Lay Your Burden Down

2 Kings 4:20-21, 25 (NIV) After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out. So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite!”

Elisha was a prophet who had been commissioned by the Prophet Elijah at God’

When God Rejoices

Jeremiah 32:41 (NIV) I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

There is absolutely no question that our God is a good God. The Bible states that multiple times. But it goes way beyond just good. In the scripture above where God says that He will rejoice in doing "them" good, the "them" is none other than the people of Judah that had refused to turn from their wicked ways and were now being exiled to Babylon. Ju

The Aftermath

Matthew 27:51-52 (NIV) At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

The moment that Jesus gave up His life on the cross, monumental things happened as described in the verses above. The curtain separating the Most Holy Place from everyone was torn completely from top to bottom. Then there was an earthquake unlike any ot

He Is Risen

Matthew 28:6 (NIV) He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Resurrection Sunday is right around the corner and that day in history stands out as the most significant thing that happened that gives everyone an opportunity for a restart in life that leads to life forevermore. No longer do I need to fret about all the mistakes and bad judgements that I have made in my life. No longer do I have to walk around feeling guilt and shame f

Fighting Fire with Prayer

Nehemiah 4:7-9 (NIV) But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

One of the tactics that is recommended when someone is under any kind of attack is to "

When the Church Prays

Acts 12:5 (NIV) So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

During the time when the early Church was growing in numbers, King Herod began arresting Christians with the intent to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, executed by the sword. When he saw that this pleased the people, he arrested Peter, intending to have a mock trial and then executing him as well. But then something miraculous happened when the Church began t

When the Hand of the Lord is on You

Ezra 7:6 (NIV) This Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra was a priest and a teacher who was a descendant of Aaron, the first high priest of the Israelites. He, along with the people of Judah, had been exiled to Babylon. After a while, the Persians overcame the Babylonians and became the supreme

The Overflow of Lordship

Luke 6:46 (NIV) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Most people who become Christians have no problems receiving Jesus as their Savior but do have a problem either consciously or sub-consciously receiving Him as Lord. But Jesus didn’t die on a cross just to save you from the penalty of your sin, but He did it so that you would be free from the power of sin in your life that ultimately will destroy you. In order for that to happen, you need to make

Facing Trials With Singing

Matthew 26:30 (NIV) When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus and the disciples had gathered together for what would be their last supper together. The disciples didn’t know it at the time, but Jesus was about to get arrested, tried and crucified just a few short hours later. It was at this same supper that Judas got up to go to betray Jesus by leading the mob that was going to arrest Him. Before they went out into the night after supper, Jesus

The Fearless and Worriless Tree

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV) “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

After having moved from a bustling inner city to the beautiful state of Maryland, I learned a thing or two about trees that I didn’t know (Maryland has a lot o

Prayers That Reach Heaven

2 Chronicles 30:27 (NIV) The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

When King Hezekiah began to reign, he immediately began to restore order in the land as far as obeying and honoring God, unlike what his evil father had done. In the very first month of his kingship, he opened the doors of the temple and repaired them. Then he gathered the priests and the Levites and urged them to con

When Jesus Asks a Question

John 6:5-6 (NIV) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

As human beings, we ask all kinds of questions. There are questions that we ask to obtain information that we want or need, questions that are asked sarcastically as a joke or an insult, questions that are asked rhetorically, which is a questi

What You Do Know

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John 9:25 (NIV) He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The Pharisees were always very upset with Jesus. They weren’t upset because He was hurting people or taking advantage of them. No, on the contrary, He was helping people in incredible and miraculous ways. One day He came across a man that had been blind from birth. This man had never

When God Protects You From Yourself

2 Chronicles 18:31-32 (NIV) When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

King Jehoshaphat was one of the few good kings that Judah had, but even he did some foolish things. His first mistake was making an alliance with the

Occasional Victory

2 Chronicles 13:18 (NIV) The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

The people of God faced many enemies in their time in the Promised Land and sometimes, they even fought against each other. Because of Solomon’s sin in turning to other gods, the Lord said that the kingdom would be divided during his son’s, King Rehoboam’s reign. Jeroboam rebelled against Rehoboam and to