Mercy Found Me

I wish I could have witnessed the love story unfold between Hannah and Elkanah! Oh to know the secrets to this beautiful pair. Was she simply beautiful? Was it her sweet spirit? Was her voice charming or her hair glamorous? Those are some of the things we just don’t know. Hannah was a young woman married to a man called Elkanah. He loved her tenderly and she loved him. But he had another wife, Penin'nah, not loved so much but remarkably fertile. While Hannah had never had a child, Penin'nah was surrounded by both sons and daughters. Penin'nah saw her numerous children as her glory, and indeed they were. She thought they should have made her the apple of her husband's eye. They did not. Elkanah was deeply in love with the barren wife Hannah, instead of the fertile Penin'nah. One can sympathise with her pain. But jealousy can make a woman cruel, and Penin'nah was no exception. She tormented Hannah about her lack of children. The Bible text says she provoked H...

Elisha is traveling through a little town called Shunem. This was his job, he was a “traveling preacher,” going from town-to-town, proclaiming God’s will. We have them today (guest speakers). This women, for whatever the reason, was willing to “keep the preacher.” It’s a curious thing to me, the text doesn’t give us her name, but takes time to identify the specific items of furniture in the room. This is the first reason for her greatness - it was her service! What she did didn’t make front page of the Shunem Gazette. Frankly, I doubt if anyone in town even knew about it, or took notice. Who noticed this women’s spirit of service? God did! I think we often struggle today with service because we think it has to be some great act. If it’s not some great, newsworthy deed (saving a life or something) it’s not worth the effort. What kind of service is God looking for out of us? Matt. 25:22-40 (turn & read). If a neighbor is sick and needs a hot meal, you don’t have to tell an...

The deeper you advance towards the seas the rougher and tougher the tides become. For you to maneuver this rough waters you need a vessel that is well stable, strong and deep enough to be able to break forth this high tides. Same thing to salvation. Before setting out into the deep are you sure that you have worked very well on your relationship with God? Have you taught your heart,  soul and spirit to totally be dependent on God alone? Will you trust Him enough to be the captain of your life? Trusting that He will do a good job with you? And that regardless of what happens you will still praise Him? You see He never promised that it wouldn't be tough but He promised you his grace to always see you though those rough times. Will you continue staying at the shores where you think is safe or will you set off into the deep and totally depend on GOD?

Romans 8:5 Ampc For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. As a born again person (meaning person born of the Spirit) yielding and living in obedience to the Holy Spirit is NOT a CHOICE that you have if you truly want to experience God in your life. Many of us are often times caught up between yielding to God and the flesh for years in the new birth. Hebrews 5:12 For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. The lack to fully #surrender and yield to the Spirit of God after a while in salvation is actually considered as disobedience and it brings about immaturity...

Allow me to introduce to you the real housewives of Moab. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah the daughters of Zelophehad. (Numbers 27:1-11). The five lady's shows us the  challenges that women faced and what they had to do in order to affirm their rights with dignity. Numbers 26 describes a census taken of all males over the the age of 20. As part of the list of the various clans, we read that “Zelophehad … had no sons, only daughters”. As the census was concluded, God instructs Moses: “Among these shall the land be apportioned as shares”. “Among these” refers to the males listed in the census; hence, we can conclude that Zelophehad’s daughters were not counted in the census and also were not to receive any land as inheritance. We might expect that women, heirs to Egyptian slavery and then put under law that frequently favors men, might react by keeping silent, by accepting as natural the rule decreed for them to follow. We might expect women in those days to stay ...

John 8:1-11 Barefoot and disheveled. Sweaty from the struggle. A mop of hair hangs in her face her jaw is fixed. Her teeth, clenched. Her lips, pressed into thin lines of resistance. Her nostrils, flared in breathy defiance. “Adulteress” they charge. “Caught in the act”. But caught by whom? And Why? The teachers and Pharisees appeal to the Law and call for the death penalty. But for a person to be put to death the Law requires that there be at least two eyewitnesses. Eyewitnesses to the very act of adultery. Can you picture the scene? Peeping Pharisees nosing around her window sill. How did they watch? How much did they see? And were not their hearts filled with adultery when they eavesdropped on that clandestine rendezvous? At least two witnessed the act. Yet without compunction for the sin. Or compassion for the sinner. When they had seen enough, these guardians of morality stormed the door to the bedroom where she lay naked and defenseless. She struggled as they wrestled...