When you post something on Facebook, you have the option to choose who can see the post. The five options are: (1) Public: Anyone on or off Facebook. (2) Friends: Your friends on Facebook. (3) Friends except: All your friends except selected ones. (4) Specific friends: Only the friends you select. (5) Only me. Life is much the same way. When you act a certain way or use…

In the workplace, in the home, in the community, in the church…God’s child should be known for his strong work ethic! Think about this. The words “lazy” or “laziness” are used 15 times in the book of Proverbs and never, as you would expect, in a favorable light. God contrasts laziness in that book with being “diligent” (10:4; 12:24, 27; 13:4) and “upright” (15:19). Later in…

We face them all the time…sometimes daily…but to different levels or degrees. Car problems, unexpected home repairs, conflict at work, conflict at home, health issues, death, disappointments, mistreatment from others, broken friendship, loss of job, etc., etc. Bad things happen all the time. “Time and chance happen to [us] all” (Ecc. 9:11). (Easily remember where this verse is located by looking at the three numbers: 9-1-1.)…

God’s people faced severe opposition in the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem after returning from Babylonian captivity, which is probably why they had not completed the task in the 90 years before Nehemiah. And once they started the monumental task, their enemies (particularly Sanballat and Tobiah) countered them at every turn. Nevertheless, Nehemiah recorded, “So we built the wall” (Neh. 4:6). Underscore the word…

At the dedication of the temple in the Old Testament, Solomon “stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly” and prayed to the Lord a most heart-searching prayer (2 Chron. 6:12-42). In this prayer, Solomon looked down through the ages to times when God’s people would fail Him in a variety of ways and would call upon…

Psalm 118 begins and ends with the very same words: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever” (118:1, 29). What reasons do you have to “give thanks to the Lord”? They are numerous, no doubt! The very “day the Lord has made” is worthy of praise (118:24). But look at verse 21. “I will praise You, For You have…

If you set out on a caravan journey across a particular state and determined in advance that everyone would stick to a single interstate highway on the journey, would it be obvious if someone in the caravan wandered off of that highway? Of course it would! With everyone on the same direct path, it would be quite apparent when someone was not. And it would…

As Peter wrote about how ignorant individuals were taking Paul’s “epistles” and twisting them “to their own destruction,” he concluded his sentence by saying, “…as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:15-16). That is interesting for a number of reasons. First, Peter recognized the existence and collection of “the Scriptures,” which he had earlier affirmed were from the Holy Spirit…