Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 48-50.
Before Joseph’s death, he charged his brethren to do something regarding his remains.
“Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here’” (Genesis 50:25).
There are two noteworthy points about Joseph’s statement here.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 22-24.
“Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you’” (Genesis 22:5).
There is nothing particularly unusual about a father and son going somewhere to worship. Lots of people worship God. It is certainly commendable but not particularly unusual.
What makes Abraham’s plan remarkable are the circumstances. God told him to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2), and Abraham was prepared to do it (Genesis 22:6,9-10). Only an angel’s intervention prevented him from offering Isaac on the altar (Genesis 22:11-12). This demonstrates Abraham’s great faith and shows his trust in God’s promises and His commandments.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 16-18.
When the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1), He restated His promise that Abraham’s wife Sarah would bear him a son (Genesis 18:10; cf. Genesis 17:15-16). This would be one part of the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham when He first called him to leave his relatives for a place which God would show him (Genesis 12:1-3).
The difficulty in this promise – looking at it strictly through human eyes and ignoring the work of God – was that both Abraham and Sarah were past the age in which they could reasonably expect to have children (Genesis 18:11). So when Sarah overheard this promise, her reaction was one of skepticism.
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Children grow up learning about Noah and the ark. As adults, we study the record of the flood and strive to learn the lessons it teaches – why it happened, how Noah was saved, Noah’s example of obedience, as so on. But there are also important lessons for us that came immediately after the flood. We will notice a few in this article.Continue Reading
Peter wrote that God has “granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). We can be assured by knowing that there is nothing that we need that God has not provided or will not provide for us. In order to make it to heaven, we simply need to take advantage of what God has given. Peter mentioned three things we need to receive our reward.
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What does “propitiation” mean? How is “justification” connected to salvation? What does “sanctification” look like in our day-to-day lives? The Bible uses some powerful words to describe God’s plan to save mankind. However, these words are not always easy to understand, especially when they are not part of our everyday vocabulary. This book explores key Bible terms that unlock the message of the gospel.
Big Words in the Bible examines five important words – Propitiation, Reconciliation, Sanctification, Justification, and Resurrection – using plain language to see how the Scriptures describe these concepts and how the apostle Paul employs them in his letter to the Romans. This book also contains an appendix with eleven additional articles to explore these topics further.
Whether you are new to the Bible and want to grow in your understanding or want a simple way to explain these core gospel doctrines to others, this book will be helpful. With a focus on the Scriptures, Big Words in the Bible helps break down these fundamental topics to shed light on the life-changing message of the gospel and the salvation found in it.
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