God uses many people with troubled pasts to tell his story in the Bible, murderers, prostitutes, thieves, tax collectors, and others. This helps us all understand that God doesn’t require us to be “good,” to be saved; He can make us “right” with him no matter where we start. The moment we ask for forgiveness, God grants it. The important thing is that we ask.

Nathan, the prophet, comes to David, the King of Israel, in 2 Samuel 12, and tells David a story illustrating the terrible thing David did by having Bathsheba’s husband killed and taking Bathsheba as his wife. When David realized what a terrible thing he had done, he repents. His words are written in Psalm 51, and may sound familiar to those who attend traditional church services. Verses 10-12, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your free Spirit.”

The Living Bible writes verse 10, “Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires.” and verse 12, “Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.”

We all fail in our resistance to temptation. God knows, He and is there waiting to forgive us. Let us give up our pride, and confess our faults, ask for God’s forgiveness, so that we can experience the joy that comes with a “clean heart.”

Dear Lord, we are sorry for our failure to follow your will. Forgive us and give us the desire to obey you. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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One of the amazing aspects of the Bible is how it uses specifics when describing certain events, providing a way to verify the validity of historic events.

For instance, Luke 3:1,2 describes the time John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness, writing, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

This verse clearly identifies for future readers when this event took place. As time has progressed, independent historical records and archeology have confirmed existence of these people, their roles and times they were present. The fact that as new information arises, it confirms rather than contradicts the details in the Bible, adds to the credibility and reliability of the entire Bible.

Dear Lord, what an incredible blessing we have in the Bible’s record, giving us additional strength for our faith. Help us read and believe your word in the Bible, with confidence, remembering as written in 2 Timothy 3:16,17, that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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It has become pretty clear in recent medical studies, that stress is dangerous to our bodies. Not only does it raise our blood pressure, it causes other changes in our system that deteriorate our physical condition. It is interesting that this phenomenon was written about in Proverbs thousands of years ago.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” NIV So how do we eliminate stress in our lives? We can also find directions for this in the bible. Romans 8:6 says, “Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace.” TLB

When we search for God’s guidance, and surrender ourselves to God’s will by following the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can be at peace knowing that the one who controls everything is also helping us.

Dear Lord, help us surrender our concerns to your power, and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance so that we may have peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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We all occasionally wonder why God allows certain things to happen the way they do. Why do bad things happen to us and our friends? Why does he take some people away so early in their lives?

In the Bible also God works in ways that seem strange to us. Why did he choose simple people like Peter to be his disciples? Why did he choose Paul who was a persecutor of Christians, to become one of the most significant Christians?

From our limited viewpoint and simple frame of reference on earth, we can only speculate about God’s reasons.

Isaiah writes in chapter 55:8,9, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

It is good for us to think about and discuss why God may do things the way he does, and possibly he will provide us some enlightenment. Whether he does or not however we can know that all things are working according to his plans.

Dear Lord, We thank you for the knowledge that you have control over all that affects us. Help us play our part with faith in your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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You probably know the story of Cain and Able, the first children of Adam and Eve. Cain was a farmer and Able was a shepherd. Able’s offerings were looked on with favor by God, but Cain’s were not. Cain was angry and ended up killing Able.

An interesting part of the story written in the bible before Cain kills Able is in Genesis 4:6,7. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” NIV

The lesson for us is that we need to strive to do what is right. When we do not, we are making ourselves more vulnerable to sin and temptation, which is “crouching at our door.” We are told to “rule over it” which we can do with God’s help.

Dear Lord, Help us stay on the right path, and strive to do what is right, so we can “rule over” the temptations to sin. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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