Day 22 – Isaiah 61 We are going to start our commentary today by reading a passage about Jesus in a synagogue from Luke 4:16-21. It has direct bearing on Isaiah 61 as you will see: “When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:   ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be […] Read more »

Only one week left. Can you believe it? Hope this video chat prepares you for our last week together. Read more »

Read more »

Day 21 – Hosea 14 I love this last beautiful chapter in Hosea. God’s ultimate desire for His people is that they return so He can bless them. His yearning for them is great. His desire for them is for abundant goodness. His forgiveness for them is complete. And if we have gone to Jesus and asked for His Presence in our lives, and been born anew into His family? This chapter is for us. Yes, it is. Paul tells us in Romans 11:17,  “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised […] Read more »

Day 20 – Hosea 3 In Chapter 2 we read God’s story. In Chapter 3 we read Hosea and Gomer’s story. Gomer actually did run away and live with another man. Hosea did obey God and buy her back. Did you know a shekel of silver is worth less than a dollar? Poor Gomer was not “worth” much in terms of money. Less than $15 and a bunch of barley was all it cost to buy her back from this man. But Hosea brought her home and showed Israel the kind of love God has for His people by this object lesson. I am so curious about Gomer. What was her background? How broken and damaged was she by her past, that she led a […] Read more »

Day 19 – Hosea 2:14-23 Okay so this part of Chapter 2 brought tears to my eyes. How amazing is our God? He is yearning for the day when He can woo back His people and longing to give them a beautiful and perfect world to live in forever. His love knows no bounds. When He allows us to go our own way and reap the consequences, it’s not because that’s His desire for us long-term. Nope. It’s only so we can finally see how awful life is without Him and return to Him. The language He uses here is beautiful. He’s going to tenderly talk to His wayward ones and persuade them of His love. He’s going to give them hope for a future. […] Read more »

Day 18 – Hosea 2:2-13 Chapter 2 of Hosea has two very distinct and separate parts. This first part is all about God’s anger and hurt as the betrayed husband. Not only did His “wife” Israel not thank Him for the lush land in which all the people lived, the people declared that some other guy/idol had given them the lush land and all the beautiful weather and such. Can you imagine? Let’s say you’re a parent and you work hard to bless your children with nice things and great vacations. Instead of thanking you, they thank an evil bad guy who claims he gave them all the stuff and run off with him instead of staying home with you, the parent. Whether we think […] Read more »

Day 17 – Hosea 1:1-2:1 Today, we look at another strange Bible story with a big message. Let’s remember God’s great commandments about how He is to be treated first, so that we understand His grief and anger when His people flagrantly disobeyed Him. The first two commandments of the big ten all deal with the way God expects to be treated.  “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for […] Read more »

Day 16 – 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Our reading takes place today in that little town of Bethlehem. It’s so stunning to me, how this tiny town was so significant to the Lord! Micah, one of the prophets of long ago talked about Bethlehem, famous despite its small size: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” —Micah 5:2 NIV I did some research on Bethlehem. It’s about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. Right now, it’s in Palestine and has a population of 28,000 people. Back in King David’s day, it was pretty obscure. As it was in Jesus’ day. In […] Read more »