Job 15-18.  “Is It Proud or Appropriate” Three of Job’s friends show up after his intense time of suffering.  For seven days and nights they sit silent with him.  Their time of silently grieving with their friend is a beautiful and powerful example of concern.  But then they begin to talk, they reason and try to explain why this could be happening.  Their conclusion is that the blame falls on Job....  Read More

The theme for this week has to do with consistency.  There are a variety of topics, but consistency is an indicator of success within each area.  For instance: Are we consistent in how we interpret the Word of God?  Are we displaying consistency in our life, as it pertains to godly character, as we go through an intense trial?   Read More

The theme for this week has to do with consistency.  There are a variety of topics, but consistency is an indicator of success within each area.  For instance: Are we consistent in how we interpret the Word of God?  Are we displaying consistency in our life, as it pertains to godly character, as we go through an intense trial? Job 12-14.  “Tested Truth” Job was a righteous man whom God permitted ...  Read More

Job 8-11.  “God’s Sovereignty Hits Home” There is a difference between knowing truth about God and allowing that truth to impact how we live our lives.  The same day I started writing about God’s sovereignty in Job’s life, I was diagnosed with pinkeye and was coming down with a nasty cold.  I was miserable.  Worse than that, I had become grouchy and irritable and was acting like a jerk (best word ...  Read More

Job 5-7.  “God Ways are Higher than our Ways” “God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb” (Eccl. 11:5).I would imagine that at this moment Job would very much relate to the above verse.  Job is struggling to reconcile his current state with how he has lived his life.  We all struggle with this same issue; we ofte...  Read More

Job 1-4.  “Sovereign over all Creation” Nothing exists that doesn’t fall under God’s sovereignty.  This profound truth extends even to the existence of evil.  Many have wondered why God allows evil to exist, but this question is ultimately futile because we cannot change the fact that it does exist.  What we must focus on is how to live appropriately in light of the fact that evil is present in th...  Read More

Genesis 47:28-50:26.  “Looking to the Future” Genesis 50:24 foreshadows the events of the book of Exodus as God led Israel out of Egypt.  Joseph is speaking of a future time when God will lead His people back to the Promised Land.  Why is it that Joseph can make this statement with any amount of confidence?  It is because Joseph believes in the sovereignty of God.  He experienced the hand of God i...  Read More

Genesis 45:16-47:27.  “The Beauty of God’s Sovereignty” There are many important truths that are related to, or find their origins in, the sovereignty of God.  In today’s reading, I am struck by God’s provision for Jacob and his family.  God demonstrated His faithfulness to Jacob by providing a way of escape during these terrible years of famine.From time to time, I will meet someone who does not ...  Read More

Genesis 42:1-45:15.  “To God be the glory; great things He has done” Joseph gives God full credit for ending up in Egypt and for his position as second only to Pharaoh.  He recognizes that it was the hand of God in his life all this time.  When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, or when he was falsely accused and jailed by Potiphar, or when he was forgotten by Pharaoh’s cupbearer for two yea...  Read More

The theme for this week is the sovereignty of God.  The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines the Sovereignty of God as “The biblical teaching that God is king, supreme ruler, and lawgiver of the entire universe.”          We will see this important truth in the lives of two men, Joseph and Job.  In Joseph’s life we see him go from being wrongly imprisoned to second in command in all of Egypt.  In the life of Job we will meet a righteous man who must come to grips with trials and tribulations that are brought into his life.  Each day this week you will see God’s sovereignty powerfully demonstrated in the lives of these two men.           I also want to add a word about why you are reading Job right after Genesis in our chronological reading.  Job is a godly man but makes no mention of God’s law given to Moses and he performs his own sacrifices (Job 42:8).  Both of these would not make sense if Job lived after Moses.  Scholars generally agree that the events of Job best fit during the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob).  Read More

The theme for this week is the sovereignty of God.  The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines the Sovereignty of God as “The biblical teaching that God is king, supreme ruler, and lawgiver of the entire universe.”We will see this important truth in the lives of two men, Joseph and Job.  In Joseph’s life we see him go from being wrongly imprisoned to second in command in all of Egypt.  In the ...  Read More

Genesis 37-39 and 1 Chronicles 2:3-6, 8.  “Godly Direction” Joseph was a man of integrity, ethics, and conviction.  God had unique, although specific, direction for Joseph’s life.  And furthermore, God gave Joseph’s life direction.  Has God given your life direction?At 17, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery.  He became a servant in the house of Potiphar.  The Lord blessed his work and faithfu...  Read More

Genesis 36 and 1 Chronicles 1:35-2:2.  “God’s Course” Prior to the births of Jacob and Esau, the LORD said to Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (25:23).The descendants of Jacob were the Israelites, while the descendants of Esau were the Edomites.  Though both w...  Read More

Genesis 32-35.  “Expectations and Assumptions” It is almost hard to imagine the amount of anxiety Jacob was experiencing as he prepared to meet his brother, Esau.  Chapter 32 lets us in on some of that anxiety.  After all, it had been 20 years since they had last met, and at that point Esau was prepared to kill Jacob.But when they meet… things could not have gone better.  Perhaps it was just the p...  Read More

Genesis 30:25-31:55.  “Ethics” By chapter 32 Jacob has transformed spiritually, but here in chapter 31, Jacob lacked any ethical system in his life.  For Jacob, legality was equated with morality, and there are many people who fall into this category.  That is, anything which was not contrary to the law was no problem for his conscience.  Jacob has not broken the law in anything he did, but he tri...  Read More

Genesis 28:6-30:24.  “New Life, New Lessons” The character of Jacob is beginning to change, from deceiver to believer.  There does not appear to be any evidence of Jacob’s conversion before chapter 28.  In Genesis 27:20 Jacob referred to the God of Abraham and of Isaac as “your God.”  Now, in chapter 28 Jacob affirmed, “The LORD will be my God” (v. 21).  When you read through chapter 32, you find ...  Read More

Genesis 25:27-28:5.  “What’s in a Name?”          Yesterday we were introduced to someone before they were born, namely, a boy who was wrestling within his mother’s womb (25:22).  The boy was born grasping the heel of his older twin brother.         He was given the name, Jacob.  The meaning of the name had somewhat to do with his “heel catching” event, but it also has to do with “tricking” or “de...  Read More

The theme for this week has to do with choices.  We will read of the choices made by Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, Laban, Rachel, Joseph and his brothers, and even of the choices God sovereignly makes.  The practical aspect of choosing God’s will becomes a predominant theme this week.  Read More

        The theme for this week has to do with choices.  We will read of the choices made by Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, Laban, Rachel, Joseph and his brothers, and even of the choices God sovereignly makes.  The practical aspect of choosing God’s will becomes a predominant theme this week. Genesis 25:1-26 and 1 Chronicles 1:28-34.  “Choices”          Abraham had several wives a...  Read More

Genesis 21:8-24:67.  “Extreme Faith” “I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t do it,” Abraham said to Sarah.  “Whatever do you mean, Abraham?” she asked.  “Well, God asked me to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering and I just couldn’t do it,” he said.Aren’t you glad your Bible doesn’t read that way?  I have often wondered if it were my faith being tested, how the story would have turned out.  Abraham had ...  Read More

Genesis 18:1-21:7.  “The Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials” – 2 Peter 2:9 You wouldn’t know by today’s reading that Lot “was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day” (2 Peter 2:8).  Peter gives us that insight to Lot’s heart.  Have you ever felt like Lot?  Are you worn down and beyond frustration with the world around you?  Well, if...  Read More

Genesis 15-17.  “A crisis of faith” Have you ever found yourself really struggling in your faith?  If so, you have something in common with Abram.  In spite of God’s powerful promises and constant provision for his needs, Abram was struggling to believe that God’s promises would materialize.  God had already promised that Abram would “become the father of a great nation” (Gen. 12:2).  However, aft...  Read More

Genesis 11-14; 1 Chronicles 1:24-27.  “If you say go, we will go” In church we sing a song with that line; “If you say go, we will go.”  As I think about what God asked Abram to do, I thought about that song.  Like many of you, I am prone to sometimes sing worship music without allowing the meaning of the words to sink in.  Abram, as he was known at this point, embodied what this song is all about...  Read More

Genesis 7-10; 1 Chronicles 1:5-23.  “Faith is believing without seeing” Years ago, our family watched the animated movie Chicken Little.  In that movie the lead character, Chicken Little, warns everyone in town that the sky is falling. Of course, he is ridiculed for taking a stand on this issue.  I think Noah may have felt somewhat like Chicken Little.  2 Peter 2:5 says that, “Noah warned the worl...  Read More