As the prophet Habakkuk was questioning God, the Lord responded with direct and precise instructions. Following the prophet’s second interrogation, look at what the Lord told him. “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it” (Hab. 2:2). Think about that. The Lord wanted the prophet to record the vision that he would receive from heaven, and then the…

The prophet Habakkuk cried out to the Lord in a fashion that may sound like something we might say to Him. “O Lord, HOW LONG shall I cry, and You will not hear? WHY do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble?” (Hab. 1:2-3). From the people’s perspective (that’s key), God was allowing evil to go unpunished and unchecked in Judah. “How long…

When you consider the Christians you have known, who would you say was “the least”? Would you say it was the guy who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) beat his addiction to alcohol? Would you say it was the lady who always smelled like she hadn’t had a bath in weeks? Would you say it was the man who came for a while, fell away, came back,…

The very word “black” and the word “white” are now words that trigger reactions (negative reactions) in the minds of so many—even when those words are not even being used of people. Recently individuals have been offended by “black” and “white” chess pieces and “black” and “white” checkered patterns on the chessboard. Some people react when they hear that something is written in “black…

The man had been blind from birth (John 9:1). Don’t you know that he longed to see with his entire being! Jesus came and spit on the ground, “made clay with the saliva” and “anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay” (9:6). Can you imagine being the blind man and having someone else do that to you? Then, Jesus said to him, “Go,…

In comparing himself to Jesus, John the Baptizer said, “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose” (Mark 1:7). When the master fisherman, Peter, witnessed Jesus’ miraculous catch of fish, he (in his astonishment) exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). Even the Roman centurion realized, “I am not worthy that You should…

Growing up and memorizing the Ten Commandments, the second commandment seemed so obvious that it’s not even necessary to teach it today. Right? “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Ex. 20:4). That’s so “3,500 years ago”! Fast forward about 700 years from Exodus 20 and God’s people had hung on to “the bronze serpent” Moses made in Numbers 20 to save the people…

You wake up in the morning and you have no idea what may happen that day. You never know what awaits you when you arrive at work. You never know what news might be on the other end of a phone call. You never know what someone may take out on you unexpectedly. You never know what your car may do, what a family member may…