For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him (Genesis 18:19 ESV). The Lord chose Abraham and gave him a calling to command

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless (Genesis 17:1 ESV). The Bible is a book for us, but not really about us. It is primarily a book about God. The Lord chooses to reveal Himself to Abram.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matthew 5:42 ESV). In Jesus Sermon on the Mount, He taught that citizens of His Kingdom will respond generously to those who ask for help. Of course we might think of many reasons why the one

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3 ESV). This is the first of the Beatitudes in Christs Sermon on the Mount. Each one begins with the word, Blessed, which comes from the Greek word, makarios, which might also be translated happy or completely satisfied. This is not

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people (Matthew 4:23 ESV). The apostle Matthew recorded that Jesus began His ministry by going all about Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Indeed, this seems to be

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me (Psalm 3:5 ESV). Anyone who has experienced a sleepless night filled with worry and fear knows what a gift it is to be able to lay down and sleep. David understood this. For he had spent many a sleepless night as a

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1 ESV). Its a new year and it can be a new beginning for us too. For the God that created the heavens and the earth is the same God today as He was yesterday. Just as He created all things in the beginning,

“For I the Lord do not change (Malachi 3:6 ESV). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13 ESV). Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! (Psalm 150:2 ESV). Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacobs brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob (Malachi 1:2 ESV). Do you ever question Gods love? The exiled Jews that had returned to Jerusalem did. They were happy to be home again, yet they