I live under a curse. Since the sin of my original father Adam, I am under the curse of sweat and hard labor. Nothing on earth comes to me free-for-the-taking. This life is no “Garden of Eden.” I must work, and work hard, to make a decent living.

Regardless of how I feel about my vocation, the fact remains that I will only eat “by the sweat of my brow.” If I choose hard work over laziness and, instead of sloth or excuse-making, choose to trust God who gave me the capacity to work hard, my family and I will be taken care of.

This podcast is an overview of week 13 in the Word Traveler Bible reading plan and covers the following chapters in the Old and New Testaments: Joshua 9 – 24; Luke 17 – 21.

Achan may have wondered “What harm could it do?”

Where was the logic in his self-serving question?  What would he do with the beautiful garment from Shinar? Where would he wear it? When friends and family inquired, “Where did you get that beautiful coat?,” what would he say? 

Why did Achan need “two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold?” Where would he spend it?

The priests had faith, real faith. They had guts! 

The men who carried the Ark of the Covenant into the water of the Jordan trusted God for a miracle. They believed He would give a repeat performance of the astonishing Red Sea event which took place forty years earlier. The waters divided and “rose up like a dam” when the priests “came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in the water” (Joshua 3.15-16).

If the waters rose up, they could also come crashing down. The priests grasped the precarious nature of their situation. Death by drowning was a real possibility with the slightest shift in the wind or will of God. But these leaders valiantly faced danger and “remained standing in the middle of the Jordan” until “everyone had crossed” to the other side.

We all need a little “nurse-time.” You and I get emotional ‘owies’ and need a spiritual Band-Aid periodically. It’s quite okay to visit Jesus even if your hurt is a bit exaggerated. Here’s a little secret… Jesus enjoys the visit as much as you do.

“I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live,” (Deuteronomy 30.19).

Undoubtedly, many will claim that, while they have doubts about Jesus, they do not suffer “day and night” with worry about their future with God. They have no assurance of eternal life and yet, they do not seem to care. The hereafter is of no present concern. Skeptics admit no need of Christianity. Their lives may appear full and happy. They presume heaven, if there is such a place, will take care of itself.

But the end of life, as with most other things in life, does not usually go as planned. Ultimately unbelievers “shall be worried.” Their eternal lives will “hang in doubt before” them. Lost souls will finally wish for but “have no assurance of… life.”

This podcast is an overview of week 12 in the Word Traveler Bible reading plan and covers the following chapters in the Old and New Testaments: Deuteronomy 27 – 34; Joshua 1 – 8; Luke 12 – 16.

“For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing’ and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages,’” (1st Timothy 5.17-18). 

Paul quoted Deuteronomy 25.4 verbatim. He made an application that helped Timothy financially support his preaching and staff of teaching elders. “Muzzle the ox” was an early church idiom indicating a monetary limitation on those called to the pastoral ministry. Paul said a limitation of this kind should not be imposed.

There is place of child-like innocence somewhere inside of you and me. We must protect this sacred place at all costs. Jesus resides with you there. It is a wonderful place where purity and cleanness reside. You may have given your innocence away by your own free will, but no one should ever be allowed to forcibly take it from you. If anyone tries, blow the whistle, even after the incident. Scream out from your soul. Make some noise. You have “done nothing deserving” of this treatment.