Read Revelation 21:1–27 Another year is about to come to a close. Has it been a good year for you, or one you are glad to see end? Sadly, we often wish our life away. Things will be better, we tell ourselves, when the children are in school, the mortgage on the house is paid in full, or the long-awaited …
A Royal Crossroads
Read Haggai 1:1 through 2:23 Have you ever felt like you were running hard but getting nowhere? Zerubbabel probably felt that way. He was governor in Jerusalem over the first wave of returnees from the Babylonian captivity. A rush of excitement had initiated the rebuilding of the temple, but opposition, economics, and fatigue had caused a halt to the construction. …
Bring Hope into Despair
Read Ezekiel 39:1 through 40:49 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile . . . (Ezekiel 40:1). It is easy to miss the important message hidden in this verse. God’s prophet was not exempt from the devastation that brought Israel to its knees and led them into captivity. I’d like to believe God’s children will escape the judgment He sends …
A Lesson in Humility
Read Ezekiel 29:1 through 32:32 Swelled with pride. A legend in his own mind. Too big for his britches. All these phrases describe Pharaoh Hophra, who had allowed his personal successes to go to his head (Ezekiel 29:3). Along the way, the pharaoh had mistakenly decided that he was the reason for his own success, that he was the reason …