Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and 1 Kings 9:1-9.

A hinge is a small piece of hardware, securing the movement of a great door. When two are carefully in place, the heaviest of doors floats on air. A slight touch of the hand opens it easily.

There are hinges in the interaction between God and Solomon in chapter 9. The first is the tiny word “IF.” “If you walk before me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness …” The second hinge is the little word “THEN.” “Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever.”

While God loves us without any “IFS, ANDS, or BUTS,” there are conditions when it comes to having a relationship with the Lord. Just as in marriage, as we see in Hosea, God demands us to be faithful to God alone. Are you?

1 Kings 9—10

Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Your name always in my heart 9:3

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In this season, Proverbs 20-11; 1 Kings

For the daily Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Hosea 8:1-10.

The message keeps pounding away when the people ignore God. Infidelity in marriage means more than actual adultery; indifference to the other is unfaithfulness as well.

In verse 4, the Lord speaks through Hosea about decisions made without consulting the Lord. This can happen at a church meeting or a family gathering. The group prays first, but the discussion following is often barren of Godly awareness—no ongoing seeking the Lord’s guidance, direction and will.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by indifference. Treasure the love of Jesus for you. The grace of God won for you on the cross is free, but it is not cheap.

Hosea 8

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Always seeking what is good v. 3

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In this season we read Hosea; in the 9th week, we read Lamentations 3.

For the daily Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the reading.

 After Jesus’s family rejects him, further family pain comes in the murder of his cousin, John the Baptist. Herod Antipas beheads this last and greatest of the prophets.

This Herod is the son of Herod the Great, the one that made magnificent expansions on the Second Temple; he murdered the innocent babies of Bethlehem when the Magi went back to their countries.

Notice the vices present, all of the seven traditional ones: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. One vice breeds another, especially when pride is embedded in a person.

Be sobered by this evil, and the atrocious murders that take place in our day because the same evils are present. Be with John’s disciples as they quietly come and bury him; stay close to Jesus and feel his pain.

Mark 6:14–29

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Freedom from human respect v. 26

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark

For daily Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.