Contemplative Bible Reading

Zechariah 8:16-17 (New International Version) 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD. Such a simple phrase: […]

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Psalms 118:6 (New International Version) The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? I find three large sermons in this one little verse. What to discuss in a short blog post? All three. The foundation is the first phrase: the Lord is with me. Yes, He is […]

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Judges 16:28 (New International Version) Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson prays the above just before his death. Samson’s history is recorded in Judges chapters 13 […]

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Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (New International Version) 10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not […]

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2 Chronicles 28:6-8 (New International Version) 6 In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. 7 Zicri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to […]

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Exodus 40:20-21 (New International Version) 20 He took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the Testimony, as the LORD commanded him. […]

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Jeremiah 44:13-14 (New International Version) 13 I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. 14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return […]

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Psalms 137:8-9 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us- 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. Before looking at the verses from Psalms, let’s consider these verses from 2 Timothy 3: 16All Scripture is God-breathed and […]

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Lamentations 3:25-26 (New International Version) 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. This is a simple sentence, simple yet full of great promise. I don’t believe that this is a promise […]

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Ezekial 13:10 (New International Reader’s Version) They lead my people away from me. They say, ‘Peace.’ But there isn’t any peace. They are like people who build a weak wall. They try to cover up the weakness by painting the wall white. This chapter of Ezekial is written about prophets who give false prophecies. They […]

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