Tag: god
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An Old Enemy Appears Early – Genesis 10:12-14
Genesis 10:12-14 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. This part of Genesis keeps tracing the lines of the nations, and tucked into the list is a name that…
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Running to Tarshish – Genesis 10:4-5
Genesis 10:4, 5 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. Now the line of Javan continues, and one of the names that stands out immediately is Tarshish. Tarshish…
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Scattered, Yet Still Traced – Genesis 10:3
Genesis 10:3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. Now the family lines begin to branch even further. From Gomer come Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. And as these names spread out across history, the map starts taking shape a little more clearly. Ashkenaz is tied to the region of Eastern Germany and…
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The Nations Begin to Spread – Genesis 10:2
Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. Now Moses begins naming the sons of Japheth, and with these names the map of the ancient world starts opening up. Gomer points us toward present day Germany. Magog is identified with Russia, a name that…
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Under the Covering of Shem – Genesis 9:27-29
Genesis 9:27-29 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. Noah now speaks over Japheth, and it is…
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The Lord of Shem – Genesis 9:26
Genesis 9:26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Notice how Noah says it. He does not say, “Blessed be Shem.” He says, “Blessed be the LORD God of Shem.” That is the real issue. The blessing is not rooted in the man himself, but in…
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Background to Genesis
The word genesis means beginning. That makes Genesis a fitting title for the first book of the Bible, because its pages take us back to the beginning of everything. Here we read of the beginning of creation, man, sin, family, culture, and industry. In one way or another, Genesis opens the door to nearly every major theme that…
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The King Who Rules Over Kings – Revelation 17:17
Revelation 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. This verse pulls the curtain back and shows us something we need to remember when the world looks completely out of control. These kings…
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The Fire That Warms or Burns – 1 John 4:7-8
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. After warning us about false spirits and deceptive voices, John now shifts the focus back to something central.…
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Faith Is Not a Formula for Getting Your Way – Hebrews 11:32–35
Hebrews 11:32–35 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,…
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When Weak Faith Still Holds On – Hebrews 11:11–12
Hebrews 11:11, 12 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and…
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The Soul That Seeks God Will Not Be Empty – Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This verse gives us two anchor points for faith. First, faith believes that God is. That sounds almost too simple, but…
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What You See Came From What You Couldn’t See – Hebrews 11:3
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Hebrews does not begin the story of faith with a small example. It begins with creation. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed…
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Faith Rests Its Weight on God – Hebrews 11:2
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. Faith can sound like something distant or complicated, but really, it shows up in daily life all the time. We sit down in a chair without inspecting every joint. We drive down the road trusting the car will respond when we hit the brakes.…
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The Contract You Cannot Survive (Galatians 5:3-4)
If you place yourself under the law, you become obligated to all of it. Not most of it. Not the parts you prefer. All of it. The law is not a spiritual suggestion box. It is an indivisible standard. Break one command and you stand guilty.
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Your Ishmael Is Showing (Galatians 4:21–23)
That space in between is where most of us struggle. We can believe God when He speaks. We can rejoice when He fulfills. But in the waiting, something rises in us. Anxiety. Logic. Calculation. We start to think, Maybe God needs my assistance.
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The Mirror and the Parachute (Galatians 3:22)
The law was never given to make us righteous. It was given to reveal that we are not. Romans 3:10–11 says plainly, “There is none righteous, no, not one… there is none that seeketh after God.” That dismantles human pride. No one climbs their way to heaven by sincerity. No one stumbles upon God by…
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God Walked the Blood Path Alone (Galatians 3:18)
When God first told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5), Abraham had no child. No heir. No evidence. His body was aging. Sarah’s womb was barren. Everything visible argued against the promise. Yet Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed the Lord, and God counted it to him…
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Because He Is Faithful (Galatians 3:5)
Paul asks a question that cuts straight through religious pride. When the Spirit moves and when miracles occur, is it because someone achieved a higher level of spirituality? Or is it simply because someone believed?
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Do Not Drift Back – Part 2 (Galatians 1:8)
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed… If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8–9)
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Delivered From This Present Evil World (Galatians 1:3–4)
But when Adam chose rebellion in the Garden, something catastrophic happened. Authority that had been entrusted to man (Genesis 1:26) was effectively surrendered to the one he obeyed. That is why Satan could show Jesus the kingdoms of the world and offer them to Him
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Praying Them Forward
Paul had every reason to be frustrated with the Corinthians. They questioned him. Criticized him. Undermined him. If anyone could have said, “Lord, deal with them,” it was Paul…. But he didn’t.
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Double Peace
Isaiah gives us a song for a future day: “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in…
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When God Doesn’t Remove It
If I’m honest, that’s not the answer I usually want. I want relief. I want clarity. I want the door opened, the pain stopped, the problem fixed. But sometimes God answers prayer by giving Himself instead of giving solutions.
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The Light That Isn’t
If a message removes the necessity of repentance, the reality of sin, or the sufficiency of Christ’s blood, no matter how luminous it appears, it is not from the Father of Lights
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The Debt Transferred
Tucked into the New Testament is a short letter that feels almost private. Yet the Spirit preserved it for us. It is the letter to Philemon. A runaway slave named Onesimus meets Paul. A believing master named Philemon waits at home. And between them stands the gospel.
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Our Inheritance Is a Person
Scripture says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard… the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). There will be beauty, joy, and experiences beyond imagination. But those blessings are not the center. Jesus is. He is our inheritance.
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Change Your Course
There is a dangerous confidence that can quietly settle into the human heart. It is the assumption that we know better, that our course is wiser, that our timing is superior.
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Bought Out of the Market
Ephesians 1 is a mountain range of truth, and verse 7 is one of its highest peaks. Paul brings us to the word redemption—a word that is not soft or sentimental, but sharp and costly.
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Written in the Book
God is never shown predestining anyone to hell. Not once. Every time predestination is mentioned, it is unto adoption, unto sonship, unto conformity to Christ.
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My Dungeon, His Prayer
What do I do in my dungeon? Mine may not have iron bars. Mine might look like a season I did not plan. A door that never opened. A responsibility that feels smaller than the dreams I once carried. Maybe I thought the Lord would use me somewhere else, in some greater way. But instead,…
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When the Bible Feels Dry
Have you ever opened your Bible, hit a chapter full of names, measurements, or mildew laws… and thought, Lord, what am I supposed to do with this?
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From the Field to the Feast
Tucked inside the Book of Ruth is more than a love story. It is a prophetic portrait. A Gentile bride. A kinsman redeemer. A public transaction. And a wedding that leads to a kingdom.
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The Measure of the Seed
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
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When God Speaks in the Night
“For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.…
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Drawn Before We Knew
Salvation does not begin with man climbing toward God. It begins with God stepping toward man.
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The Only One Who Could Sit on That Throne
Only two of the Gospels record genealogies, and that is not accidental. Matthew writes to present Jesus as King. Luke, however, presents Jesus as the Son of Man.
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Three Groups, One King
In Matthew 13, Jesus gives three parables in close succession—the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, and the dragnet. These are often taught as separate lessons, but together they form a single prophetic picture of how God will bring this age to its conclusion.
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When Sweat Became Blood
Luke was not guessing. He was a physician. And when he wrote that Jesus’ sweat became “as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44), he chose a word that demands attention.