It's hard to believe that I only have one more day of classes and then exams next week with graduation on Friday night. I am sooooo ready for the break!!

I finished reading Job today. There are a lot of great passages to comment on, but here is just one of my favorites. Job receives news in Chapter 1 that all of his children and possession had ( Read more... )

The first six chapters of Ezra record the details of rebuilding the Temple, and the last 4 chapters deal with Ezra rebuilding the spiritual condition of the people. Ezra is described as "a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses."(7:6) But Ezra went well beyond just knowing a lot about the Law of Moses. God's hand was upon him "because Ezra ( Read more... )

II Chronicles focuses on the kings after David. It begins with Solomon constructing the Temple and ends with the Temple being burned and the people being taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar. In between are a variety of kings, more bad than good. One of the lesser known kings that caught my attention was Jehoshaphat. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat ( Read more... )

One of my favorite magazines is Alaska, which I have subscribed to for at least 20 years...with the hopes of one day visiting what I now can only afford to read about! At the end of every issue are a couple of pages that list about 20 residents of Alaska who have died "who have achieved pioneer status through many years in the North, or have made ( Read more... )

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

The Spirit produces:
love in our heart for God and others.
joy in our soul that doesn't come from things.
peace in our minds surpassing human understanding.
patience to ( Read more... )

The nation of Israel was plagued with king after king that chose to do evil in the sight of God, but one of the kings to be commended was Josiah. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.(II Kings 22:2) In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign ( Read more... )

One of the main characters of I Kings is Solomon. Shortly after Solomon took over the kingship from his father David God said to him in a dream, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Solomon said, "Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong." The Lord was so pleased with his request ( Read more... )

II Samuel records the 40 year reign of King David. It not only recounts his great successes leading the children of Israel, but also his personal failures. Of course, the greatest of these failures was with Bathsheba. David, "at the time when kings go off to war" sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army, "but David remained ( Read more... )

While David is chosen to replace Saul as King of Israel in Chapter 16, he still has not taken up that position by the end of I Samuel.
The Lord told Samuel to go to Bethlehem to select one of Jesse's sons. When he arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by ( Read more... )

While it is usually easier to look back at our lives and see God at work, it is often difficult to understand His plan while we are going through trying circumstances. Naomi was forced to leave her homeland because of a famine and while in Moab her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons die. I can understand why she told people when she returned to ( Read more... )