By the time Abraham was 99 years old, God had already made some big promises to him. Some 25 years earlier God had promised to make him the father of a great nation, and to give his descendants the land in which he was living (Genesis 12:2, 7). And because…

Yes, Noah and his family were profoundly grateful to God for keeping them alive on the Ark. Yes, the first thing they did once they set foot on dry ground was to worship God (8:20). But even as God smelled the smoke of Noah’s sacrifice, God observed that “the intent…

How would you live if there were no sin in the world, if everyone and everything were just as God wanted it to be? That’s the situation in which Adam and Eve found themselves at the end of Genesis chapter 2. For they lived in a garden that God had…

So, why do Christians need to meditate on the Law of God? Why do we need to know what God likes and dislikes, to spend time thinking about how God wants us to interact with Him and with other people? Because, as verses 26 and 27 make clear, human beings…

What is the secret to happiness? That’s what the word translated “blessed” means in Hebrew. And the psalmist clearly says that the way to be truly happy is to take delight in God’s law, and to study it carefully. Why is that? Let’s first remember that God’s law is divided…

When the angels showed up to announce the birth of the Messiah, it wasn’t to the priests in the Temple, or to King Herod in his palace. It was to a bunch of shepherds working the night shift. And God didn’t just come to associate with the meek and lowly,…

Jesus is not only the Son of God, but the Son of David. This time of year, we celebrate that amazing truth: Jesus took on not just any old human flesh, but was born into the royal line of Israel, keeping the promises that God had made to David some…

How can God’s promises possibly be true? Maybe you’re wondering about that this Christmas season. Maybe you’re struggling with grief or regret. Maybe you’re wrestling with addiction or bad habits. Maybe your relationships are all messed up. You hear the Christmas story, but somehow it doesn’t seem to make much…

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem – that’s what the Old Testament scholars at Herod’s court believed at the time the wise men from the east showed up (Matthew 2:4-5), and they based their opinion on today’s passage from Micah. So just to make sure none of the little…

How was the birth of Jesus a sign to Ahaz? After all, the events of today’s passage happened more than 700 years before Jesus was ever born. Ahaz never heard the angels sing. He never saw what the wise men and the shepherds saw. How could he have drawn strength…