Ruth 4:6 NASB95 — The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.” The law is clear: Deuteronomy 25:5-9 NASB95 “When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and

Titus 1:2 NASB95 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, What a blessing to live each day in the hope of eternal life! Eternal life is living outside of time. It is in eternity—a realm where time does not exist. There is no beginning, no end, no hurry, no behind. I cannot completely explain it, but the past is now, the future is now, and now is now. Unlike in time, you do not come closer to the end because there is no end. If Jesus is

A warning made to Judah and Israel can be looked at today as a warning to the church. Judah and Israel are God's chosen. So is the Bride of Christ, the church. If the church is following in the footsteps of Judah and Israel by acting like its surroundings rather than its God, then it can expect a similar response. After all, both serve the same God. He is the only God. Amos 3:13-15 NASB95 “Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts.

Faith is the key to pleasing the Lord. Faith is the road that God's grace travels to reach us. Faith is the currency with which we purchase gifts for our Lord. Faith is the combination to the vault where we store up treasures in heaven. Faith is our garment woven from righteousness. Faith is an ingredient found in God's recipe for man. Faith is music to God's ears. Faith is the eyes of our soul. Faith is required in worship. Faith is the sound waves that carry our prayers to

2 Corinthians 12:10 NASB95 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. Have you ever noticed that in your weakest and most vulnerable moments you turn to God more consistently and with deeper desire? When you are under attack, you pray to Him for help, and He carries you through. Paul, in the previous verses, speaks of a torment he is suffering. He re

Have you ever been away from home for an extended period of time? If you have, then you know the excitement and anticipation you have when you are finally heading home to see your family again. Then as you are heading home, your plane is put in a holding pattern. It circles the airport multiple times; you look out the window and know there are people down there at the airport excited to see you, but you just keep circling. Your excitement builds, but the person next to you s

Ephesians 5:11-12 NASB95: Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. Have you ever found yourself sharing sinful things you have done in the past? However, as you speak of them, or look back at your words later, you almost feel as if you were bragging about them. I know I am guilty of this. Why would we Christians brag about things we have done which

John 12:14 NASB95 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, When I read the verse Jesus took me to today, my first thought was, what are you going to have me say about this verse? After much study, my next thought was, what are you going to have me say about this verse? Then in prayer, this is what He gave me. Jesus fulfilled prophecy by riding on this donkey. This showed Him to be the Messiah. Yet no one recognized the significance. They held palm branches,

When Thomas Edison was asked how he dealt with failure, he famously said, "I did not fail; I found over 1,000 ways not to make a light bulb." Once he had eliminated all the ways not to make it, then he would know how to make it. Abraham Lincoln failed at business and was stuck for several years paying off the debt from it. He then entered politics, where he was either not chosen by his party or lost the election a total of eight times. Yet he definitely did not give up and w

John 8:7 NASB95 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” A woman was caught in the act of adultery. Now I could get into the discussion of adultery taking two people, but I do not feel like this is where the Lord is leading me today. We could get into the discussion of the fact that Jesus did not ignore the sin but reprimanded the woman by saying in verse 11, "

Hosea 14:9 NASB95 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them. You are preparing for vacation. Which shoes will you pack? You will first evaluate where you will be, what you will be doing, and how much time you will spend on your feet. If you are going to a spa where you will be lying around, relaxing, reading a book,

We go through physical mortal life as if it is all there is. Many say we are Christians, and yet we see no urgency to Share the Way. We look forward to the coming of the Lord, thinking it will be a great thing, yet we have loved ones to whom we dare not speak boldly about Jesus because of fear of the struggles in this life. We have friends we do not Share the Way with because they might stop hanging around with us. We read devotionals that are 100 percent about how great life

Revelation 7:12 NASB95 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Around the throne in heaven, the apostle sees a worship service that has no end. He notices they start with Amen. We correctly understand Amen to mean "so be it." However, Henry Morris had a great understanding of the word. He wrote, "The word 'amen' is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebre

How quickly mankind becomes a fool. Gideon had been a judge over Israel and had rid the nation of Baal worship. Yet when he dies, we see a temple built almost immediately. In Shechem, there is a temple built to a false god, Baal-berith. Our text says, Judges 9:4 NASB95: They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him. A son of Gideon by a concubine attempts to take control

I am struggling this morning! In fact, my heart aches. I have literally been fighting back tears. I had an eye doctor appointment this morning, and when I had finished with it, I went to a local drive-thru to get me some breakfast. I had already spent my personal time with the Lord. I had already spent my personal time reading the Word of God, and I was already sad because of issues in God's church. I am this way quite often because of the burden God has given me for His Chur

Philemon 1:10 NASB95 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, Paul writes to Philemon about the slave who had escaped and was now coming back of his own free will. God had made such a change in the new birth of Onesimus that now he was willing to pay the debt he had skipped out on. However, Paul desires to assure Philemon that the man he was receiving back was not the same man who had left. What had changed? The answer is everything. Wh

Whether it is quiet or loud, in a large group or all alone, at work or at home, having a disagreement or in complete unity, peace is available right where you are. How can I be at peace in a loud place? How can I be at peace in a large group? How can I be at peace at work? How can I be at peace when I am in a disagreement with someone? Scripture says, in Colossians 3:15-16 NASB95 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be

Acts 4:20 NASB95 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Have you ever had a cough you can't get rid of? It's not from a cold or congestion; it is simply a tickle or scratchy feeling in your throat. Every time you breathe in, you feel the urge to cough, and you just can't stop it. When I was in the Marine Corps, we were conducting night vision training. Part of our training was showing us how movement was picked up by the night vision. You could be l

Man's thoughts continue to evolve. As man continues to attempt to be self-sufficient, he consistently tries to disprove God. Yet, as God is unchanging, man's thought consistently changes as proofs lead him back to God. At this point, it would only make sense to stop and say, I will, in faith, completely trust You, O LORD. Instead, man, being manipulated by Satan, seeks excuses to explain away the proofs of God's existence, the proof of His unchanging ways, and the proof of Hi

Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Man's finite understanding sees this as a must for everything. We have a thought process, because of our limited understanding, that for there to be light there must be darkness; we think that for there to be good there must be evil, but this is not absolutely true. While it makes sense to us, we are not God, who has omniscience and infinite understanding. God, who is good, has