Thoughts A New King Solomon now begins his reign as king. It seems that his first order of business was to strengthen his hold on the kingdom. In 1 Kings, chapter 2, we read that shortly before his father David died, he gave Solomon instructions on what he should do to accomplish this. And it…
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Thoughts Capricious? If this were Sesame Street, I would say that chapter 22 was brought to you by the letter “B”. Balaam, Balak, Bamoth-Baal, Beor. So what did you think about the situation with Balaam and God at first denying him permission to go to see Balak, and then telling him it was okay to…
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Thoughts Jesus Prayed For You Did you know that there is a prayer by Jesus about YOU in the Bible? How exciting is that? Jesus prayed for you before his crucifixion. He knew he was soon going to be betrayed and turned over to be beaten and hung on a cross. He knew that His…
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Thoughts Amos was what we might call today a good ol’ boy. He was a plain-speaking, simple, country farmer. The name means “burden-bearer”, and he did certainly bear the burden of carrying God’s message. Amos challenged Bethel’s priest, Amaziah, and he bore God’s message reproving the sin of the people and calling them to repentance….
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Thoughts Proverbs 23 1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, look carefully at what’s in front of you. 2Put a knife to your throat if you like to eat too much. Proverbs 23:1-2 NIRV This proverb was written when many rulers were actually all-powerful tyrants. A clearer translation of verse one would read…
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Thoughts Psalm 108 David begins this psalm with a declaration: I am determined, O God! I will sing and praise you with my whole heart. Many years ago I read the book “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby. It changed my life. Truly. In this book, the author made this point: Decide in advance that no…
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Thoughts These chapters are the finale of David’s life. David’s Heart David wanted to build the Temple, but God told him that since he had been a man of war and had spilled blood, he would not be the one to build it. That would be for his son, Solomon. Instead of allowing David to…
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Thoughts Chapter 17 In Numbers 17 God was going to show the people of Israel who He had chosen as their priest. There had already been murmurings and rebellions, and God confirmed to them that Moses was His choice. Here in chapter 17, He was going to use this demonstration to show them a final…
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Thoughts I’m Getting Too Old For This I’ve been doing some pretty strenuous work around the old homestead over the last couple of days, like pruning an almost 40 foot jacaranda tree…by myself. When I was younger, I would recover pretty quickly. Now at my age, not so much. I’m thinking that perhaps I’ll hire…
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Thoughts John 13 – A New Commandment Remember when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was? Do you remember His answer? He quoted from Deuteronomy 6, which we also read today: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first…
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