Category: Providence

If you didn’t have to shop

Imagine if God did this miracle today:

Deuteronomy 29:5 (NIV)
During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.

How do you feel?

  1. Wear these things for 40 years? Can I shop for a different religion?
  2. Ah, those were the good old days. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
  3. Amazing, God. You just freed me up to provide food for many more people.

Update 2018-11-23: Here’s someone who really gets this idea:
New Jersey teacher wears same dress for 100 days to promote sustainable fashion

Stressed about your social standing? (Matthew 6:25-34)

Feel like your worth comes from how people see you? This will help you break free.

Open Matthew 6:25-34.

Our heavenly Father values us more than the birds and flowers, and he will provide for us. These are some of our favourite verses, especially when we face hard times. Without taking anything away from those sentiments, what Jesus said meant so much more. Continue reading “Stressed about your social standing? (Matthew 6:25-34)”

Divine control? (Genesis 16:2)

It’s been a decade, but Abram and Sarai still have no child. In their culture, this was a source of great shame: without an heir, their name would die out. They had no future, so God must have been displeased with them. That’s how they (and others in their time) interpreted their childlessness. When someone had a child, God had given them a child; when someone could not have a child, God had thwarted them. Either way, it was understood as an act of God. That’s how Sarai described her situation: “YHWH has kept me from having children” (16:2).

What are we to make of Sarai’s statement?

Continue reading “Divine control? (Genesis 16:2)”

Was Eden God’s palace? (Genesis 2:1-14)

Genesis 1 revealed who God is and who we are. Genesis 2 reveals how we were intended to live in his presence.

There was a place known as Eden. From the perspective of the people telling the story (Israel), it was to the east. The sovereign planted a garden there, “in Eden” (Gen 2:8). Does that suggest that Eden was something more than the garden?
Continue reading “Was Eden God’s palace? (Genesis 2:1-14)”

Who is God? (Genesis 1:1-19)

The Bible is, first and foremost, the revelation of God. With this post, we’re starting at the beginning to hear its message about the kingdom of God. It begins with the God of the kingdom.

God is ruler of two realms that derive their existence from him: the heavens (his world) and the earth (our world). Our world lacked shape and significance until

Continue reading “Who is God? (Genesis 1:1-19)”