Hezekiah is not someone you normally think about when you try to list the great characters of the Bible. Sure we think of David, Moses, Paul, and Peter – but Hezekiah? Oh yes – Hezekiah! This is a name you have probably heard of because he is talked about in several Old Testament books like…
Do you remember the old Barbara Streisand song called “The Way We Were”? Well, Paul uses a similar phrase in Romans 5, but the verb tense is a little different. On three different occasions in this chapter, Paul uses the phrase “While we were…” The song title indicates a past tense state of being, while…
What does “ka-ching” make you think of? Hopefully you think of a cash register that is ringing up a sale! Money is coming in and your account is being credited. Romans 4 has a lot of “ka-ching-ing” happening! But God is not counting what you might think! Many people think God is sitting on His…
My last post kind of left you hanging by a strand of pearls that Paul had strung together. Paul painted a very dismal picture of humanity when we are left to our own devices. The verses (pearls) that Paul strung together in Romans 3:15-18 declares all (Jews and Gentiles) guilty because we cannot keep God’s…
The first two chapters of Romans are pretty tough on Jews and Gentiles alike. Paul blasts the Gentiles in chapter 1 concerning some pretty atrocious sins in which they were participating.Then Paul takes aim at the self righteous Jew who has been kind of smirking about what the apostle just said about the Gentiles. He asks them some very direct…
A guilty conscience – there is nothing worse! You feel a knot in your stomach, sweaty hands, and have the weight of guilt upon your shoulders. From where does your conscience come? Why are some people very sensitive to it and why are some very calloused to it? All of these answers can be found in…
In the final chapter of Hosea, we see God’s last call through this prophet for Israel to return. Ok, imagine the worst kind of harlot you can imagine – a wretched woman, perhaps wearing a lot of make up but few clothes. A woman who has offered up her body time and again to be used and…
Some people find it very difficult to accept that our God is loving and just at the same time. As I have been studying Hosea, I see both sides of God as He pursues the nation of Israel. He loves them greatly and has brought them out of Egyptian bondage. He has pursued them as they…
Boy, there is nothing better than a fluffy, hot pancake for breakfast – although I make them more for supper than breakfast – not much of morning person myself! In Hosea 7 we read a lot about the region of Ephraim, which is part of the nation of Israel. Hosea, being divinely inspired by God, basically…
Have you ever gotten up on January 1st with a resolution firm in your mind? You honor that resolution intently for the first couple days, maybe even the first couple of weeks. If y0u are like me though, you quickly fall back into old established habit patterns. The Children of Israel behaved in a similar…