blessings ⁽³¹⁾

Psalm 84; 1 Kings 6:1–4, 21–22; 1 Corinthians 3:10–23 Based upon the description of the First Temple, it was impressive. The structure perched on a hill made it even more so. Culturally, physically, and religiously, it was the center of the Israelite city. We are…

Psalm 50:1–6; 1 Kings 11:26–40; 2 Corinthians 2:12–17 “You stink,” is not a compliment. In an era when most people bathe daily, human body odor has become almost offensive (exceptions being hard physical labor and workouts). It is quite probable that you have smelled a…

Good Bad Stuff 30 August 2020 Jeremiah 20:7–13; Ephesians 1:17–19 Have you ever felt deceived by God? How so? Depending on the translation, Jeremiah opens today’s verses with deception. פָּתָה, פָּתָה [pathah /paw·thaw/] also means entice, persuade, flatter, allure. The non-deceptive understandings of the word…

Luke 14:25–35; 1 John 3:14–18 So, who do YOU hate? Your mom, dad, husband, wife, significant other, son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle…Really, who do you hate? Trump, Clinton, Bin Laden, and many others have been (or are) hated. It could be because of…

Psalm 94; Luke 6:27–36; 1 Corinthians 4:9–13 Bless your enemies. Except “bless” means something more than just be nice or even help them. “Bless” means to ask for God’s divine favor to come on them. We all want blessings, but we are being called to…