How We Became Slaves to Sin and Finding Freedom
“The king sang this lament for Abner: ‘Should Abner have died as the lawless die? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before the wicked’”2 Samuel 3:...
Tagged: turning from sin
The Destruction of the Flesh: Satan’s Gift to the Church
“. . . you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” 1 Corinthians 5: 5. This is such...
Confess Your Sin and Avert God’s Judgement
“You say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned’”Jeremiah 2:35. Ancient Israel had forsaken the one true God to serve...
Many are the Afflictions of His Children
“I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you...
Entering God’s Rest Requires a Fight
“So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war” Joshua 11:...
Many Afflictions of the Righteous and Sorrows of the Wicked
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” Psalm 34: 19. I believe a big reason the righteous are often afflicted is to teach us to live by...
Manasseh: How Judgment Leads to Mercy Then and Now
“Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in...
Take the Narrow Path to Freedom
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard...
Evil or Affliction: You Have to Choose
“Take care; do not turn to evil, for this you have chosen rather than affliction..” Job 36: 21. Most everyone, religious or not, is familiar with Job, the patron saint of unjust suffering. In this...
How to Reap a Harvest When Plowed by Painful Trials
“In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest” Exodus 34: 21b. This passage is actually talking about the sabbath, but I want to focus on this idea of plowing and harvest for a minute....