"For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised"Psalm 96:4a I come before You with a heart of joy and Thanksgiving, O Lord, the Rock of my Salvation. You alone who is above all, for there is no ocean which is too deep, nor are there any mountains which are too high, because You have formed all things. I bow before You and I give You all my worship. You are my Lord, my Ma...

Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born."Judges 13:8 As I continue to people watch or observe Manoah and his wife in Judges 13, I notice the initial response after Manoah heard the news about the baby, was that he "entreated the Lord," whic...

"Then the woman came and told her husband.."Judges 13:6a If you didn't know already I love being married! With that being said, whenever I read about people who are married in the Bible it stands out to me. I feel like I'm kind of people watching, just observing. In Judges 13 we are introduced to Manoah and his wife, the soon-to-be parents of Samson. Like some women in th...

"Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy."Psalm 86:1 I am sure that you have heard the phrase, "it's all about Him," at some point or another. Perhaps that phrase is not demonstrated any more than in Psalm 86. Even during the most stressful experiences of life, those times when we feel the most helpless, Psalm 86 will cause us to pause and re...

"Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?"2 Chronicles 19:2 To be admonished is to be warned or notified of a fault or to be reproved gently or kindly, but seriously. It's very easy when being admonished to become defensive and not readily be able to admit any fault. I think ...

"And after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"Acts 16:30 We never know how our actions and words will be used by the Lord. I wonder if Paul or Silas thought that the jailer, who had no feeling toward prisoners, would be the one God would cause to be effected by them. The jailer threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the s...

"And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."Acts 13:52 Many of us have experienced rejection of one kind or another. Whether it's being rejected by a fellow employee, a friend, a relative or even a spouse it can be very difficult to handle. Sometimes it can even cause bitterness to develop in our heart. In Acts chapter 13, Paul and Barna...

".they called upon the Lord, and He answered them."Psalm 99:6 I love to pray! In my devotions I was reminded again of the account of Peter and when he was miraculously delivered from prison. The church was fervently praying for Peter. It must have been something to be there and hear the earnest and sincere prayers of these brothers and sisters in Christ. With all the pers...

"And if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."2 Chronicles 7:14. Lord, thank you for Your Word. Thank you that You know us personally and intimately. I acknowledge that You are a Holy, Holy, Holy God and we are...

"And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon."Acts 9:43 On the surface this verse doesn't seem very significant, does it? That's what I thought too until I began to look into who Simon was. Simon was a tanner, which meant he dealt with the skins of dead animals. The Jewish culture of the day would strictly forbid anyone to associate with someone with thi...

"Do not slay them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield."Psalm 59:11 There is a small phrase in verse 11 that caught my eye; "or my people will forget." I have read a couple of interpretations from biblical scholars and this verse centers on how easy it is to quickly forget what the Lord has done in our lives. The B...

"But God said to me, 'You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood."1 Chronicles 28:3 David was very anxious to build a dwelling place for the Lord. In Ps 132 he prays for blessing upon the building and shows his excitement in vs. 4, "I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD" It...

"Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."John 20:21 Jesus has appeared to the disciples and just prophesied Peter's martyrdom. For whatever reason, Peter asked Jesus about John and what the future held for him. Is it that Peter just wanted to know if John's life would end similar to his? Or was it concern bec...

"for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us."Acts 6:14 The Bible says that Steven was "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" and "performed great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8). The men from what was called the Synagogue were interested in arguing with Steven to try and prove...

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."1 Corinthians 2:2 Over a week ago the Lord put this verse on my heart during my prayer time with Him. He kept reminding me that I am focusing on people and circumstances rather than on Him. It was interesting how my priorities changed by meditating on this verse. A few days ago I was aske...

"Restore all that was hersfrom the day that she left the land even until now."2 Kings 8:6 In this chapter Elisha advises the Shunammite woman about an impending seven year famine and directs her to "arise and go" where her and her household will be safe. When the famine was over she returned to her homeland and went to appeal to the king for her house and her field back. ...

"Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."John 9:16a Thank you Pharisees; with this statement you have helped us indentify what it means to be religious. To be religious means to give attention to outward service or another way to say it would be, we try to make ourselves look good. If we are "religious"...

"Jesus said to Him, Go, your son lives." The man believed the Word that Jesus spoke to him and started off".John 4:50 This real life event took place 2000 years ago as a son of a "Royal Official" was on his death bed. If you are a parent, you know that when your child is seriously ill, the seriousness of the situation seems to be multiplied 100 times. So it is easy to und...

"Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is ..."John 4:10 Such a fascinating event takes place in the fourth chapter of John. I love this event because we read how Jesus takes a person from death to life. What's fascinating is that this is not a well known individual; in fact, I don't even know her name. All we know is that she is the woma...