"Let your light so shine" .Are you shining your light in the right place? Many will recall having to hold the torch for someone to see and do a job. And some of us will recall being told to shine the light in the right place. Waving it around or shining it up into the ... Read more
"Better … a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city" .Living with a violent temper is like dwelling at the foot of a volcano. At any time there may be an eruption. A man may oversee an army yet himself be enslaved by that evil called temper. Steering your own life ... Read more
"whatever you ask in my name" .A personal bank account enables bills to be paid, cash withdrawn and other monetary transactions made in the easiest possible way. All this is done in the name of the bank and operation of the account must be within prescribed limits. This can be likened to the account God ... Read more
"test yourselves" .Modern medical practice relies on this more than ever. You have a medication or are provided with a piece of equipment to test yourself - be it blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and so on. Testing yourself usually means that before someone else points it out to you or your condition deteriorates you can ... Read more
"I have all I need here among my own people" .This was the Shunammite woman's reply to Elisha when he suggested that in return for her kindness and effort, her name might be put forward for promotion to the palace. Yet while the woman was saying she had all she needed, her heart yearned for ... Read more
"the one who wants to teach you for your own good" .The Lord who saves us wants to teach us for our own good. Some lessons in life seem unnecessary: many are difficult and we would escape the course if we could. All who have placed their lives in the hand of the Lord, having ... Read more
"joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" .The one thing that sets heaven rejoicing is when a sinner turns from his sin and seeks God's forgiveness. This sets heaven aglow with joy. The angelic choir performed a joyful anthem announcing the Incarnation. How they marvelled that their King should come to save us! Salvation ... Read more
"they wondered what the outcome would be" .Not just the high priest and captain of the temple but all who oppose the gospel have cause to wonder. The infidel who sought to burn every Bible, the persecutor who put the followers of Jesus on the stake and the atheist who would close all churches, all ... Read more
"the noise was heard afar off" .Praises of God are joyful and deserve to be loud too so that others may hear. The crowd in the sports stadium can be heard outside, why not the people of God when enough of them meet together to make that joyous sound? The noise referred to in Ezra ... Read more
"They feared the Lord, and served their own gods" .A priest was sent into their midst to teach them how they should fear the Lord: but this was done alongside the existing idolatry in the land. Earlier we read how, when professing to follow the Lord, the children of Israel secretly did those things against ... Read more