All of us have experienced being in the desert places. Perhaps that is where you are right now. What act of repentance is God calling of you in order to make you ready for the outpouring of God’s Spirit in your desert place to bring back life?
Isaiah 1: Let Us Reason Together
though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 1: Social Justice
Throughout both the Hebrew and Christian Testaments, scripture teaches that social justice should be a natural product of our relationship with God
1 John 2: Stop Pretending
Gnostics claimed there was no such thing as sin, therefore it was impossible to sin, for it did not exist. There was no point in seeking not to sin, because there was no such thing as “sin” or “sinning” in the first place. John strongly contested such thinking.
Minor Prophets: Jonah, Megaphone of Pain
I have been in the desert when the temperature is 115 degrees and climbing, with a fierce hot wind. It takes about half an hour for these convection oven-like conditions to literally bake the skin and lungs so that a person can hardly breathe, eyes ache and a person can get dangerously dizzy and dehydrated.
Minor Prophets: Jonah is Disappointed
Without being mindful, it is easy to think about spiritual things through the lens of our culture’s mindset and worldview. In Jonah’s day, it was culturally and societally supported to hate certain people groups, such as the Assyrians, and to assume God hated them too.
Minor Prophets: Jonah, נָחַם nâcham
When the Hebrew language speaks of God “repenting,” the word most often is “nacham,” referring to inner suffering that needs to be consoled.
Minor Prophets: Jonah in the Storm
The truth is, it seemed Jonah would rather have died than turn back and sail for Joppa to begin his journey to Nineveh. But, God was not asking Jonah to give his life to the sea in death. God was asking him to give his compassion to the enemies of his people.
Gospel of John: Choose Life
In Genesis chapter 1, God’s word divided the light from the darkness. So now, Jesus, the Word and the Light, came into the world and divided those who love the Light from those who embrace the darkness.
Minor Prophets: Joel's Fearsome Vision
It's not too late to restore relationships, to repair bridges, to pray for and say yes to new opportunities. God can make up for all you didn't do right before, He can more than make up for it! Knowing that God will restore what was lost, what was wasted, frees you and me to move into and with God's will now—to fulfill His purpose for us today.