"The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, so that he will save us..." (1 Samuel 7:8, CSB).This morning in my prayer journal I wrote my simple prayer: "Help me understand the times and know what to do." (check out 1 Chronicles 12:32). After a good afternoon rest, I am still awake. Everyone else has retired for the night. It is quiet and I am reflecting on wh...  Read More

We sat in the last row of the plane despite our mid-range B designation for Southwest Airlines...lots of families heading to Florida for Easter break got preferred seating. Divine appointment. The woman in our row was heading home from celebrating Passover with her 'very conservative' Jewish family. One of the first disclaimers she used in describing herself to us was: "I am a bad Jew! I really li...  Read More

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN, INDEED! HALLELUJAH!Note: As we continue to read through the Bible, today, April 9, we are entering our Journey of Prayer to Pentecost. For that reason, I am going to reflect on the prayer devotionals, and invite you to share your reflections. Reflections are often simply what comes to mind first in your reading...they may not be new or seem profound, but God will often us...  Read More

THE POWER OF BLESSINGToday the Lord drew my attention to the many benedictions (blessings) in Ruth. Take a moment and reread these passages: Ruth 1:9; 2:12, 20; 3:10; 4:11-12; 14-15. Note the power of the blessings. They all came true in much greater measure than the one blessing could ever have imagined. As a matter of fact, their blessings have impacted your life and mine after blessing countles...  Read More

It is so easy to judge another culture by our own cultural standards and mores. To us, the resolution of the Benjamite tragedy seems peculiar, very strange (Judges 21). That is certainly not how we would have done things. Putting cultural differences aside, however, look at the heart of the Israelites: So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitter...  Read More

I cannot read Judges 19 without being repulsed. My thoughts always take me to Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (NKJV) When I despair of the evil of this age, I am reminded that the wise man said, "There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The challenge of human history, and especially the age in which we live, is the i...  Read More