“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 Right in the middle of the wreckage, God speaks a promise. Adam and Eve have disobeyed. Trust is broken. Shame has entered the world. Everything good now feels fragile. And before the humans say a word—before they apologize, explain, or promise to do better—God talks to the serpent, “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” It’s a strange moment. God isn’t giving instructions. He’s ...
[Abram] … pitched his tent there, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and proclaimed the name of the LORD. Genesis 12:8 “I can worship God at home. I can read the Bible at home. I can pray at home. And so, I really don’t get what the difference is between my worship at home and my worship at church. Isn’t it all the same thing?” Yes. And no. Can I praise my Lord in the privacy of my home? Yes. By myself, can I let ...
What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3 It’s about thirty years after Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. His followers have eagerly shared the Good News of what Jesus has done. As a result, many have come to faith in Jesus as their Savior from sin. New congregations are forming. There is even a gathering of Christians in the capital city of the Roman Empire. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul sits down to write a letter to these Roman ...
The LORD had said to Abram, “…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1,3 Let’s imagine the life of Abram—this famous figure from the Bible. In our imagination, it’s easy to presume God is coming down every other day to perform a dramatic miracle. It’s easy to picture Abram living a life bursting with high drama, a John Williams soundtrack swelling in the background. And because you and I already know how everything turns out, it’s easy to suppose that, somehow, Abram does too. These presumptions, of course, are wrong. Ninety-nine percent of ...
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe ...
But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” Luke 16:25 We all need it, no matter how old or young we are. We need it no matter how much money we have, where we live, where we work, where we worship, or who is related to us. We all need to feel secure, from little ones hugging their stuffed animals to adults paying for cybersecurity. We all want peace of mind. We don’t want ...
By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ...
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 I visited a friend in a medium-security prison and was seated in a commons area. I was surprised at the relative freedom that seemed to exist. While I waited for my friend, several incarcerated individuals walked through, either going about their tasks or just talking with each other. When my friend arrived, I remarked on that freedom they seemed to enjoy. His response was, “Don’t be fooled. There’s ...
But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 When the apostle Paul went to Thessalonica ...
Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. Philippians 3:17 When was the last time you needed to follow closely behind someone to arrive at your destination? That was sometimes necessary in the “olden days” because most maps didn’t provide street-level detail. So, if your group was too large to fit into one car, the driver who knew where he was going would carefully lead the other driver to their destination. If you were following, you ...
