Tag: Temptation

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 13:15

Leave a comment

“So Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that the hatred he hated her with was greater than the love he had loved her with. “Get out of here!” he said.”  (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wanted something really badly, got it, and then discovered it was not nearly what you thought it would be? I know I’ve made a few purchases that would qualify for this category. How about this, have you tried to satisfy yourself with something other than God before? How’d that go for you? It certainly didn’t turn out the way Amnon thought it would. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 11:2-3a

Leave a comment

“It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

You’ve experienced it before. You finish dinner and you’re stuffed. To the gills. Any more food and you just might pop. And then the table next to you has their dessert delivered. It looks amazing. A huge brownie that you can see from a table over is just the right amount of gooey. A heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream centered perfectly on top of it that it just beginning to melt down the sides because the brownie is obviously fresh from the oven. And over the top of the whole thing a little drizzle of caramel sauce. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 4:14-16

Leave a comment

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

These are some incredibly powerful truths here.  Let’s treat them in order. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Jeremiah 17:5-8

Leave a comment

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is really a marked contrast by the prophet here.  Our temptation in this life is to trust in ourselves or another person.  In other words, we are most inclined to trust in what we can see, not in what we can’t.  And, from the perspective of the world, this makes perfect sense.  Why would I place my trust in what I cannot see when there is something or someone in front of me promising me help and who has a good record of following through on his promises? Read the rest…

Love Amid the Mess

Leave a comment

In part two of our series, The Big Story, we dug into the tragedy of the Fall.  While creation was originally adorned with not just beauty and splendor, but holiness and righteousness, it didn’t stay that way.  We broke it.  And yet, God refused to let sin have the last word.  Even in the midst of the mess of the Fall there was one thing God kept doing.  Keep reading to find out what this was…

Love Amid the Mess

Have you ever totally blown it?  I’m not talking a little explosion.  I’m talking, you rolled out the big guns, pointed them right at the stockpile of ammunition, and blew the whole fort to pieces.  If you’ve lived very long we’ve all done that at least once.  You may still be trying to recover from it.  Usually explosions that large leave a crater that even when once the ground has recovered from the blast still leaves a mark that everyone can see years later.  Where we came from near Petersburg, VA, there is the Petersburg National Battlefield Park.  The highlight of the drive through the Civil War battlefield is known as “the Crater.”  It’s this giant hole in the ground where the attacking Union soldiers exploded a mine up next to the defenses of the Confederates stationed there in order to breech the lines and win the battle.  The hole is still there.  They even named a road after it: Crater Road. Read the rest…