January 28, 2016. Reading: Esther 6-10. Background: Esther 1-5. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 6 Mordecai honored: In this chapter we see the hand of God at play as the very night before Haman planned to have Mordecai hanged, the king’s heart is troubled so that he could not sleep. He orders for the records of…
Tag: providence
Acts 27-28: The unfinished story.
January 24, 2016. Reading: Acts 27-28. Background: Acts 23-26. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 27 Shipwrecked on the way to Rome: After a long period of prison and trials, the time finally came for Paul to go to Rome just as the Lord had told him. His journey to Rome, however, had probably not gone the…
Esther 1-5: The Jewish Queen.
January 12, 2016. Reading: Esther 1-5. Background: The book of Esther is set during the reign of the Persian empire. The children of Israel had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians between 607-586 BC, and now were dwelling under Persian rule, who had captured Babylon in 539 BC. The setting of Esther is during…
I Samuel 26-31: The rise of David and the demise of Saul.
April 21, 2015. Daily Reading: I Samuel 26-31. Background: I Samuel 21-25. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 26 Integrity, tested a second time: Just as we say in chapter 24, Saul is given into David’s hand here a second time, and a second time his men encourage him to kill Saul. This is even after David has…
Exodus 1-4: The birth and call of Moses.
April 6, 2015. Daily Reading: Exodus 1-4. Background: Genesis 48-50. Exodus is the second book in the Pentateuch, detailing much of the leadership of Moses and the exodus (thus the name of the book) of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage and their history thereafter. It picks up right where the book of Genesis…
Genesis 48-50: Blessings.
March 30, 2015. Daily Reading: Genesis 48-50. Background: Genesis 44-47. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 48 The blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh: As Jacob nears the end of his life and becomes ill, Joseph takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to his father so that he can bless his grandsons. Typically, the greater blessing would be…
I Samuel 7-10: Israel demands a king.
March 24, 2015. Daily Reading: I Samuel 7-10. Background: I Samuel 1-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 Fear and obedience: In the previous chapter, the ark of the covenant was returned to Israel from the Philistines due to the hand of the Lord being heavy on the Philistine cities that kept the ark. Though there was…
Genesis 44-47: Reunited.
March 23, 2015. Daily Reading: Genesis 44-47. Background: Genesis 40-43. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 44 Joseph tests his brothers: Just as in chapter 42, it is hard to speculate why Joseph chose to not tell his brothers who he was right away, but rather set up a trap for them as they went home so that…
Genesis 40-43: The tide turns for Joseph.
March 16, 2015. Daily Reading: Genesis 40-43. Background: Genesis 36-39. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 40 Joseph’s interpretation of dreams: As Joseph is in the prison that he was sent to because Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of trying to lay with her, we learned from the last chapter that the Lord was with Joseph and the…
What are you doing, Lord?
October 25, 2014. Have you ever wondered why certain things were not going as well as you would like them too, even after you have prayed about it? Have you ever wondered why obstacles arise even when it seems like you are trying to do the will of God? Why something hasn’t happened yet? Or…
All glory to God, no matter what.
September 23, 2014. So, in case you were wondering why I didn’t write a post yesterday, I promise I have a valid excuse. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Lord above for dealing so gently with me. It was a bad wreck and my air bags didn’t deploy, yet I walked…
The Lord will provide.
August 7, 2014. “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 