Boy, that serpent was brazen! It directly contradicted God’s Word. We might think the serpent was right, because we know that Eve and Adam didn’t immediately experience physical death after tasting the fruit. But spiritually? Oh my, what a change it brought. It led to the spiritual death. A lot…

HYMN DAY! “When We Walk With the Lord,” better known as “Trust and Obey,” was written by John H. Sammis in 1887. The words of this hymn are as true today as they were then. “What He says we will do…” That’s a commitment we’ll never regret. 1 When we…

Interestingly enough, Eve didn’t seemed intimidated by the presence of the serpent, nor surprised that it spoke. And she was ready with an answer to its query about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She clarified that God had told them they could eat from any tree…

Genesis 1:1 begins the creation story. The Bible tells us that everything God made was good. But now a tempter enters the Garden of Eden…and he was cunning. He doesn’t come right out and challenge God’s word, but he casts doubt: “Did God really say…?” And then he misrepresents God’s…

I warned my class I might get weepy as we got to this section. These word pictures pierce my heart in all the best ways. Read these words out loud: My God is with me. My God saves me. My God rejoices over me with gladness. My God delights in…

Zephaniah was still looking ahead to a glorious day when God would bless His followers. All fear is gone! The instructed, “do not let your hands grow weak,” paints a unique picture. Have you ever thrown your hands in the air and declared, “I give up!” After those words, our…

HYMN DAY! Caroline W. Sandell Berg is known as the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden.” She wrote hymns partly to cope with seeing her beloved father, who was a Lutheran pastor, die in a drowning accident. The hymn, “Children of the Heavenly Father,” speaks of her trust in the Father she…

Even though the events mentioned in verse 15 hadn’t yet happened, they’re presented in the past tense. When it comes to God’s promises, they are so certain, it’s as if they’ve already occurred. We can trust Him to come through. The judgment sentence the Lord passed on the nation is…

When was the last time you read Zephaniah? My Sunday school class spent some time in this Old Testament book a few weeks ago, and parts of it still murmur in the back of my mind. Zephaniah is considered one of the minor prophets—“minor” because the book presents a brief…

I have a tendency to be hyper-critical of myself, focusing mostly on my flaws and shortcomings. I suspect I’m not the only one who does this. But this verse makes me stop and look at myself through God’s eyes. He created, as it says in the King James, “my innermost…