SCRIPTURE: Psalm 25 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. [Psalm 25:4-5] Five times David talks about “the way”; once He refers to his own rebellious ways [Psalm 25:7], and the…
Author: Norm
Jesus my king
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 24 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. [Psalm 24:9] There is only one real God, and that God is the glorious King of the universe. God is King, whether we accept it or not. Unfortunately, because of the blindness…
eternal living now
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 23 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. [Psalm 23:6] There is so much meat in this little psalm. I could spend weeks digging into its profound depths. It is a beautiful, much-loved expression of confidence in…
God’s growing family
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Ruth 4 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. [Ruth 4:16-17] Ruth is a love story within a…
my redeemer
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Ruth 3 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family. [Ruth 3:9] God set up a system of support for the Israelites, in case they got in trouble: If one of your fellow Israelites…
why me?
SCRIPTURE: Ruth 2 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me–a foreigner?” [Ruth 2:10] The book of Ruth is a teaching story, and God uses the main character to show His people the kind of humility, love and…
no greater love
SCRIPTURE: Ruth 1 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May…
because He lives!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 16 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. [Mark 16:6] This declaration of the angel is so well-known to us, that it hardly registers on the surprise monitor. He has risen! … this is the most important declaration of…
we’re all tied together
The following lines from South African poet Mzwakhe Mbuli’s Zulu poem reminds me of Paul’s words about our belonging together to one body: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” [1 Corinthians 12:26] An injury to the head, Is an injury to the whole person,…
9/11 and the cross
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” [Mark 15:39] A non-Jew, a witness to the horrific death of Jesus, and also to the circumstances surrounding His death, comes to this conclusion,…