The return of the Jews to Jerusalem from Babylon, described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, can be confusing. It’s not a simple trip of “purchase your plane tickets, pack your bags, and back to Jerusalem we go.” It was three groups of Jews traveling back over a period of 1oo years. Admittedly, it’s […]
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The Book of Nehemiah is the only book in the Bible that’s a journal. Nehemiah was chosen by God to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. In his journal, Nehemiah records one of the most amazing prayers in Scripture. And this prayer ends with an unusual request. The prayer. . . Please grant me success
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The Book of Nehemiah is a journal. Being the only book of the Bible written from this personal perspective, we can literally read the thoughts of a great man of God as he confronts and struggles through his greatest challenge. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the
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Genesis is the beginning. . . In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, ESV). Revelation is the end. . . Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Revelation 21:1). There are many similarities between the Book of Genesis and the
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To Titus, my true child in a common faith (Titus 1:4a, ESV). The Book of Titus is personal. The Apostle Paul calls Titus his child in the faith. First and Second Timothy, along with Titus, are called the Pastoral Epistles because they were written to Paul’s co-workers. However, the relationship is more than working together; Paul calls
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[Timothy,] this is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you (2 Timothy 1:6, NLT). In 2 Timothy the Apostle Paul writes to his disciple Timothy. It’s the last letter that He writes in the New Testament. Through the years while reading
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Both 1 and 2 Thessalonians contain the Apostle Paul’s practical teaching on the second coming. While reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians, remember one fact. . . Paul knew Jesus’ teaching on the second coming. He understood all the prophecies about Jesus’s second coming in the Old Testament, and in these two epistles, he interprets all
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John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Movement and the author of one of my all-time favorite books, Power Evangelism, used to say that the Gospel of Luke progresses from one miracle to another. Luke records the job description of Jesus when Jesus says. . . The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
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I’ve read the Book of Daniel at least once a year for 52 years. During my study of Daniel, I’ve noticed three aspects of this book: 1. Daniel is always faithful. 2. The Lord delivers those who are faithful. 3. The faithfulness of God in the end times. Daniel is always faithful. But Daniel resolved that
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Second Timothy 3:16 is the most famous verse in Scripture on Scripture: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (NIV). With the Bible breathed out from the God of the universe, the inspirational works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, and David Baldacci pale in comparison. Mere human thoughts attempt
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