Ruth 1 – It was during one of the darkest times of Israel. The book of Judges records countless stories of people who failed miserably in their devotion to…
grief
61 posts
Isaiah 64 – Waiting. We hate it. We hate to wait in traffic. We loathe waiting for an appointment. At the checkout line, if we find ourselves standing too…
Isaiah 63 – At the beginning of Isaiah 63 we find a familiar theme in Scripture. There is someone with blood-stained clothes who is robed in splendor…
Isaiah 22 – How do you handle the immense spiritual burdens of others? Isaiah wept over Israel. You can feel his raw emotion in verse 4. He refuses…
Judges 17 – It is the strangest of stories. Judges 17 sets the table for the remaining chapters with Israel’s moral decline and the people following their own ways…
Job 37 – For 37 chapters God allowed the storm to rage against Job. From the opening, as the curtains beyond our world into the heavenlies were cracked to…
Job 6 – Eliphazs advice was as filling as the whites of an egg. Tasteless and devoid of flavor, his words certainly did not give him any strength. Almost…
Ezra 10 – The book of Ezra opens with the people of Israel in captivity, the temple in ruins. As the story unfolds, Ezra recounts the return. There were…
Ezra 3 – Where God calls, He will equip! This is something we must be reminded of again and again on this journey of ours. The plan of God…
Proverbs 2 – “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her…
2 Peter 1 – A few times a month (maybe it’s more) at noon the air is pierced with sirens. They reverberate throughout the town almost sinking…
2 Samuel 22 – It’s good and right to look back at God’s faithfulness. We forget that too often. It seems that for many of us, when…
2 Samuel 19 – What a mess. After the death of Absalom David is in overwhelming grief and it’s affecting the army who just fought for him….
2 Samuel 13 – Like father, like son – so the saying goes. In this case, like father, likes sons. The unraveling of David’s household is revealed…
2 Samuel 12 – All was well, or so David thought. Nothing had been found out concerning the affair with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah;…
2 Samuel 4 – “For just $19.99 you can find all the essentials in discovering the will of God,” states one televangelist. “You too, can find the…
2 Samuel 3 – Strong-willed by definition is being determined to do something regardless of what is advised against it. This mindset is really a double edged…
1 Samuel 16 – Sometimes the moving on from a saddened heavy burden is one of the toughest things to get beyond. The opening sentence states how…
1 Samuel 15 – I will tell you, this is one of the saddest chapters. It truly brought pain to my heart on so many different levels….
1 Samuel 2 – Hannah sings praise to God for hearing her heart cry. He’s seen her affliction, her struggle and now feels vindicated on every level…
Romans 16 – As the letter of Romans closes, Paul turns personal. From the beginning of this remarkable and outstanding work inspired by the Holy Spirit concerning solid truth,…
Romans 9 – They missed the boat. The Israelites, those who knew the Scripture, awaited the promise of the coming Messiah had waited for generations…
2 Kings 20 – If you knew how long you had to live, would it make a difference in how you lived? Let’s set the stage here….
2 Kings 5 – Aram had been a neighbor to Israel for centuries but rarely was on friendly terms. Under David’s rule they payed tribute to Israel…
1 Kings 21 – Her name is synonymous with the most evil woman in all of Scripture. In fact, her name is mentioned in Revelation as an…
1 Kings 14 – It’s the tale of 2 kings who flagrantly walked away from God and His commands. Consider how as the nation was already split…
Genesis 27 – It’s a house of deception. In his old age, Isaac decides it’s time to give his blessing to his eldest son, Esau. Mind you, in the…
Genesis 19 – The slippery slope of compromise led Lot into an unraveling of a storyline that would place him in the infamous story of the
John 20 – The miracle of the empty tomb, the resurrection of Jesus brought shock and skepticism. John records that miraculous morning…
John 19 – “It is finished.” –John 19:30 It happened. The betrayal, the arrest, the denial, the disciples scattering like sheep had all taken place…
John 7 – There is a thirst within every human. There’s a drive and longing that is there beyond what we ourselves are capable of finding…
Esther 4 – Sometimes we are called to make hard decisions. Sometimes we are compelled to speak truth or confront where loss…
Nehemiah 8 – With Ezra by his side, the people gathered as one and listened to the Word of God being read. It was the first in many…
Nehemiah 6 – Nehemiah is determined to fulfill the Lord’s work and rebuild the walls despite facing every obstacle imaginable thus far…
Zechariah 10 – “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” – Ephesians 6:10 Standing strong in the face of difficulty is one of the…
Micah 1 – Micah was a bold speaker of God’s Word much like his contemporary Isaiah, who was around the same time as himself. His message directed mainly at…
Amos 8 – I used to have a friend who said, “If you’re green – you’ll grow. If you’re ripe – you’ll rot.” This statement has stuck with me…
Amos 5 – In a move that would be shocking to the listeners, Amos sings a song of lament, a dirge of Israel who is fallen. The irony is…
Hosea 11 – “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. I took them in My arms; But they did not…
Psalm 137 – Psalm 137 – It’s a striking scene. Gathered on the shores of one of Babylon’s rivers the people remembered what they had lost. Held in captivity due to their…
Psalm 126 – God has the ability to restore all things. From the wreckage of our lives to the exile and captivity we have been held in – our…
Psalm 62 – The waiting room of God is something we all enter. It’s the place where we know what we believe and know that He will act. But…
Psalm 57 – We all encounter it from time to time. Someone speaks against us. Sometimes these words are easily brushed off and we go on. Other times it…
Psalm 54 – “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.” – Proverbs 26:27 The warning is clear. There are…
Psalm 39 – There are many times when our emotions run high in a situation. Driven by disappointment or anger we can easily lash out at others through our…
Psalm 38 – The effects of sin are devastating. Beside the spiritual aspect of it bringing a wall between ourselves and God, it also plays against us emotionally, mentally…
Psalm 37 – We’ve all prayed prayers like this: God, how much longer must we endure the situation that is causing so much grief and sorrow? How much longer…
Psalm 31 – There are many of us who claim to have faith in God. We’ve turned to Jesus at some point on our journey. We’ve sought to seek…
Ecclesiastes 1 – Written over 3000 years ago, much of the message of Ecclesiastes still resonates. Pursuing things, people, objects, power and pleasure bring nothing more than emptiness…
Ezekiel 21 – One of the hardest things to watch is another succumb to sin and self. The destructive nature that follows leaves devastation. Relationships unravel, purpose is leveled,…
Acts 16 – If there ever was a story showing God’s perfect will, His ultimate plan, His bigger picture it is found in verses 6-10. Paul had…
Acts 12 – It’s 44 AD. 11 years have passed since Jesus had been crucified and rose from the grave. Herod had begun a full frontal attack…
Lamentations 5 – We don’t often think in terms of the comprehensive suffering that Judah endured during exile. It was not just that their enemies came and put them…
Lamentations 3 – The first 20 verses of chapter 3 recall the conditions that God has allowed to take place which has brought immense grief to Jeremiah’s heart. He…
Lamentations 1 – He’s known as the weeping prophet. For 40 years Jeremiah served God faithfully with little to no success. By the world’s standards, he was a failure…
Revelation 21 – We all have our share of sorrows and heartaches. We all have experienced the unending trials at time. We all have sat in the ashes…
Revelation 5 – “I wish I could take every Christian and dangle them over the pit of hell for 30 seconds. This would change the way they live here…
Jeremiah 26 – “Do not omit a word.” – God Have you ever been there where through prayer and seeking, God gave you a strong word to deliver to…
Jeremiah 16 – Imagine laying down one of your deepest desires. Think about what it would mean for God to simply say, “No, you will not do or have…