Category Archives: Bible Stories

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April 2, 2026

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Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, God's Word: The Bible, Holidays & Holy Days, Thanks & Praise

GOD’S LOVE LETTER

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16 (NLT)]

penitente morada Abiquiu NMLast February, we celebrated love with the secular holiday Valentine’s Day. We may have given or received flowers, candy, or a card—tokens of someone’s love for us or our love for them. Seven weeks later, however, the flowers are dead, the candy is eaten, and the card in the recycling bin. The day dedicated to “love” is forgotten until next February when the ads for jewelry and flowers remind us.

It was on Valentine’s Day that I read a love letter said to rank among the “fifty greatest love letters of all time.” It was written by the famed composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Intended for an unnamed woman, she is only known as his “Immortal Beloved.” Addressing her as, “My angel, my all, my very self,” the composer continues, “However much you love me—my love for you is even greater. Is not our love truly founded in heaven—and what is more, as strongly cemented as the firmament of Heaven?” The passionate letter continues with Beethoven’s promise that, “I am faithful to you; no other woman can ever possess my heart—never—never.” The ten-page letter concludes with, “Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours.”

Beethoven’s is not the greatest love letter of all time because the greatest love letter can’t be found on the internet nor is it filled with saccharine sentiment and romance. While Beethoven wrote words with a pencil on paper, God sent the very Word! Regardless of how beautifully written, no love letter can compare to the one sent by God to His children—Jesus Christ!

When Beethoven declared his love to be greater than that of his “Beloved Immortal,” his words weren’t put to the test but, with His death on the cross, Jesus proved that His love for us is far greater than our love ever could be for Him! Unlike Beethoven’s love for this unnamed woman, God’s love truly was founded in heaven. The composer’s letter was meant for just one woman but God’s love letter was intended for all of mankind. While Beethoven promised her his undying faithfulness, history tells us the composer always was in love with some woman or another. God, however, is not fickle and there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us less or more! Sadly, while God always is faithful to us, we have not proved to be so faithful to Him.

Although Beethoven wrote that he wanted to post his letter immediately, it was found in his belongings several years later after his death and appears to never have been sent. In contrast, we are blessed that God’s love letter arrived here 2,000 years ago. Beethoven may have failed to send the letter because it was a clandestine romance but there was nothing clandestine about God’s letter to us. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of Messianic prophecies and Jesus’ arrival was heralded by angels, welcomed by Magi, and announced by John. While not everybody received Him, Jesus didn’t conceal his love as would a couple of secret lovers.

Perhaps the letter wasn’t sent because Beethoven loved his lady from a distance and she never knew of his love for her. God, however, has never hidden His love from us. Even before Jesus’ arrival on earth, God openly announced his love with every sunrise, birth, butterfly, wildflower, rainbow, and breath taken!

Tomorrow is Good Friday—the day we remember how God showed His love by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us! That dark Friday 2,000 years ago was a day of agony and anguish, torture and degradation, betrayal and abandonment, along with sorrow and sacrifice. Nevertheless, the overwhelming message of that horrible day is one of love! Because of His sacrifice for us, God’s beautiful love letter remains with us forever. Indeed, He is our Immortal Beloved!

By the cross we know the gravity of sin and the greatness of God’s love toward us. [John Chrysostom]

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. [1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)]

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March 30, 2026

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Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Fear & Doubt, Holidays & Holy Days, Obedience, Prayer, Temptation & Sin

HIS WILL BE DONE

Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. [Luke 22:41-44 (CSB)]

I am never afraid of exaggeration, when I speak of what my Lord endured. All hell was distilled into that cup, of which our God and Savior Jesus Christ was made to drink. [Charles Spurgeon]

Although the common position for prayer was standing, Jesus fell to His knees that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke describes Him as praying so intensely that His sweat dropped like blood. Having used the word hósei, meaning “as if it were, like, as, as though, or much like,” Luke may have meant Jesus sweat so profusely that it dripped from Him like blood. Nevertheless, Luke was a doctor who paid great attention to detail; he may have described hematidrosis, a rare medical condition in which the capillaries rupture causing blood to seep into the sweat glands and then out onto the skin. It’s caused by high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or extreme distress or fear, such as facing abuse, torture or death on the cross! Whether Jesus’ sweat poured off his body as if it were blood or He literally sweat blood, the Lord’s prayer was so intense that an angel came and strengthened Him.

In Jesus’ prayer that Thursday night, we clearly see His two natures—that He was both fully human and fully divine. While the divine and human natures were united in Jesus, the two wills were not. As fully God, Jesus was in sync with His Father’s plan and walked willing to the cross to suffer and die, to bear our sins, and to redeem us from the gates of hell. On the other hand, Jesus also had a man’s will—a will like ours—one that could be tempted—a will that freely chooses whether or not to walk in obedience to God. We can be sure that Satan was attacking Jesus with false promises, doubt, and fear that night.

By beginning His prayer with, “Father, if you are willing,” Jesus acknowledged both His Father’s right to determine the answer to His prayer and His power to do so. Jesus then asked, “take this cup away from me.” The cup He wanted taken away was the horror that lay ahead for Him—not just suffering on the cross, but death itself. Fully man, Jesus must have trembled at what being the sacrificial lamb who bore the sins of the world would entail. As this fully human man grappled with being obedient to God’s horrific plan of torture and death, Jesus may have sweat real blood.

When Satan tempted another sinless man in another garden long ago, Adam said, “My will be done,” and sin entered the world. In Gethsemane, Satan tempted the second sinless man to say the same thing. Had the enemy been successful, the lamb of God would not have taken away the sins of the world. But, instead of saying “My will be done,” Jesus prayed these beautiful words: “Not my will, but yours, be done.” Like any man, Jesus would have preferred avoiding the physical, emotional, and spiritual agony awaiting Him; nevertheless, His words were ones of complete and unqualified submission to God’s will. Could we have done the same? Thank you, Jesus!

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. [John 6:38 (CSB)]

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March 23, 2026

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Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Temptation & Sin, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

FALSE GODS

By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth. [Exodus 9:15-16 (NLT)]

SobeckOver a period of 3,000 years, ancient Egypt’s pantheon of gods numbered between 1,400 and 2,000. During that time, some faded in prominence and new gods appeared. Often depicted as part human and part animal, Egypt’s gods had names, unique back-stories, and their own domain and expertise. Each god/goddess was responsible for a certain part of daily life, from motherhood to music, record keeping to funerals, and cosmic order to hunting. While the ten plagues God sent Egypt through Moses and Aaron may seem somewhat arbitrary to us in the 21st century, every one of them was a direct attack on one or more Egyptian god. They were the ultimate “smack-down” between God Almighty and Egypt’s deities.

When Moses struck the water of the Nile and turned it into blood for seven days, it was a direct attack on the crocodile-headed Sobeck, whose job was to be the Nile’s protector, as well as Khnum, the god of water and life, who was to guard the river’s source. The fouled river also was an affront to Osiris whose bloodstream was said to be the Nile. The plague of frogs who came up from the Nile and into people’s homes challenged the frog-headed goddess Heget who was in charge of regeneration, rebirth, and fertility. Aaron striking the dust of the earth to make gnats/fleas/lice immediately appear that covered both man and beast was a direct attack on Geb/Seb/Keb, the god of the earth and soil. The fourth plague, teems of flies or biting insects filling the air, challenged the power of Shu, the Egyptian god of air, and brought shame to any insect-headed god like Khepri whose head was that of a scarab beetle. With this affliction and the ones that followed, God distinguished between Egypt and the people of Israel. Remaining unaffected by the plagues, the people of Israel did not suffer these annoyances and hardships! While the God of Israel protected His people from the flies, Shu and Khepri couldn’t protect theirs!

The plagues intensified with the fifth plague, a deadly disease affecting cattle and livestock. The deaths of Egypt’s cattle was an insult to Apsis, the god of fertility (often represented as a bull) and the cow-headed Hathor, the goddess of love and protection. The punishment continued when ashes tossed by Moses became festering boils on both man and beast. This was the first direct strike on Egypt’s people and skin diseases and boils were seen as a sign of divine displeasure or judgment. Both Sekhmet, the goddess with power over disease, and Isis, goddess of healing, were helpless in the face of this challenge. The punishments increased with a devastating hail storm and continuous lightning, an attack on Seth/Set (god of wind and storms), Nut (goddess of the sky), and Osiris, the crop fertility god. The assault on those deities continued with the eighth plague, an east wind that blew in swarms of locusts. The false gods couldn’t prevent the locusts from consuming any vegetation that survived the hail storm.

The ninth punishment brought three days of complete darkness to the Egyptians. The most worshipped god in Egypt was the sun god Ra/Re, but both he and Kepri, the god of the dawn, were powerless in the face of Israel’s God. The final plague was death to the firstborn of both man and beast. Even Pharaoh’s son, believed to be a divine birth, died. These deaths challenged the power and authority of Isis and Osiris, the protectors of life, as well as Pharaoh, the god-king believed to be the son of Ra.

Revealing them as the powerless worthless idols they were, each of the plagues challenged, defeated, and shamed the false gods of Egypt. The God of Israel proved Himself to be the one true God—sovereign and superior in all aspects. While directed at Egypt, this message of Jehovah’s supremacy also was meant for the people of Israel as well as the rest of the world.

There is no need to go to heathen lands to find false gods. We can find them right here in our own country (and possibly in our own homes). Anything that gets between us and God is a false god and no more worthy of our devotion and worship than were Ra, Osiris, or Sekhmet. That we don’t depend on Seth to protect us from storms or bow down before statues of the bull-headed Apsis doesn’t mean we’re not guilty of idolatry! Nowadays, we worship the far more subtle false gods of the 21st century—things like wealth, power, influence, property, fame, pleasure, beauty, popularity, education, comfort, science, sex, money, and self. Never forget that our false gods will fail to serve and save us just as easily as Egypt’s false gods failed them!

What each one honors before all else, what before all things he admires and loves, this for him is God. [Origen]

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. [Colossians 3:2-5 (NLT)]

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March 9, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Fruit of the Spirit, Love & Works, Sharing Our Faith

A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

The Lord spoke to Moses: “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to me, because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.” [Numbers 3:11-13 (CSB)]

cabbage white butterflyHaving spared Israel’s first-born males during the final plague on Egypt, God called for every first-born Israelite male, whether man or beast, to be consecrated to Him. The entire male population of the tribe of Levi was 22,000 (about the same number of first-born Israelite men) and God substituted the Levites for the other first-born males. Substituting the Levites for the first-born male in every tribe centralized the sacred duties to one tribe without disrupting the other tribes’ families.

Appointed to minister and serve in the Tabernacle, the Levites didn’t get to choose their careers—that decision was made for them by God. By divine appointment, they were charged maintaining the holiness of the sanctuary, guarding the worship of Jehovah, instructing the people in God’s Word, and warning Israel of idolatry. While only Aaron’s lineage could serve as priests, the other Levite clans were destined to serve the Lord and His priests in supportive roles. Some clans were responsible for preparing sacrifices or washing the hands of the priests, while others guarded the temple and its furnishings, made music, or led worship. Still other families were assigned to make repairs to the Tabernacle/Temple and its equipment or were to act as gatekeepers, secretaries, or scribes.

Like the Israelites, Christ’s followers are a unique nation. However, rather than a nation based on ethnicity, physical characteristics, culture, or language, we are one people united by faith. Prior to Jesus, only the descendants of Levi were dedicated to God; today, all of Christ’s followers are consecrated to Him. Regardless of lineage, we all are “people for His possession.” Although only Aaron’s descendants could be priests, every follower of Jesus belongs to a “royal priesthood.” While the Levites’ various duties were determined by their specific lineage within the tribe of Levi, our duties are determined by the Holy Spirit’s gifts to us. But, like the Levites who didn’t receive an allocation of land as did the other tribes, our inheritance is not found in earthly things like property; it is found in God! Like the Levites of long ago, rather than seeking to be served, we are called to serve the Lord. Just as their responsibility was to work for the Lord and proclaim the goodness of God, we are called to do the same.

As members of Christ’s royal priesthood, our service doesn’t end with the closing hymn on Sunday morning—that’s when it begins! Whether it’s teaching Sunday school, visiting the sick, shopping for shut-ins, sending cards, packing food, writing newsletters, cooking meals, greeting visitors, filling communion cups, ironing paraments, mowing the lawn, singing in the choir, providing transportation, making calls, being a prayer warrior, setting up chairs, running the sound equipment, knitting prayer shawls, folding programs, or running the website, we are called to serve in the household of faith. As humble and mundane as it may seem, our service is glorious work because, like the work of the Levites, it is done to serve the Lord!

The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer. [John R. Mott]

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. [1 Peter 2:9-10 (CSB)]

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March 2, 2026

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Bible Stories, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Miracles

PURIM

These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants. [Esther 9:28 (NLT)]

Sunset tonight begins the 14th day of Adar in the Hebrew year 5783 and the Jewish celebration of  Purim (or the Festival of Lots). Lasting until sunset tomorrow night, Purim commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation in the ancient Persian Empire. Purim means “lots” in Persian and this holy day gets its name from the way the diabolical Haman determined the date to “destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people—young and old, women and children—and plunder their possessions.”

I first learned about this holiday in college when my Jewish roommate received boxes of delicious hamantaschen cookies she graciously shared with me. Hidden inside the sweet flaky triangular-shaped pastries was a sweet filling of either poppy seeds, prunes, or apricots. My roomie said the cookies represented Haman’s three-cornered hat but other sources say they represent his ears or the villain’s pockets filled with money. But, I’m getting ahead of myself without telling you the whole megillah.

“The whole megillah” is an idiom taken from Yiddish that means a long convoluted story, but the Megillah (with a capital M) is a scroll of the book of Esther (which truly is a complicated story filled with plot twists). It will be read during a synagogue service tonight and again tomorrow. The Megillah is read twice to emphasize that everything is orchestrated by God! Rather than the solemnity you’d expect in a place of worship on a holy day, it’s read very dramatically. Each of the 54 times the evil Haman’s name is mentioned, the congregation raucously stomp their feet, boo, hiss, and swing greggers (ratchet noisemakers).

The mitzvoth (religious duties) of Purim are outlined in Esther 9, the first of which is the reading of the Megillah. The second duty is that of feasting and joy. Families and friends feast on hamantaschen and kreplach. Children (and sometimes adults) dress in costume as Esther, Mordecai, or silly characters. Emphasizing the importance of friendship and community, the third mitzvah is to send portions of food to one another (which explains the hamantaschen sent to my roommate). The final mitzvah is that of giving gifts to the poor. To ensure that all Jews can experience the joy of Purim, every Jew is supposed to give money or food to at least two needy people.

Whether or not you’re familiar with the story of Esther, I urge you to read it. Unique about this short book is that God’s name is never mentioned. Nevertheless, His divine attention, direction, and power are evident on every page. His fingerprints are all over every coincidence in the story—from Mordecai overhearing a plot against the king and saving the king’s life to the king’s sleepless night that caused him to learn of Mordecai’s part in his rescue; from Queen Vashti’s banishment to Esther being drafted into the king’s harem; from Esther finding favor with the harem eunuch to being chosen queen; and from the massacre’s date being determined by the throwing of lots to Haman appearing to molest Esther just as Xerxes entered the room.

The miracles in this story were disguised as natural events and, like the sweet filling in the hamantaschen cookies and the savory ground beef or chicken inside the kreplach, God’s intervention was hidden. While God’s name isn’t found in the book of Esther, His activity is! He overruled history, overturned the plans of the wicked, and saved His people. Not every miracle involves something as dramatic as the parting of the sea. Sometimes, God’s miracles can be found in an unlikely friendship, overheard words, a bout of insomnia, the page of a king’s history book, or a roll of the dice!

Although Christians don’t observe Purim, perhaps we should. Let us never forget that Haman’s decree of death to the Jews extended to all Jews in the Persian empire, which would have included those Jews who had begun returning to Judah. Had Haman succeeded in his genocide, the Davidic line would have ended and disrupted God’s plan to send His son to be born a Jew in Bethlehem. The message we find in Esther is a simple one: God’s plans cannot be thwarted.

“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.” [Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NLT)]

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him? [Isaiah 14:27 (NLT)]

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February 26, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, Knowing Him, Prayer

APPROACHING OUR KING

I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. … The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.[Psalm 145:1-2,17-19 (NLT)]

lion

After Esther fasted and prayed about approaching the king, she had both courage and a strategy. From the way Xerxes was so easily manipulated by his Persian noble friends and Haman, it’s clear that he was a temperamental, weak, and foolish man; Esther used that knowledge to her advantage. When she dressed in her finest robes and approached the king, I imagine she made sure he was in good spirits and that she looked irresistible. Welcoming Esther and offering her half his kingdom, Xerxes invited his queen to ask for anything, but she knew better than to take the royal offer literally. Graciously, she only asked for his and Haman’s presence at a banquet that evening. Esther’s delay didn’t mean she’d lost her courage. Persian etiquette for making a request typically began with a small unrelated favor, which is what Esther did. After a pleasant evening, she beguiled Xerxes simply by inviting him to dinner again. Gaining one small concession at a time, she eventually worked her way up to the real issue at hand. By waiting to make her appeal, Esther aroused the king’s curiosity.

A banquet was the perfect setting for Esther’s request. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Persians typically decided important matters when they were drunk; once they’d sobered up, their decisions would be confirmed. That certainly was the case when the drunken Xerxes banished Queen Vashti. On the other hand, any decisions made while sober were suspect and were to be reevaluated when the parties were intoxicated (which may explain why Xerxes and Haman sat down to drink after their apparently sober decision to eliminate the Jews)! Esther understood the importance of alcohol in the king’s decision making and, after two nights of banquets, she finally made her request while they were drinking wine. When Esther asked the king to save her life and the lives of her people, she prudently put the blame for the wicked plot entirely on Haman rather than her easily manipulated husband.

By necessity, Esther made her plea to the king in a calculated and roundabout way. Fortunately, we don’t have to strategize or scheme when we approach our Heavenly King! Because we are His beloved children and know that He loves us, we don’t have to worry that God’s interest in us has waned. There’s no need to dress in our finest attire to entice Him nor must we wait until He extends his golden scepter before approaching His throne. God is far more interested in our hearts than our appearance and our imperfect selves can approach Him any time. We don’t have to pique God’s curiosity or manipulate Him into asking us what we want because God knows what we need even before we do! We don’t have to carefully phrase our words out of fear that He will banish us from His presence if we displease Him. We certainly don’t have to ply God with vintage wine, start with little favors before working up to our big request, or wait until He’s in a good mood before offering our prayers. God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. If we have no words, the Holy Spirit will speak for us.

Let us never approach God with subterfuge and apprehension as Esther did Xerxes. We should come to Him as candidly as did David and the other psalmists. With our Heavenly King, we can honestly sob in sorrow, shout in anger, plead in distress, stammer in confusion, whisper in fear, weep in regret, confess in repentance, shout in praise, sing in thanksgiving, and even dance in joy—all without fear of banishment from His presence!

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. [Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT)]

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