reached me last week that I. Howard Marshall had passed away, my mind ran, of course, to pieces he’d written, books on my shelf and on my computer. The primary two works that came to mind were his New Testament Theology and his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles in the International Critical Commentary. I also have an introductory book, New Testament Interpretation: Principles and Methods, that he edited, and several other commentaries.
Faithfulness to God can disrupt your life and defame your reputation. That’s our Christmas story today.
Heaven’s chosen virgin told the announcing angel: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). But Mary’s legendary submission to God’s will for her life did not spare her the pain or shame associated with radical faithfulness.
The Bible is constantly revealing how big, how wise, how powerful, and how awesome God is. Psalm 139 is one of the many passages where God’s omniscience is put on display—but here, God’s omniscience is a powerful reminder that nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39).
Here’s how Pastor Skip Heitzig puts it in the Faithlife Study Bible:
The following devotional is by Skip Heitzig, founder and senior pastor of Calvary of Albuquerque. This devotional can be found in the Faithlife Study Bible, along with devotionals and articles from more than 40 contributors.