Between his gospel and the Book of Acts, Luke has given us enough information to recreate in our minds a rough sketch of the Lord’s final day with His disciples. When we go back to the carefully chosen words Luke uses, a beautiful picture emerges of our risen Lord preparing to leave. We know what He talked about during the 40 days following His resurrection, and we know what He said, and probably where He said it, on this final day before he ascended. Who among us wouldn’t give almost anything t...
Aug 10, 2023•51 min•Ep. 250
How far did God have to go to reach you? Some of us came to Him quickly and easily as children, others not until late in life. But taking that first step toward God was not the end of the matter. However and whenever we came to Him, as life progressed, we found that holding on to Him is a challenge. Events happened that caused us to question God’s goodness or power. Doubts arose about the historical truth of what we had embraced. People argued with us or ridiculed us for our childlike trust unti...
Aug 07, 2023•40 min•Ep. 249
Welcome to the Book of Acts! Today we begin an adventure. We will regularly be traveling back in time, nearly 2000 years, to watch our forefathers and mothers live out their faith. Many of them actually knew Jesus. They had watched Him minister and had listened to Him teach. And what we read in this book is their obedience to what they heard Him tell them to do. He had been a good teacher, and they loved Him. They had watched Him ascend into heaven. They believed in Him. So when He told them to ...
Aug 03, 2023•46 min•Ep. 248
A profound inner change takes place when a person is born-again. Not only are our sins forgiven, but our spiritual capacities are radically increased. After being born-again a person is not the same person as they were before (2Co 5:17). This does not mean that all our attitudes and behaviors are instantly “Christ-like.” But our potential to become Christ-like has changed dramatically. Probably the best word to describe our new condition is “freedom.” A born-again person is finally free—free to ...
Jul 31, 2023•33 min•Ep. 247
As Moses interceded for his rebellious nation he made a remarkable statement. He told the Lord that if He would not forgive Israel for its sin of worshipping the golden calf, he wanted his own name removed from God’s book. His words surprise us and make us want to ask, “What book?”, because up until now the Bible has not mentioned such a book. But Moses had a level of relationship with God which involved deeper levels of communication than anyone else in the Old Testament. So there were things i...
Jul 27, 2023•47 min•Ep. 246
Humans can live without food much longer than without water, but to survive 40 days without water is inconceivable apart from a miracle. When Moses failed to return from Mt. Sinai the nation naturally assumed he had died, either from thirst or possibly he’d been burned to death by the fire which still could be seen on the mountain’s peak (24:17,18). Considering themselves leaderless they turned to Aaron who had been left in charge and demanded he make an idol. They were unnerved by this invisibl...
Jul 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 245
Oil had been used symbolically since at least the times of the patriarchs. In Genesis 28:18, 22 (also: Ge 31:13; 35:14) Jacob poured oil on a stone which had been his pillow during a vision of God. In this way he acknowledged that the place was filled with God’s presence. Elsewhere in the Bible the “anointing” with oil is used as a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit (1Sa 16:13; Ac 10:38; 2Co 1:21, 22; 1Jn 2:20, 27). Priests, prophets and kings were “anointed” with oil (Ex 40:15; 1Sa 16:13; 1Ki ...
Jul 20, 2023•44 min•Ep. 244
Jesus Christ has called us to be priests of God. So, as we read the instructions for the priests of Israel we find many basic principles which apply to us today. In fact, we discover that each article of the priests garments, each form of their worshipful service and each object in the tabernacle holds a remarkably clear prophetic meaning. Over the past weeks we’ve looked at the ark of the covenant in the Holy of holies, and the altar and laver in the courtyard, but today we’ll focus on a small ...
Jul 17, 2023•36 min•Ep. 243
The subject of repentance tends to bring to mind certain troubling questions. We’re always grateful to hear the truth that God forgives us when we repent, but somewhere in the back of our minds questions may lurk about certain sins or passages of Scripture we’ve read which may have left us confused. Last week we asked the questions: What is repentance? How does God convict us of sin? And, if Christ died for me, why do I still need to repent? But this week we’ll look at some of the troubling ques...
Jul 13, 2023•58 min•Ep. 242
Beginning at the moment a child first recognizes right from wrong each of us enters into a lifetime of choices: choices whether or not to tell the truth when the truth will get me in trouble; choices to be generous or selfish; choices to indulge harmful bodily impulses or control them; choices to let my temper flare or control it; choices to play by the rules or break them; choices to promote myself or others. Over time, my choices in these and other areas fall into habitual patterns which deepe...
Jul 10, 2023•36 min•Ep. 241
Sometimes God’s grace may seem too good to be true. Our ears hear sermons and songs about His forgiveness, but doubts still linger in the back of our mind. Is that really the way God is or are people merely telling me what they hope is true? Maybe these promises of mercy have been taken out of context and really don’t mean what we think they mean. After all, it’s hard to believe anyone could forgive and forget things as awful as the ones I’ve done. So, as we look at the events which took place o...
Jul 06, 2023•40 min•Ep. 240
God never asks us to do anything He will not empower us to accomplish. Christians are not simply people who are trying in their own strength to do good things for God. At least that is not what God intended. His plan has always been to work miracles through people of faith. In other words, He’s the One who does the real spiritual work. Our part is simply to obey. Not only did He give such power to the high priest of Israel, but now He intends to give it to the men and women who He’s called as pr...
Jul 03, 2023•47 min•Ep. 239
It’s beautiful to watch someone minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything seems to flow so easily and naturally, as if that man or woman effortlessly knew just what to say or do. But ministry is never as easy as it looks. There are many personal sacrifices and inner struggles that must take place before God can consider us fit for His service. Today as we look at the garments He designed for Israel’s high priest we’ll discover they were meant to be symbols which reminded the one weari...
Jun 29, 2023•50 min•Ep. 238
Now that Israel had entered into covenant with God He ordered Moses to prepare a portable tent so He could travel with the nation and dwell in their midst. But the tabernacle was not to be a normal tent. God designed it down to the smallest detail so it would teach His people essential spiritual lessons. In all there would be seven major pieces of furniture and each symbolized a truth about God, and the most important of these symbols was the Ark of the Covenant. Other objects in the complex wou...
Jun 26, 2023•49 min•Ep. 237
Rather than slowing down, the demands seem to be increasing. At times I look ahead at all I have to do and fear rises up telling me there’s no way I’ll have the strength to do what’s being asked of me. But more and more I also hear the Holy Spirit, just as the panic starts to accelerate, telling me, “Don’t look at all that’s ahead. Just take matters one at a time and turn to Me for help before you start each one.” When I obey this principle I am repeatedly amazed to find I have the strength I ne...
Jun 22, 2023•47 min•Ep. 236
A covenant is fundamentally a commitment to a new relationship. After a covenant has been formed a brand-new relationship exists. Those who have taken part in the ceremony have been bonded together like the members of a family. And one of the most ancient ways of expressing this new level of love and trust was to eat a meal together. Somehow the very act of breaking bread together has always conveyed an acceptance of one another. When we eat a meal together we tend to relax, drop our defenses an...
Jun 19, 2023•42 min•Ep. 234
Verse 7: The prayer tent Ex 38:8 the women serving in hosts • Laver from their mirrors • “Hosts” military term: ranks
Jun 15, 2023•51 min•Ep. 235
What is a covenant? A solemn promise enforced by a curse one invokes on oneself. Obedience is also encouraged by promised blessings. When did the Old Covenant begin? Previous covenants: Adam, Noah, Abraham But when we speak of the New Covenant this is the covenant which has been replaced. The nation of Israel entered into a covenant with God. “All that the Lord has spoke we will do and we will be obedient.” What did the blood mean? Covenant: “May this happen to me if I should break this covenant...
Jun 12, 2023•42 min•Ep. 233
It’s one thing to ask me to not make an idol, or profane the Lord’s name, or work on the sabbath, or dishonor my parents, or murder, or break my marriage covenant, or steal, or lie, but it’s quite another when you look at the hidden motives of my heart and command me to be content with my lot in life. Now you’re in an area inside of me I hardly understand myself. You’re asking me to control something that in reality seems to have control of me. Yet, the tenth commandment tells me not to covet, m...
Jun 08, 2023•42 min•Ep. 232
The ninth commandment: “You shall not lie about your neighbor” Since the Ten Commandments are lessons designed to teach us to love, this commandment says simply that if I love someone I will not lie about them, nor will I lie to them. I won’t: testify against them falsely in court; destroy their reputation through slander; alienate those who love them by gossip. In other words, I will not use my lips to destroy people. Our speech is the primary way we influence the world around us Matthew 12:34 ...
Jun 03, 2023•46 min•Ep. 231
When it comes to stealing, the human mind can be so creative it would be impossible to write enough laws to prevent it in all its forms. There are flagrant, aggressive ways to steal and subtle, passive ways. Some types are obvious while others could never be proven in a court of law because they depend on hidden attitudes of the heart. Who’s to say a misleading statement was intentional, or that a person did or didn’t work as diligently as possible on a project, or whether a neighbor really forg...
Jun 01, 2023•53 min•Ep. 230
Today it’s not uncommon to hear the term “sexual revolution” applied to the dramatic changes our society is undergoing in its thinking about sexual behaviors. Those who use this term assume that a new view of sex is emerging out of the uninformed bigotry of our cultural past. But that’s not what’s happening at all. The only real sexual revolution in human history has been produced by the Bible. What’s happening in America and Europe is that many are simply returning to the primitive sexual behav...
May 29, 2023•52 min•Ep. 229
The Lord needed only two words to produce the sixth commandment. He engraved into a flat plate of stone this simple statement, “Murder not!” Out of ten words which are associated with killing in the Old Testament, He chose the one which refers specifically to the killing of a human whether that person’s death is intentional (murder) or accidental (manslaughter). He did not use a word that would include hunting, lawful execution or a morally-justifiable war. He picked the word that would deny us ...
May 25, 2023•50 min•Ep. 228
It’s interesting that the first lesson on learning to love my neighbor as myself has to do with honoring those God has placed in authority over me as a child. And then He bundled into this commandment a warning that says my life expectancy, the availability of His resources and my progress toward achieving His plan for my life are contingent upon my obedience here. This is not easy for me to hear as a typical American. I live in a culture that viciously criticizes and ridicules its leaders, that...
May 22, 2023•59 min•Ep. 227
So far in our study of the Ten Commandments we first learned that God will not allow other gods in our lives. He forces us to choose whether we want His blessing or the help these other spirits can give. Next, we learned that He measures our love for Him in part by the way we speak of Him. We trouble our lives when we profane His name. If, at times, we feel the need to say something emphatic we’d be wise to leave references to Him out of our statements. Instead we should always seek to glorify t...
May 18, 2023•48 min•Ep. 226
Our mouths expose our hearts. Sooner or later our real beliefs and attitudes pour out of our lips. As hard as we may try to hide them it’s impossible to filter everything, and in those moments when we drop our guard our hearts speak what we really believe. That’s why in these lessons on how to love God (Ex 20:3–11) He draws our attention to how we use His name. His purpose isn’t simply to get us to patrol our speech more carefully, His concern lies much deeper than that. He wants us to love and ...
May 15, 2023•42 min•Ep. 225
We learned in our study of the “law of Moses” that the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to teach us how to love: first, to love God with all our heart, soul & might (Dt 6:5), and then to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Considering these commandments as a whole, we see that the first four focus on loving God, and the final six focus on loving our neighbor. Today, we’re going to look more deeply at the first two: 1) You shall have no other gods before Me (v 3); 2) You shall not m...
May 11, 2023•44 min•Ep. 224
The Law of Moses was the code of rules and regulations which Israel agreed to live by as people in covenant with God. Moses didn’t invent these laws, he just wrote them down as God dictated them to him. And the “heart” of these laws is the Ten Commandments which the Lord Himself wrote down on two flat tablets of stone (24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1–4, 28). He gave Israel these laws so they would know how to lead holy lives, and therefore God’s presence could dwell among them. His goal was to use...
May 08, 2023•46 min•Ep. 223
The word “holy” is a strange word. It’s a word we use all the time in our worship songs and repeatedly ascribe to God, yet if asked to define the word, few would know what to say. We know it’s a good thing and that it applies to God. We may even be aware the Bible says it can apply to us as well, but again, we’re not sure what difference that makes in our lives. Today we’ll investigate this wonderful word starting by looking at a display of God’s holiness on Mount Sinai. In this study we’ll defi...
May 04, 2023•46 min•Ep. 222
The kingdom of God is all about bringing lost people back to the God who loves them. Those of us who love God know this about Him: He’s always reaching out to save more people and wants us to help Him do it. And to Him it’s always an urgent matter because He sees the eternal destiny of people. To be successful He needs to be constantly producing spiritual leaders because without enough leaders His kingdom can’t keep growing (Lk 10:2). In today’s lesson we watch as God teaches Moses how to prepar...
May 01, 2023•45 min•Ep. 221
