Scripture: "I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers." Philemon 1:4 (NASB) Observation: My prayers. Sharing with God the joys and sorrows of life as friend to friend, is prayer at its best. Again, Paul reminds Philemon of the deep respect and gratitude the apostle feels toward him. Tactfully, Paul prepares the way for Philemon to accord
Scripture: So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. (Genesis 48:22 NET)Observation: As Abraham and Isaac had done before, so now Jacob pronounces a blessing, this time on Joseph and his children, whom Jacob claims as his own and after whom
Scripture: "God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6 (CEV) Observation: a good work—Any work that God begins, He will surely finish (1Sa 3:12). Not even men begin a work at random. Much more the fact of
Scripture: So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. (Ex.2:2, NKJV) Observation: A goodly child. Even as a babe Moses gave evidence of the keen intellect, emotional stability, and also the physical perfection that marked his later years. All of this is implied in the Hebrew
Scripture: When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. (Genesis 26:34-35 NKJV) Observation: Esau … took to wife—If the pious feelings of Abraham recoiled from the idea of Isaac forming a matrimonial connection
Scripture: The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.” (Gen. 2:18 - Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. Jewish Publication Society) Observation: Man’s fulfillment requires companionship. As a talmudic rabbi observes about v. 18, “Even though a man has several sons, it is forbidden to him to be without
Scripture: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8, NKJV). . . Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1, NKJV)Observation: The world before the flood had become totally corrupted so that Moses goes
Scripture: Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry. (Hosea 1:2, NKJV)Observation: God tells the prophet Hosea to marry Gomer, who was a harlot, and to adopt her children, born to other fathers. The lesson in this book, and through Hosea’s experience, is that of God, who chooses to be our “husband, even though we have turned
Scripture: So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob almost fainted, for he did not believe them. 27But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw
Scripture: (Job 19:17 NKJV) My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.Observation: While Job’s friends continue trying to convince him of his wrongdoing and si and to get him to repent and seek God’s favor, Job defends himself from their accusations and pleading with God to defend him. We know
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