Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (verses 17-18) - “Elijah was a man just like us.” What a remarkable statement. Remarkable because Elijah saw phenomenal acts of power from the hand of God. Fire fell from heaven, burning up a water-drenched altar. Bread and meat were brought to him, morning and even

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! (verses 7-9) - The Lord is coming again! How good. Do you believe it? Jesus – our Saviour, Lord, Redeemer, King

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. (verses 13-16) - Several Springs ago, my wife and I took a trip

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (verses 6-10) - G

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (verses 17-18) - Peace. The word itself glides on a surface smooth and calm. More so the Hebrew word “shalom,” spreading a blanket of well-being in its wake. Oh, how we need such peace in our day. Certainly on the world stage – oh, how we need it! To settle th

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. … no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise

… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead … You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement! (verses 12-13) - These verses provide such an interesting juxtaposition of contrasts. Law and freedom. Mercy and judgement. Act as if you’re going to be judged, we’re told, yet live in freedom. This passage spills out of a discussion of favouritism in the preceding verses. Don’t do i

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, an

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (verses 2-4) - (I wrote this piece five years ago after a very painful accident to my knee.) I’ve always clung to this passage. I memorized it years ago, refreshing it many times, and now I recite it regularly in my morning devotions. It’s a wonder

We're skipping back to Philemon (which we skipped over earlier in the Spring) - here it is now! PHILEMON I appeal to you for my son Onemimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to me and to you. (verses 10-11) - Paul is writing to his friend Philemon with an appeal that will stretch both friendship and faith. It seems that Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had run away, likely stealing from Philemon as he went.

Verse 23 (I’ll give you the full verse at the end of today’s blog) - I can’t leave the book of Hebrews without sharing a very personal encounter I had with these scriptures a number of years ago. It was one of those moments when the significance of a biblical statement went beyond its original meaning, but connected into my own experience, confirming that the Lord was clearly directing. I had been pastoring the church I’d grown up in for 23 years when I sensed the Lord calli

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (verses 20-21) - What a wonderful prayer to receive at the end of this lengthy epistle. I want to grab hold of it fully. Let’s take it piece by piece. · May the God of peace

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ... (1 Peter 1:3)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”So we say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (verses 5-6) - A few years back, we were planning for future retirement, looking at savings and expenses and wondering if we’d have enough to sustain our current patterns after the paycheque stopped. Of course, there were man

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm … But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the s

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not