What comes to mind when you picture a lion in your mind? For me, the verse from 1 Peter 5:8 pops into my head right away —“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” But as we dwell upon the imagery a…
You remember the story? Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall around the city—a big project for his team of Jewish exiles! We read from vv. 1-4 that Nehemiah was troubled when he received report that the Jewish people in Judah were in distress, and the wall of Jerusalem was broken down. This left…
When we are at life’s crossroads, we often wish we knew what God’s will for us is so that we can make the right decision. Scripture speaks of God’s will in two ways. First is God’s sovereign will whereby He has decreed all things to happen according to His counsel. This was what Christ submitted…
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” (Colossians 3:21) In Ephesians, Paul advises fathers against causing anger or bitterness in their children, urging instead to raise them up in…
Which is more important: the self, the immediate community, or the wider community? I suspect when it comes down to it, all of us would have the self as our primary motivation. Each of us is the centre of our own universes, and the immediate and wider communities are only important insofar as they impact…
This character trait Brothers and sisters, I am talking about the character trait of spiritual humility. What then is spiritual humility? Isaiah 57:15 says, ‘For this is what the high and exalted One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one…
I know of a brother who housed a tank of cockroaches in his home; I’m not sure if he still does. What I am more certain, to the point of almost complete certainty, is that for many of us, the only good cockroach is a dead one. And that unlike the title of this writing,…
Samson, the judge of Israel, struck fear in the hearts of its enemies, the Philistines. They knew they were unable to defeat this mighty hero of Israel—he tore the lion apart with his bare hands (Judg. 14:6); the ropes that tied him were easily broken as they were like a charred flax to him (15:14); he…
How do we live as a people redeemed for service? The Lord did not leave His disciples to guess. They were His apostles who would lay the foundation of His teaching for His Church in the generations to come. The Lord did not want them to lord over His sheep but to lovingly shepherd them.…