Purposeful Prayer

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1  NIV To pray – “The purpose of prayer is not the same as the purpose of speech.  The purpose of speech is to inform; the…

Popping the Balloon

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a [a]virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.  Isaiah 7:14  NASB Virgin – Italy is a young nation.  In fact, it’s much younger than the United States, becoming a unified nation on March 17, 1861.  Before that date,…

History and Story (4)

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.Genesis 16:6  NASB In your power – Abram is a man caught in the middle.  Not standing up for God’s promise in the first place has…

All Kinds of Trouble

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”  Genesis 4:1 NASB The man– We’ve looked at this Genesis story many, many times.  Perhaps you’ve read my book[1]about it.  In the book, I didn’t spend time looking at this…

Respect?

“Woman, what do I have to do with you?”  John 2:4 Woman – Have you noticed how much time women spend trying to keep the peace between people?  Perhaps it is the built-in result of being mothers.  Maybe it’s just genetic.  But it seems that when conflict arises, women do their best to soothe the…