Proverbs 3
This chapter contains a famous Bible verse: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths.” (vs 5-6) I learned that one as a kid; maybe you did, too. But, is it really true? Can we really trust God to lead us in the way we’re supposed to go? Is this rhetorical? Or literal?
Job 12
From time to time, I visit a Christian forum online where people are discussing topics about God. Occasionally, I contribute. Most of the time, however, I simply read the ideas of others with interest. Recently, a self-proclaimed atheist has joined the group and has been asking a number of good questions about the Bible. She says this is her "last attempt" to try to understand the Bible and that she has come to the forum to find out why Christians believe what they do.
2 Kings 1
After the showdown between God and Baal on the top of Mount Carmel, it’s hard to imagine how there could have been anybody left in Israel who still believed in false gods. However, truth is usually stranger than fiction! So, when Ahab’s son Ahaziah wanted to know if his health condition was going to get better, he sent a coalition to talk to Baal: "Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, 'Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.'" (vs 2)
1 Kings 22
This has to be another one of my all-time favorite chapters in the Bible. Who has ever heard of the prophet Micaiah? But why isn’t he upheld more often as an Old Testament Bible hero? Micaiah: the prophet with a hot mouth. I love him. And one of the things I love most about him is that he wasn’t just willing to go with the crowd. He was determined to do what he believed was right—even if it went against the grain.
1 SAMUEL 10
One of the things I love most about God is that He never just asks us to take His word for anything. He always backs it up with evidence. He always provides confirmation. And most of the time, He doesn’t provide just one type of confirmation either. He gives evidence both to us and those around us.
NUMBERS 36
After God instituted the inheritance rules for women (in response to the request of Zelophehad’s daughters), the family heads of their tribe came to Moses with a concern over the "unintended consequences" of such a rule. They were concerned that if the women married men from another tribe, the land would become the property of their husbands, thereby passing the land from one tribe to another. Theoretically, over time, one or two tribes could potentially amass a good deal of land through marriage.
NUMBERS 32
So, the Israelites are again poised to enter the Promised Land, when the Reubenites and Gadites come to Moses and request to settle where they already are, outside the border of Canaan. After Moses makes sure they don’t intend to desert their Israelite brothers in the effort to drive out the Canaanites from the land, Moses makes the deal to let them have the land on the other side of the Jordan as their inheritance.
GENESIS 24
I have become totally addicted to the GPS in my car. Especially on long trips when I’m going someplace I haven’t been before, I love to turn on the GPS and... relax. I don’t have to worry about looking for the right highway. I don’t have to worry about missing a turn. All I have to do is listen for the voice with the British accent that says, "After two miles, take the exit right..." And if I take a wrong turn, no problem! In no time, that little British person who lives inside my GPS will get me straightened out and headed the right way.
