Have you ever rebelled in your life? Have your children rebelled? Most of us had rebelled at some point in our lives. In 1 Samuel 15:22-23, God puts rebellion on a par with idolatry. Because of the ramifications of disobedience and the blessings of obedience,...
This Week at Hope
A Word for Husbands
Husbands, how well do you understand your wife? We read in 1 Peter 3:7, “ . . . husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not...
Submit to God
Followers of Jesus Christ must learn to submit themselves to God, as well as those in spiritual leadership. We read in 1 Peter 5:5, “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God...
Grace upon Grace
As we embark on a New Year! I hope 2023 will be a blessing for each of us, and that we will be a blessing to all with whom we come in contact. My prayer is that we will have a grace-filled New Year. In a world full of un-grace, Jesus gives grace. What a joy to know...
Safe In God’s Hands
As we read about Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1, we discover that they were quite a pair. Elizabeth was not a young woman! After years and years of praying for a child, after becoming used to not having a child, and after getting to the age where giving birth to a...
Emmanuel
What is your deepest need during this Christmas season? The good news is the promise that God is with us at our own deepest point of NEED. Not only is God at the center of all that is significant, God (Emmanuel) is with you and me at our deepest point of need. What...
Overcome with Gratitude
Richard Capen tells the story of his good friend, Navy Captain Harry Jenkins, who spent seven years in captivity in North Vietnam. He was in solitary confinement for fifty months, and was tortured beyond belief. Yet he always found something to laugh about and, as...
Personal Worship
After God had called Abram to leave his country and his father’s house, we read in Genesis 12:8, “From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to...
Taking Up Residence
There is an old story told of an ancient Christian monastery that had fallen on hard times. Over the years, fewer and fewer men had come to enter the life of a monk, until now, only a handful of very old men inhabited the monastery, and it was in danger shortly of...
Our Times are in God’s Hands
A recent study revealed that an average 70-year-old man has spent 24 years sleeping, 14 years working, 8 years in amusements, 6 years at the dinner table, 5 years in transportation, 4 years in conversation, 3 years in education, and 2 years in studying and reading....