Acts 5

Few in the New Testament experienced the discipline experienced by Ananias and Sapphira in response to their premeditated effort to deceive. The church was young and, in a sense, innocent. There were few safeguards in place. A feeling of holy community excited spontaneous sacrifice by women and men. The innocence of the process suggested to Ananias and Sapphira the possibility of “gaming” the process and gaining notoriety.   And they did!

God often exposes a new sin before

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Psalm 73

Perspective is everything. The point from which we view something determines what we see. The writer of this Psalm watched arrogant and wicked people seemingly “getting ahead” and doing so with impunity. They were prospering apparently with no pains or troubles that others suffer, vs 1-6. The “prosperity of the wicked,” is often a conundrum. 

The salvation of Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, is his honesty. He discovered that his confusion was from perspective. When he view

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1 Chronicles 5-6

Why would anyone list these hundreds of names, most of which we know very little, and put them in Scripture?  God’s promise was He would bless the offspring of Abraham, that they would be numerous as the stars, that they would have a period of captivity, but that He would bring them back, Genesis 15. These genealogies were used to prove one’s relationship to Abraham and their part in his covenant blessing. Every name in these lists was important.

Perhaps this is a picture,

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1 Chronicles 3-4

Buried in these genealogies are names of individuals who are otherwise unknown. One of these is Jabez, in 4:9,10. Scripture says his mother named him for the pain he had caused at birth. Perhaps his difficult birth had also been painful for him and had left him with some physical reminder. Yet he was more honorable than his siblings and prayed a prayer that has encouraged many -- that God would bless him, would enlarge his borders, that God’s hand would be with him, and wo

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1 Chronicles 1-2

Jewish scholars generally agree that Chronicles was written during the last half of the 5th century before Christ (B.C.). The aim of the record was to ensure the captivity had not destroyed the historical continuity of the nation with Abraham. His covenant with God was the foundation of the Jewish nation. The Chronicles begin with Adam and trace his descendants to Abraham including men like Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem and fifteen others. Abraham received a covenant from God th

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Acts 4

The healing of the lame man at the temple gate “in the name of Jesus” was a problem to the religious leaders that had crucified Him. The healed man, holding the hands of Peter and John had entered the temple, (3:8), “walking and leaping and praising God.”  Peter again preached, and crowds followed. Peter and John were arrested and a trial was set for the next day.

Principles and absolutes are often refined under pressure. It is in the setting of the trial that Peter gives t

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Acts 3

Acts 2 closes with signs, wonders, generosity, community, celebration and multiplication, 2:43-47. Acts 3 opens with the healing of a man so lame from birth that he was carried to the temple each day to beg (3:1,2). He encountered Peter and John as they were going into the temple and asked for money. “Look at us!” He looked and expected money. Then Peter said, “I do not have silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene – walk!” (vs

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Acts 1-2

Another mid-eastern war involving Israel and America aligning against Iran has raised the question in some, “Lord, is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (1:6).  The answer Jesus gave his disciples is the same he gives us: “It is not for you to know the times….. but you will receive power …  and you shall be my witnesses.”

When the day came, the Holy Spirit anointed 120 and then thousands. Peter preached a sermon, with prophetic insight, in respon

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Psalm 72

Scholars debate whether this Psalm is descriptive, prescriptive or prophetic. Many attribute it to Solomon yet 72:20 suggests that it is a prophetic petition by David, Solomon’s father, concerning Solomon’s reign. His genius and wisdom were probably already apparent, but David knew without righteousness from God (see vs 1-4) the work of God in Israel could not be done. David prayed for the expansion and blessing of Solomon’s leadership, and he reminded him of the source.

“B

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2 Kings 22

Manasseh’s son, Amon, followed him, but chose to emulate his evil, not his repentance. He ruled only two years and was so evil that the people of the land killed him and made  his eight-year-old son, Josiah, king. No doubt Josiah ruled through regents at first, but from the beginning his heart seemed to be after God. When he was sixteen, he began to seriously seek God, 2 Chron. 34:1-7, and within two years began the rebuilding of the temple and renewal of the nation.

Josiah

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2 Kings 21

Manasseh was one of the most evil kings in the history of Judah, vs 2-9. This whole chapter describes his degradations. In effect, he reversed all the good that Hezekiah had done, and exceeded even the sins of the Amorites, v11. His sin, and its influence, brought down the wrath of God. He was taken captive by Assyria and taken to Babylon “with hooks, and bound with bronze chains." In captivity he humbled himself and repented and  God forgave him. “Then Manasseh knew that

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2 Kings 20

Hezekiah became very ill and was going to die. He turned his face to the wall, wept, and reminded God how righteous he had been. God accepted his petition and through Isaiah told him he would be healed. He gave him a miraculous sign, vs 3-11, and healed him. 

A prince of Babylon sent Hezekiah a gift, and Hezekiah boastfully  showed him treasures. 2 Chronicles 32:25 says “Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received.”  And even though God delayed his wrath a generatio

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2 Kings 19

Hezekiah faced his greatest test when the great Assyrian king, Sennacherib, came against him. Sennacherib, though powerful, won most of his battles by intimidation and seduction, 18:31. But Sennacherib had never encountered a godly king who “tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord,” (19:1). He sought God and contacted Isaiah, vs 2-7. The Assyrian empire was the greatest the world had seen but was no match for two in agreement i

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2 Kings 18

Hezekiah became king and led Judah in a great spiritual renewal. There had been great men before him such as Uzziah [aka Azariah, (2 Kings 15) and Jotham (2 kings 15:30 ff)], but none of those kings, or any before them had “removed the high places, torn down the sacred pillars, and even broken in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made,” 18:3  which had become an idol. Solomon had made the first of the “high places.”  To  destroy the “high places" of Solomon and the

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John 21

John 21 records the narrative of the men who had traveled with Jesus, witnessed his arrest and execution and afterward had seen him alive. And the human question was, “What now?” Peter’s thought was “I’m going fishing.”  They all agreed.  The men who had left the boats to follow Jesus, probably thinking their ministry was finished, got back in the boat. All night effort yielded nothing. A man on the shore called and told them to cast the net on the other side. They did; th

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