Tag: prosperity
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God’s Law, Just Society, and Our Dishonest Gain: Reflecting on the Plea of Psalm 119
In psalm 119 so far, the psalmist As the psalmist reflects on the Law of God, he continues, Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain (Psalm 119:36). Since the psalmist sees the Law of God as opposite dishonest gain, we get to ask another question of God’s Law–Does God’s Law actually…
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The Source of Happiness and Blessing in Psalm 119
In the first two stanzas of Psalm 119, we saw the psalmist reject his own selfish ways in favor of God’s ways because God’s ways are better. He came humbly to God, asked God to train him, and beseeched his Lord not to forsake him utterly. Stanzas 3 and 4 (ג , ד) sound very…
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Giving- Exodus 25:1-9
God instructs Israel to donate materials to build a tabernacle according to His specifications. He gives His people a list of materials: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx stones, and setting stones.Instead of requiring a tax on the…
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The Law Given for Our Good- Exodus 20:22-26
God acknowledges that the people were able to see His manifestations and know that God is the one giving the commands. Moses is not manipulating them. God repeats His command for the people not to make idols and worship them. He even gives some interesting instruction concerning an altar for sacrifices. It is not to…
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The Insufficiency of the Law- Exodus 20:18-21
All the people perceive the signs of God, see the manifestation of God, from the bottom of the mountain—including the trumpet sounds. They are afraid. Surely to see any manifestation of the holy, almighty God is terrifying. Because they are afraid, they ask Moses to speak to them. They feel if God speaks to them,…
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Honor Your Mother and Father- Exodus 20:12
God instructs the Israelites to honor their fathers and mothers. This command does not always mean that parents must be agreed with or obeyed if what they are asking is immoral. It does mean they are to be heavy on the minds of their children, respected by them. Children are not to be entitled brats…
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The Sabbath Is For Man- Exodus 20:8-11
God instructs Israel to honor the Sabbath day by keeping it holy—setting it apart. The seventh day, Saturday, was to be a day of rest from labor. Toil was to be done in six days. On Saturday, the people were not to work themselves, anyone, or anything else. They were to rest. God rested on…
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Daily Devotional: Genesis 32:1-23
Jacob fears Esau but desires to obey God, listening to God’s angels who visited him. So, he separates his people into two camps in case Esau attacks. He sends gifts ahead, hoping to curtail the anger and retaliation he anticipates. Jacob voices his hope that God will hold fast to His promise to prosper Jacob.…
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The Christian Reward
Life is about investments. We invest in our work because we believe it worthwhile to earn a living. We invest part of that living in retirement funds, stocks, and bonds because we believe it worthwhile to plan ahead for our retirements. We invest in our education and the education of others because we believe it…
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How To Get Health And Wealth From God
Jesus did many miracles. We have seen His miracles throughout Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus did miracles in order to show that He was the Messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament (Cf. 8:17). Once again, the text leads us to consider Jesus’s miracles of healing and provision. As we consider miracles again, I want to ask—How…