The shepherds were surrounded by bleating, smelly sheep and the dust that arose when they and their herds moved about. They had no idea what was about to happen — the pronouncement of the ages! 

A fine line exists between worshipful music and performance. It’s the responsibility of the church leaders to make sure those in the Sanctuary are directed in thought and praise to Jesus, not in wonder at a sound and light show.

Israel knew God would respond positively to their faithfulness because He promised He would. Hosea likens His sure restoration of them with the refreshing nature of the dawn, showers, and spring rain.

Everyone wants equal treatment and unity is broken when a person is singled out for reasons related to a subjective choice. Someone always gets hurts when favoritism is shown. What about with God? Is He partial or is it true He shows no partiality? 

Hard times are inevitable. We best suit up every day according to Ephesians 6:10-20 so we can fight whatever the world throws at us. Have a prayer arsenal, quick go-to verses, and a believing friend in your phone contacts.

It is common for countries to send ambassadors as representatives to other nations. The ambassador’s role is ensuring that his country is well represented, and occasionally for the purpose of making treaties. His authority is granted by the leader of his home country. The leader is the authority who bestows certain powers to his emissaries, but not usurping his own power.

In the same sense, the Apostles Jesus designated represented Him, but the ultimate authority was and is His.

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Throughout the book, Job faces adversity — first the losses, then from his wife, and then from his friends. At one point, we read this heart-wrenching utterance, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him” (Job 13:15).

The sweetest (and sometimes funniest) prayers are said by children before bed. From thanking God for a family to thanking Him for dessert, children’s prayers run the gamut.

I have two nephews who, when they were four and two, let me tuck them into bed. The oldest prayed first and thanked God for his mom and dad and his siblings. He ended the prayer by thanking God for the pudding (which we didn’t have that night). Holding in my laughter, we said “amen,” and then the younger one started to pray. Hearing impaired, all he could mumble was something that sounded like “buh buh buh buh buh…” We then said “amen” again and I barely made it out of the room before giggling.

But they prayed. Cute as the anecdote is, prayer is the important part of the story.

Most everyone has seen the meme depicting a wee toddler in a prayerful pose. It’s precious, but our hope is that early training leads to a lifetime on a young one’s knees thanking, praising, and petitioning God for all their needs.

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Jesus added weight to our understanding of what a true friend is when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Isn’t that the ultimate love, and isn’t that what Jesus did for us?

From the darkness over the waters in Genesis 1 to the darkness overcome at the end of Revelation, the Bible is filled with discussions about darkness. But what does the Bible say about darkness, as a quality or force?

God is our Father who loves us. He never leaves us or forsakes us, and that includes times of deep sorrow. He knows everything that happens to us, and He is ready to assuage our emotions with His presence when we come to Him in prayer.

Christians are to walk with Christ, manifesting His presence through our actions. Through the Spirit’s presence and work in us (John 15:26, Ephesians 1:13-14), we are able to provide unbelievers (and believers, too) with a visible manifestation of Christianity.

We, on this side of Calvary, can surmise the thief took all the mocking of Jesus to heart. No matter their intent, the thief heard the crowd remind Jesus that He said He would “destroy the temple and raise it again in three days” (Matthew 27:40). He heard about Jesus from the mockers. In essence, he heard the Gospel preached by them.