Focal Passage: Exodus 22:21-27; Leviticus 19:9-10 

I do not remember who said it, but I was permanently impacted by the thought that every Christian must decide to live a life of either self-preservation or self-sacrifice. The first option looks like the world, and the second one looks like Jesus. My whole life has been spent in an America that chases hard after unrestrained individualism. 

Ideas that would have been considered shameful or at least hidden from the public eye in previous generations are now celebrated in the streets and normalized through the media.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 20:1-17 

Before the Ten Commandments were given, the Author gave the basis for their existence. He once again declared Himself to be the true and living God as evidenced by His recent miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Before He addressed practical issues of morality, He dealt with the foundational issue of worship. While we typically hear more about people breaking the latter six commandments, our ultimate struggle lies in the first four commandments. 

Most of us have memorized the first commandment as, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). God is not merely giving Himself first place as though it is ok to have lesser gods. The CSB correctly communicates the mandate that God’s people must have no other gods besides Him.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 16:11-19; 17:1-6 

The flesh is a demanding taskmaster. Whether it wants to pursue excessive pleasure or have lunch on time, the flesh will dictate your life if you do not walk by the Spirit. After crossing the Red Sea, the immediate demands of the children of Israel were water, bread and meat. We can understand their thirst and hunger, but each occasion quickly escalated to sin against God and rebellion against His appointed leader. 

When the manna fell, the Israelites were once again faced with the challenge to walk by faith and trust God for their daily needs. Sadly, they walked by sight, hoarded more manna than they needed, and soon found the extra manna to be rotten and full of worms. This catastrophe happened because they did not listen to Moses (Exodus 16:20).  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 14:19-31 

Despite the pain of the death of the firstborn brought on by the Passover, Pharaoh, whose heart God had once again hardened, pursued the Israelites as they fled. 

Why did God harden his heart? While it is not easy for us to understand God’s choice, His purpose was clear. God left Pharaoh in his rebellion so the world would see the power of the true and living God. 

God’s greatest desire has always been His own glory, because there is nothing more praiseworthy. Just as God was glorified the night of the Passover, He would also be glorified in the parting of the Red Sea. 

When the children of Israel found themselves in the terrifying predicament of being trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, they cried out to the Lord and then complained to Moses.  [Read more…]

She had no idea it would be her. As a young Jewish girl, Mary had likely heard Isaiah’s prophecy, “the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14b). However, she did not know when and how that prophecy would be fulfilled until Gabriel appeared. Most of us have read this story so many times that the shock and awe of that moment does not move us as it should. 

Most people in the Bible did not have an angelic encounter, and no one else received this kind of news. Mary, likely a young teenager, was greeted by an angel who called her “favored woman” (CSB). This description, rendered in Catholicism’s Latin Vulgate translation as “full of grace,” has led many people to honor Mary in a way that rivals the worship due to Jesus. No doubt a godly woman, she was gifted with a unique opportunity, not rewarded for her righteousness. To suggest that Mary deserved this role because of her sinless life contradicts the biblical text and questions why a sinless One needed to be sent from heaven when such a one was already on earth. She was understandably troubled by Gabriel’s words, having no thought that some expected compensation from heaven had finally arrived.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 12:21-32 

From early childhood I remember singing the old hymn, “When I See the Blood.” Taken directly from Exodus 12:23, the hymn reminds us that the Passover points directly to Jesus. As wonderful as the annual Passover celebration was, it would be fulfilled by the Lamb who shed His own blood not to celebrate a past physical deliverance but to provide spiritual deliverance for every generation of people whose sin was covered by His blood. Only the Lamb was worthy to open the scroll and reveal the conclusion of God’s plan of redemption (Rev 5)!

A popular Christian song declares, “I don’t want to leave a legacy. I don’t care if they remember me. Only Jesus.” I respectfully disagree. The song forces a choice between two God-honoring acts. Every believer should strive to combine both by leaving a legacy of faith that points to Jesus. Every generation needs faithful men and women to declare the power and majesty of God, because no one comes to Jesus in the abstract. Rather, believers in every generation place their faith in Christ because of the faithfulness (directly or indirectly) of other believers.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 2:4-14 

“Merry CHRISTmas!” Not “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays,” but Merry CHRISTmas!

Our current series of Bible in Life lessons is entitled Looking Forward to CHRISTmas, and today’s topic is Looking Forward to JOY. The focal passage, Luke 2:4-14, includes one of most read and quoted sentences in the Bible: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night (Luke 2:8, KJV). How many children, teens, and adults have read/recited that verse in various CHRISTmas plays, programs and services!

And how intriguing those 19 words are, providing the scene for the very first and truly “Best CHRISTmas Pageant Ever.” [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 5:1-4; 6:2-9 

People crave freedom. Unfortunately, many desire an auto- cracy where they answer to no one but themselves. In the poem, “Invictus,” William Ernest Henley declared, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Ironically, I have most often heard this poem read over dead men’s caskets. Pharaoh proved to be such a man. 

Pharaoh quickly admitted (Exodus 5:2) that he did not know the Lord and showed that he had no interest in getting to know the Lord. Here we see how bad theology leads to bad practice. Since Pharaoh did not know the Lord, he felt no obligation to obey the Lord. In a culture that contained well over a thousand gods, the true and living God was dismissed as though He were just another deity born out of superstition and added to the pagan pantheon. By rejecting the command to let God’s people go, Pharaoh would see (and yet never believe) that this God alone is worthy of worship.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-15 

“But you promised! Remember?” Have you ever been reminded of a promise made in a moment of desperation that you had quickly forgotten? Whether is was part of negotiating with your child for better behavior or better grades, it clearly meant more to them than it did to you! 

Did you notice in Exodus 2 that it was God who remembered His promise? After 430 years in Egypt (Exodus 12:40), the Israelites had lost much of their distinctive identity as the people of God and had been greatly influenced by more than ten generations of exposure to idolatry. Their groaning under Egyptian slavery was heard by God even when, as far as the text indicates, their cries were not directed to God.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage:Acts 27:31-44 

Life is often pictured as a journey. All journeys start at one destination and travel to another. We are born, which begins our journey in life and we die which ends our journey in life.

Between the beginning and the end, life is full of all kinds of adversities. So many times, we are faced with circumstances that can test our character, drain our strength and darken our souls. 

In our passage this week we find an example of such a journey. Paul is on his way from Caesarea to Rome to stand before Caesar. And, the trip was anything but smooth. Each of us at times, face difficult paths that must be navigated if we are to reach our final destinations. When we consistently read, hear and understand the Word of God, we learn valuable lessons that help us navigate the turbulent waters in life.   [Read more…]