Consider this

            “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).               Chances are that you, or someone that you know, owns something (a picture, a plaque, a bookmark) with that verse inscribed on it, because, for centuries, it has inspired people to live their life differently.   By breaking it down into its component parts, we will see more clearly the truth that it teaches.             “This is the day”.   It is tempting to dwell on the past wishing that we could relive or redo some aspect of it, but it is gone!   Similarly, it is easy to get caught up in fretting about what might happen in the future.   However, if anything is going to get done, it must be done “today”.   “This is the day” is an important phrase because it reminds us th...

            Sometimes what a verse does not say is just as important as what it does say.   Take 1 Peter 2:25 for example.   It says, “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls”.   In context, the “shepherd and overseer” to whom they have returned is Jesus, or, more broadly, God.   That is important, but so also is what Peter does not say.             For instance, he does not say that the lost sheep were returned to a certain preacher or teacher.   Unfortunately, that sometimes happens.   People go to a certain church because they like the leader, but when he leaves, so do the people.   Sometimes people are so devoted to a certain author that they quote him as if they were quoting the very word of God.   This, however, is a problem.   When people in the church in...

            Steve Blass played major league baseball for 10 years as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.   In 1971 he won the World Series and in 1972 he was one of the league’s best players and was named a National League All-star.   Then, in 1973, everything fell apart.             Suddenly Steve Blass could not control his pitches.   No matter what he tried, his game went straight downhill.   Within 2 years, he was out of baseball and the phrase "Steve Blass disease" was coined.   Blass explained, “When it was gone, it was gone for good. I started thinking about all the things that could go wrong and suddenly they did”.             There is an old saying, “Whether you believe you can or you believe that you can’t, you are right either way” and that certainly was true of Steve Blass. ...

            Sometimes the way we think about things hurts us more than the actual events themselves.   Such is the case in Exodus chapter one.   It starts by sharing the thoughts of the new Egyptian Pharaoh who says, “The Israelites have become much too numerous for us.   Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country” (verse 10).             Do you see the problem?   The new Pharaoh is convinced that, as the leader, his job is to “control” things.   Unfortunately, that rarely works.               First of all, the motivation is wrong.   Control is almost always fear based and fear based reactions most often lead in the wrong direction.   The Pharaoh feared that ...

            Joseph’s father said, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me… [when his brothers] saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him” (Genesis 37:14 and 18).             That seems strange, doesn’t it?   They see their youngest brother coming and say, “Let’s kill him!”   This, however, was not a spur of the moment thing.   In fact, his brothers were mad at and jealous of Joseph for a long time, because he was their father’s favorite.   Genesis 37:4 states that, “They [his brothers] hated him and could not speak a kind word to him”.               On top of that, Joseph had some dreams that suggested that he was going to rule over his brothers one day.   As you can imagine, telling his brothers ab...