power ⁽¹⁸⁷⁾

Genesis 16:1–6; Romans 4:1–12 Abraham (Abram) did as his wife asked of him (the Hebrew translates to “beseech” or “pray”) and went to Hagar. Unlike Sarah (Sarai), Hagar becomes pregnant. As Sarah was focused on Abraham having children (perhaps more so than Abraham, it seems),…

Psalm 25:1–10; Daniel 9:1–14; 1 John 1:3–10 “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.” —1 John 1:9 Have you said those words to yourself lately or ever? The…

Numbers 22:1–35 Moab feared Israel. Israel “just” had a military victory against major forces around Moab. Israel had marched around Moab and yet hadn’t done anything directly against Moab. Moab was deeply concerned that they were next. According to Moses (in Deuteronomy 2:9), God had…

Deuteronomy 18:15–20; Mark 1:21–28 Prophetic speech is not unique to the Judeo-Christian community, not by a long shot. In the current world, there are many forms of prophetic voice. A short list (i.e., not exhaustive) of prophetic voices: environmental collapse; sustainability (related, but not the…

Deuteronomy 13:1–5 Prophetic words are very common in times of unrest. Much of the Old Testament are prophetic words during times of unrest. The times of unrest were because the people of Israel didn’t follow God. Since their focus was on the world, God became…