Author: Norm

SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 8 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. I have seen wicked people buried with honour. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their…

SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 7 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! But I did find this: God…

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 6 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others? Enjoy what you have…

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 5 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. We all come…

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 3 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. [Ecclesiastes 1:1] God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning…

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 4 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm….

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 2 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge,…

There are two passages assigned for today! SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 1 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered. [Ecclesiastes 1:14-15] The Teacher is not very hopeful; from his point of view, there is no…

SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 36 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple. But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing…

SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 35 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him. But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message: “What do you want with me,…