Enter the Wilderness…


Luke 3 Are you in the wilderness? What is it like? It is a quiet place apart from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It may be a place for wild animals to hunt and be hunted. But it is also a place where God comes to speak to our hearts as He did […]

What do Balaam, Donkeys, Bluebonnets and the Wilderness have to do with Trials?


James 1: Count It All Joy! Donkeys that talk are out of the ordinary and we giggle at Balaam’s response but oftentimes we act just like him when God is trying to get our attention. We are a stubborn people when we are in a trial just like Balaam. But, James, God’s servant, is not […]

Laboring in the Vineyard or Sitting on the Hillside with Jonah?


Just as there are two sides to a coin there are two sides to every story. Note vs 1 of Proverbs 18: “One who has isolated himself seeks his own desires;he rejects all sound judgment.” (NET). Note this is self-imposed not God imposed as in the case of Moses (Ex 3:1), the plain for Ezekiel (Ezek 3:22), […]

Follow Me!


A simple old fashioned chorus has these words: “The Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I need to do is follow.” The psalmist in chapter 25 is essentially saying those words but he knows that he needs a trail guide through that wilderness and the Lord is his for he is trustworthy. He […]

Fruitful or Barren…Which are you???


In the cold dark of winter here in the northern hemisphere one rarely thinks of fruit bearing for the ground is hard and the trees are barren. Psalm 1 uses the imagery of a tree to refer to a person that is blessed, lush and fruit bearing. The condition for the person to be fruitful […]

Today’s Devotional: From One Wilderness to Another….


One thought grabbed my attention in preparing the summary reading for today. We remember that Jesus began his public ministry after being in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by the evil one, Satan himself. After 11 chapters of John’s observations of what transpired after that moment in time we find that the evil […]

What Lap Are You On?


We all know that when the Lord teaches us a lesson and we oft forget it, He sends us around the wilderness, so to speak, to re-learn it. Some of us “get it” and others are still out there wandering like the Pharisees and Sadducees who are blind and leading the blind into the pit. […]

Authentication and Proving Required


So far in the book of Matthew, we have walked through the first three chapters and seen that as a superior researcher and writer, Matthew has given us three areas to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. First was the genealogical record, second his birth, thirdly, the world’s reception, and now in chapter 4 we […]

“The Father’s Soul Surgery” Ps 51-53


King David wrote all three of these psalms at different times in his life. One truth jumps off the page and onto our radar screen: When we sin it does not just affect us but it affects everyone. In fact, as David reveals to us; when we sin we are sinning, despising, rebelling, and are […]