How do you feel when someone complains about what you do? Okay, now what if you have done a lot of nice things for the complainer, and have gone out of your way to help him or her out of lots of tight spots? How would you respond to surly…

Holy History Joshua 4:1-10a, 19-24 Review: 1. We need memorials to remind us of what God has done for us in the past because, under the pressure of today’s problems, we quickly forget His blessings 2. Memorials fuel our faith by giving us reason to rely upon God’s providence in…

Giving is a delicate topic for American Christians. By the world’s standards, we know we are economically blessed, but with all of our bills and debts and commitments, it’s hard to find that extra money to give away, isn’t it? And with our TV screens and mailboxes filled with appeals…

No, living the Christian life is not always easy. Yes, God calls us to respond to His grace with faith and devotion, entrusting ourselves completely to Him, and considering that everything we are and everything we have belongs to him. It certainly wasn’t easy, for example, for Hannah to give…

When God has answered our prayers, how should we respond to Him? What should our attitude be toward the things God has given to us? Once we have what we want, it’s so easy for us to keep our focus on it – and the last thing we want to…

Waiting is hard, isn’t it? Yesterday we saw how Hannah had to wait long years before God answered her prayers for a child. But in this brief passage, we see how Hannah had to do another kind of waiting – waiting until it was time for her to keep a…

Have you ever felt trapped in an impossible situation, like everyone was working against you? Hannah certainly did. Yes, her husband loved her very much, but Elkanah needed to have some children to help him work his farm and tend his animals, and if Hannah couldn’t bear those children, well,…

Are you facing an impossible situation in your life? The psalmist would encourage you to look at things from an eternal perspective. In fact, the best thing to do is to turn your eyes away from your problems and take a good look at God. For verse 1 reminds us…

Crossing the Jordan Joshua 3:1-17; 4:10b-18 Review: 1. Many of the problems that face us are as impossible as the Jordan River was impossible for the Israelites to cross. 2. Many of God’s commands seem to be irrational to us, just as there was no way a purification ritual or…

Can it get much worse than it was in Sodom? Instead of welcoming the two strangers with generous hospitality, as is still the custom in the Middle East (and in Mississippi!), the men of Sodom attempted to rape them. And notice that verse 4 is careful to indicate that this…