Isaiah 64
You can finish that sentence, right? God helps those who help themselves. But where did we ever get that idea? Certainly not from Isaiah 64. Here, he says quite the opposite: “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” (vs 4)
Song of Solomon 8
For me, this chapter holds one of the most beautiful passages ever written about love: “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, he would be utterly scorned.” (vs 6-7)
Song of Solomon 7
You are unique, special, one-of-a-kind. In the whole history of the human race, nobody has ever had your specific genetic makeup or your precise combination of gifts, talents, and abilities. You cannot be replaced, duplicated, or cloned. There is only one of you, and God made you beautiful.
Song of Solomon 2
I can totally identify with the woman’s words in chapter 2: “As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me! Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat—and quickly! Apricots, raisins—anything. I’m about to faint with love! His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist!” (vs 3-6)
Song of Solomon 1
If you were going to write the “song of all songs” to be published in the Bible, what would you write about? What subject would you choose for the song that would be greater than any other song? I don’t know about you, but I suspect most Christians would choose to write a song of praise and worship to God. Don’t you think that’s what God would want? A song that exalted Him?
Proverbs 5
I can almost guarantee you’ll never hear someone get up at church and say, “Our Scripture reading this morning is from Proverbs, chapter five, verses 18 and 19: ‘May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.’”
Psalm 69
It seems like from the time we started dating, my husband and I have had a favorite saying in our relationship: Get out of my head. Ever since the first days of our courtship, we’ve had an uncanny ability to finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes, it feels like we can even read each other’s minds.
Ezra 10
Have you ever heard this saying? You can take a boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. That’s what I thought of as I read this last chapter in the book of Ezra. Only, in this situation, I suppose it would be more accurate to say, You can take the Israelites out of heathenism, but you can’t take heathenism out of the Israelites.
2 Chronicles 8
Although I am the one who decided on the title of this blog, I feel the need to ask you to read until the end—especially if you might take immediate offense at the title. There are a lot of ideas floating around out there about what God "requires" us to do before He will accept us. Sacrifices to be made, penance to be paid. This is not how I am using the word requires. So, if you’ll bear with me for a moment, I’d like to explain what I mean.
