“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.” — 1 Samuel 3:17

Eli's question to young samuel cuts to the chase: what has God actually said?. The world is full of opinions, philosophies, and hot takes, but the only word that matters is the one that comes from God. Like samuel, we need to open our ears and say, "Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.".

And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. — Revelation 19:6

This is the anthem that will echo through eternity - hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Right now, it might look like chaos has the upper hand, but the throne is still occupied. He's not reigning in spite of the trouble; he's reigning over it. And one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. — Hebrews 10:37

The Greek double emphasis—"how little, how little"—tells us something: his coming feels slow to us, but not to God. The tension between promise and fulfillment is where faith is exercised. He's not late. He's right on time.

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” — Psalm 50:15

God doesn't hide from your trouble—he invites you into it with him. Trouble leads to prayer, prayer leads to deliverance, deliverance leads to glory for God. Your hardest days aren't interruptions; they're opportunities for God to show up and show off his power.

There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. — 1 Corinthians 12:6

God is the one doing the work, whatever the operation may be. There's room for every kind of service in the body, but the credit goes to the same head.

And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. — Exodus 34:29

Moses came down from the mountain with his face glowing, and he didn't even know it. The glory was a byproduct of being in God's presence, not something he worked up. Those closest to God are usually the last to notice anything special about themselves. The reflection of his glory is the unintended consequence of nearness.

There are different ministries, but the same Lord. — 1 Corinthians 12:5

Don't let the variety fool you—there's only one Lord behind it all. Different gifts, different services, different activities, but the same God works all of them in everyone. Your gift isn't for your glory; it's for the common good of the body.

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, — Revelation 1:5

The order matters: he loved us first, then he washed us. Before we ever loved him, Christ loved us and poured out his own blood to cleanse us from sin. This isn't a cooperative effort—we don't wash ourselves and bring him the residue. He does the washing, and he does it thoroughly.

For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? — 1 Corinthians 4:7

Paul asks the question that bursts every bubble of pride: what do you have that you didn't receive? If you received it, why boast as if you didn't? Every spiritual gift, every ounce of growth, every victory—it's all from God. Humility isn't pretending you're worthless; it's acknowledging that everything good in you came from somewhere else.

The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness. — Leviticus 16:22

The scapegoat on the day of atonement is one of the richest pictures of the Gospel in the old testament. Aaron laid both hands on the goat's head, confessing all the sins of Israel, and the goat carried them away into the wilderness. This is what Jesus did for us—he became the scapegoat who bore our sins as far as the east is from the west.