Be Still, and Know

Paul uses several similes to describe Timothy in II Timothy chapter 2, which are clearly applicable to every believer. Let us quickly take a glimpse at 7 similes. Verse 1 - Son: As His sons and daughters , let us find the strength in the grace that is in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Verse 3 - Soldier: As His soldiers , let us be firm, nay, adamant in enduring the hardships that is thrown our way as we try and progress in a good Christian life. The persecutions, the problems, let us endure them all. Verse 5 - Athlete: Just like how an Athlete runs bearing in mind all the rules, the do's and don'ts, let us run our path with an implicit obedience to the word of God. Verse 6 - Farmer: Work hard like a Farmer . There is nothing more rewarding than working hard for the Lord and reaping the beautiful benefits which are souls saved. Verse 15 - Worker: Work diligently as a good Worker . This diligent work done with a spiritual discernment is assured to save us from any shame w...

It's approximately 1400 BC, and the Egyptian Pharoah has just commanded that all newborn sons should be cast into the river! Exodus 1:22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." At that time, a beautiful son is born, and the mother of that son, Jochebed , could just not let him be thrown. So she took the risk of going against the orders of the Pharoah, and concealed the baby for 3 months. And then, she did throw him in the river, but with her own twist - she made a basket, placed the child in that basket and then set him out on the river Nile. What entails is an interesting survival story of baby Moses, who eventually would become a great leader and savior for Israel. Exodus 2:2, 3 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.  But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, da...

The Lord institutes the Passover, with the passover lamb, in Exodus 12. In this 'beginning of months', that is the month of Abib ( נִיסָן ), a lamb is to be chosen to be sacrificed. Meticulous details go into this selection, and below are 4 key aspects of that lamb. THE LAMB 1. The lamb chosen for sacrifice, needs to be without blemish . That is, it should not be hurt, it should not be sick, it must be spotless.  Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. 2. The chosen lamb must be killed among the entire congregation of Israel, at twilight. Exodus 12:6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 3. Of course when a lamb is getting killed, there is going to be blood shed . The blood that is shed must be put on the door posts and lintels. This serves as the token, for the Lord to pass over that house. That house is thus safe from destruction....

Do this in remembrance of me, He said. We do it too, we remember His death every time we worship Him. But how often have you praised God for His resurrection? The resurrection of Christ is as important as His death. It is beyond natural for a man to die and be raised from the dead. But He did it, He is risen. Matthew 28:5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen , as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. By rising up from the dead, He in fact proved 4 things: 1. Proves the Scriptures The rising up of the Lord on the third day is something predicted or prophesied in the old testaments, and mentioned specifically by Jesus Himself on several occasions. By resurrecting, He proved that the scriptures have been right all along! Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chi...

There are three forms of the word 'lord', as found in the Bible. lord →  all small letters Lord →  Standard Caps LORD →  ALL CAPS 1. lord This form is used for men, and men alone. For instance, Genesis 31:35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols. 2. Lord This form is typically used in place of the Hebrew text containing the name of God as 'Adonai', which means the sovereign one. For example, Psalms 57:9 I will praise You, O Lord , among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. 3. LORD When you see LORD in the Bible, it means that it was translated from the Hebrew text containing the name of God as יהוה‎, transliterated as 'YHWH'. This is a special word termed as Tetragram or Tetragrammaton, which contains just the 4 consonants and no vowels. The Jews considered it too holy to utter this name of God. When the scr...

In the beginning was the Word, which is God, which is life, which is light, says John chapter 1. Word = God = Life = Light Our God exists in an unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6: 16), He Himself is the Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1: 5). This is God. We live in darkness, and loved darkness rather than light (John 3: 19). We ourselves WERE darkness (Ephesians 5: 8). This is us. The Light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world, so that He can save humanity from the darkness which they ever so love, and call them into the marvelous light (1 Peter 2: 9). But to do that, He did something out of His character. Not only did the Lord who is the Light come into this dark world, but He also hung on the cross in utter darkness, for 3 hours (Luke 23: 44). The Light in whom there is no darkness at all, spent hours in darkness only so that we who were in darkness can become the light. And, we worship Him today because He succeeded! We are now Children of Li...

Sarah Sarah was a strong woman! God promised Abraham, descendants. God kept His promise to Abraham through Sarah, who bore Isaac. Sarah was well past her years, but by faith she received the power to conceive ( Hebrews 11: 11 ), because Sarah herself considered God who promised, to never fail and be faithful. BE like the Strong Sarah! Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised . Leah Leah was unloved. She was the first wife of Jacob, but unfortunately not his first love. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. But the Lord saw Leah's loneliness, and blessed her with children. In fact, 6 out of 12 Israelite tribes came through Leah. Leah showed her faithfulness to God every time she named a child, one of whom was Judah, through whom the genealogy continues. BE like the Loving Leah! Ruth 4:11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, ...