hope ⁽¹²³⁾

1 Samuel 1:12–20, 2 Kings 4:8–17, Hebrews 11:32–40 (read online ⧉) For many people having a child is the deepest yearning that they have. Not everyone is able to have children. Some have gone through miscarriages. Many more have gone through stillbirths. Still more lose…

Isaiah 4:2–6, Romans 6:1–11 (read online ⧉) If you have been steeped in Christian thinking you can read this passage as an obvious foreshadowing of the Messiah (Jesus). Let’s set aside our Christian thinking, and look at this from a beaten and downtrodden people. This…

1 Chronicles 29:14–19, Psalm 31, Isaiah 2:1–5 (read online ⧉) It is pretty universal across humanity for people to question their value and their purpose. In the ancient world, the view of gods was often not particularly positive. Much of the activity was done to…

Lamentations 3:16–18, Zechariah 8:18–23, Nahum 1:15 (read online ⧉) In the United States, peace is often perceived as having plenty. Peace, as many of the saints who walked before us learned, is not found in the plenty. It is found in the lacking. This does…

Jeremiah 22:18-30, 2 John 4–11 (read online ⧉) It is always a parent’s hope that something of them will be passed on and carried by their children, and even their grandchildren. If it is a company or wealth, people generally make detailed preparations to make…