A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 ESV We all know the feeling. When someone is steeped in joy, it radiates from them. It illuminates rooms with more than mere light. We are drawn to it like moths. But it also repels. Nocturnal creatures hide from …
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11 ESV Sin can only offer a false promise, a moment of pleasure followed by death. It strips us of the strength that it promises, corroding and binding …
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And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. Luke 6:7 ESV The previous verse provides three details regarding the context for this verse: Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.It was the Sabbath. There was also man …
Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. Proverbs 23:19 ESV Hear. Listen. Pay attention. Focus. Only one thing matters. Everything else is secondary, at best. Why do you not draw near to listen? Why do you not set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated at the …
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. Exodus 14:14 ESV On the run from the Egyptians, the Israelites stood upon the bank of the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s chariots behind and the waters before them left Abraham’s children without many options. So they did what all of mankind tends to …
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 1 Peter 4:7 ESV The end of all things is at hand. This phrase that may have been so easy to read without thought a few weeks ago now has a more definite sense of gravity …
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A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Proverbs 25:28 ESV Walls were, in many ways, the strength and hope of a city. Should a neighboring city-state attack, everyone would flee behind the city's walls for safety. By walls, a city became a fortress, a stronghold and refuge. With …
And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. Leviticus 4:35 ESV Sin is violent. Sin is an act of treason against the Most High, and throughout the Bible, it is treated as the abomination that it is. Our sin is blatant opposition to …
You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Deuteronomy 14:21 ESV I have long used this verse as an example of just how strange the Bible can get. After all, how is this verse ever supposed to apply to us today? Nevertheless, I do, in fact, believe that it does apply today. …
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A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good. Proverbs 16:29 ESV Why does violence entice? After all, don't we tend to find violence revolting rather than exciting? We like to think that. Shirking away from violence is the socially appropriate response. But deep down, I believe, …
B. C. Newton 