How do you feel when someone you love breaks your heart? How do you feel when, in spite of your best efforts, he or she turns away from you, expressing love for someone else instead? As hard as it may be for us to believe, that’s how God feels when…

What does it really mean to turn back to God? Well, it’s more than just engaging in religious rituals. God’s Old Testament people offered sacrifices of animals to Him, but because they weren’t repentant, He didn’t delight in them (8:13). Just showing up for public worship, or even putting money…

How would you feel if your husband or wife were cheating on you? Or, what if he or she were just neglecting you, choosing to spend time at work or with his or her hobbies instead? Would you be heartbroken? Would you be angry? Hosea knew all about it. In…

“Bad company corrupts good morals” (I Corinthians 15:33). That’s what Paul wrote, and was that ever true for King Joash. As long as his uncle Jehoiada was alive, Joash stayed on the straight and narrow. And that only made sense: after all, while he was still an infant, it was…

The leaders of God’s people had turned their backs on Him. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had embraced the worship of the Canaanite god Baal, and neither the prophecies nor the miracles accomplished by the prophet Elijah had been able to discourage them. Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had allowed his…

Should I stay or should I go? As our friends on the coast know so well, it’s not an easy decision to evacuate, even when a hurricane is coming. After all, how bad will it really be? In what condition will we find our houses and land when we are…

The people of Samaria had hit bottom. They had been besieged by the Arameans for so long that the least desirable types of food and the smallest sources of fuel were considered priceless (II Kings 6:25). Mothers were agreeing with one another to kill and eat their own children –…

“Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me” (II Kings 2:9). That’s what Elisha asked when he knew that the prophet Elijah was about to be taken up into Heaven. But what was Elisha really requesting? What does it mean for a prophet to have the Spirit…

With our Northeastern skies filled with smoke from Canadian wildfires, we Americans have once again been reminded of how important regular rains can be. But in spite of our immense wealth and our technological prowess, all we can do is to watch the weather reports. It is, to say the…

Who deserves to be honored, and for what reason? That’s really the question that the “cancel culture” is asking when it defaces or destroys monuments to heroes of generations past. And it’s no longer just ignorant mobs that are seeking to rewrite history. Princeton University removed the name of alumnus…