2 Chronicles 25 records the reign of Judah’s king Amaziah. As with each of Judah’s kings, the text gives an inspired summary of his character. But Amaziah’s is unlike the rest: “He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart” (verse 2). As some translations word it, his heart was not “true” or “loyal.” Amaziah’s obedience didn’t come from devoted commitment to God.

A few verses later, we see an example. Amaziah led an army against Judah’s enemy, Edom, even heeding the voice of God’s prophet in his…

David pledged, “He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me” (Psalm 101:7).

The Hebrew word translated “deceit” primarily means laxness or slackness, but it often has (as in this verse) the sense of dishonesty or treachery. And “falsehood” here simply means deception, fraud, lying.

David valued honesty and integrity. He did not want to be influenced by anyone given to deceit, whether in his personal life or in his role as Israel’s king. This wasn’t just a matter…

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Double Vision

Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body
will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light in you…

Have You Closed Your Eyes, Stopped Your Ears and Hardened Your Heart?
(Carroll Ray Sutton)
           
It is obvious that God has given us eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand. Although this is true, many do not see, nor hear nor understand God's Will for their lives. Why is this true?
 
In Mt. 13:14-15 Jesus explained why he spake unto the multitudes in parables. He said: "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is…

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“Martha, Martha”

Luke 10:38ff records a visit Jesus made to Bethany, the home of three of his most
intimate friends, Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a
woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a
sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word,
seated at His feet. But Martha was distracted with all her
preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care
that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then…

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Bryan Johnson has one chief purpose in life: not dying.

The 47-year-old tech entrepreneur notes that immortality is “the most fundamental of all human desires” and that most world religions focus on some version of it. But now, he believes, something like immortality is “technically, potentially possible.”

Johnson explains: “What I’ve done as a project is I’ve said: Can I slow down my speed of aging to the greatest extent of any human on the planet? And can I then eliminate all the sources of death? Can I become…

“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!” we often sing. But what does it mean to be redeemed? Think about two New Testament words that our English versions usually translate “redeem.”

One word means “to buy out” (Gr. exagorazō, from agorazō, to buy). It was used, for instance, when someone purchased a slave in order to set him free. It is this word that Paul uses when he says, “You have been bought with a price” (6:20; 7:23). Having been redeemed from slavery to sin, we must not allow ourselves to become…

CAN THIS BE THE CHRIST?
(Jim McDonald)

The Samaritan woman, leaving her waterpot by the well, rushed to her village, urging the people, “Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn. 4:25).

The invitation of this woman, with perhaps Jesus’ supernatural revelation of the woman’s past life, coupled also with the question, “Can this be the Christ?” aroused the interest of the villagers and Jesus did not disappoint them. The Holy Spirit’s comment of these was, “And from that…

A Lonely Ember

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services
regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, one of the elders decided to visit
him. It was a chilly evening. The elder found the man at home alone, sitting
before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the elder’s visit, the man welcomed
him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited.
The elder made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he
contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some
minutes, the elder took the fire…