A Strange Opportunity
I recently had a strange opportunity to praise the Lord. As far as I know, I have never contracted influenza in my entire life, that is, until last week.
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Hallelujah!
I once worshiped with a man that, instead of saying, “amen,” as is the custom of most, would say instead, “hallelujah!” And he didn’t just say it, he really belted it out. I always found it peculiar, I think, because of how rare it was that I heard that word said. I’ve heard it in songs a lot, both here and at every other church I’ve worshiped with, but I’ve rarely heard it spoken outside of song.
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Fun With 20:22
Keeping with tradition, here are the verses in the Bible in the books the have twenty chapters and twenty-two verses. Can you apply any of these verses to this upcoming year? Let’s see:
Exodus 20:22 – 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.
Leviticus 20:22 – 22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out.
Numbers 20:22 – 22 Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
Judges 20:22 – 22 But the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again in the place where they had arrayed themselves the first day.
1 Samuel 20:22 – 22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, for the Lord has sent you away.
2 Samuel 20:22 – 22 Then the woman wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.
1 Kings 20:22 – 22 Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.”
2 Chronicles 20:22 – 22 When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.
Job 20:22 – 22 “In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
Proverbs 20:22 – 22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
Ezekiel 20:22 – 22 But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
Matthew 20:22 – 22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”
Luke 20:22 – 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
John 20:22 – 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 20:22 – 22 And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
How many of these verses were you familiar with already? How many brought to mind the surrounding context that you know so well from many times reading?
Putting this together was a fun activity for me, but all fun aside, there are only a few things that truly matter in life and knowing the Bible is one of them.
By whatever means necessary, I urge you to make reading, studying and knowing your Bible a top priority, not only for 2022, but for the remainder of your life.
Much love and happy reading!
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
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Nehemiah – Someone Like Us
I love to study the Book of Nehemiah. Frankly, there isn’t any Book of the Bible that I don’t love to study, but each has its own wonderful distinctions.
The distinction that I enjoy most about Nehemiah is that he is very similar to us. Sure, there can be arguments made to the contrary. You could argue that we have virtually nothing in common at all with Nehemiah. But there is one very specific spiritual way that we can relate to Nehemiah.
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Physical Pictures of Spiritual Realities
The Old Testament is full of the very graphic and, for the most part, tragic history of God’s people.
Something that will help you tremendously when you study the Old Testament is to understand that the physical things that you are reading are most often representations of spiritual realities.
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Another Favorite!
This week we’re discussing another of my favorite people from the Old Testament, King Josiah.
There are four chapters committed to Josiah, 2 Kings 22 & 23 and 2 Chronicles 34 & 35. I cannot recommend enough that you read these four chapters this week and do a deep dive into everything that Josiah did as king.
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Some of My Favorites
In the month of December, we’re going to take a short break from our ongoing study of Matthew. For the four Sundays of December, we will have a four-part series called, “Prepare for 2022.”
Each week we’re going to look at teachings from the Old Testament that will prepare us to live as God intends His people to live. The lessons are some of my favorites.
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The Season of Opportunity
This holiday season, we will all face a multitude of opportunities. Opportunities to do good to others, opportunities to be selfish, opportunities to do good things for those that we love and those that we don’t necessarily like.
One of the best things that I learned when I worked in Recovery Ministry was to ask myself the question, “What is the best thing you can do in this situation?” The situations always varied, but the question applied the same.
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Hide and Seek
Have you ever allowed someone to win a game you were playing? How about hide and seek? Would you be surprised to know that God allows us to win at hide and seek?
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The Touchstones of My Faith
Of course, they have good reason to feel this way if they have never obeyed the gospel, but if they have obeyed the gospel, why do so many live with uncertainty?
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