The political pressures on the people described in 2 Chronicles 10-12 resonate with today’s realities. In 2 Chronicles 10:6-16, newly-crowned King Rehoboam chose the bad advice of his peers rather than the wisdom of the elders who were the advisors and leaders of people in his land. There was already bad blood between the northern 10 tribes and the southern two tribes (Judah and Benjamin). The farther away the tribes settled from the central point of worship first at Shiloh then at Gibeah and now at Jerusalem, the less the people were engaged in true YHWH worship. Eighty years earlier, the northern tribes took 7 years to embrace David as their king. Finally they did. David and Solomon maintained unity through victory over enemies, resulting in peace and prosperity. But, was it ever unity of heart to serve God together?

So teach us to consider our mortality,
so that we might live wisely. –Psalm 90:12 (NET)

When my father-in-law was about to pass away nearly eighteen years ago, he tried anxiously to explain his finances and how to access the files that would help my husband help his mother, but cancer had this special man and veteran in such a grip, that he couldn’t communicate well. Untangling the finances and getting things set up for his mother fell to my husband.

A real question from a real mom: "Sue, my daughter insists she's a boy. She has rejected all things feminine since she was a toddler. Now as a 15-year-old she says there's a mismatch between her brain and her body. She wants "top surgery" (a double mastectomy) and testosterone to bring her insides and outsides into alignment. She says God made her this way and He doesn't make mistakes so she is embracing a transgender identity. What do I do?"

Many of us have had the experience of asking our kids "How are you?" or "How was your day?" and gotten a simple "Fine" or "I don't know."

It's a question that doesn't usually get much of a response, and if I am being honest, I don't really like it when others ask me that question either.

Seasons of life change, careers change, organizations change, and relationships and friendships change. Change is—as they say—inevitable. How do you deal with change? Do you embrace it, reluctantly (and stubbornly) submit to it, or run full-speed in the opposite direction of it?

Which of Paul’s letters did he write? In a 2018 OnScript podcast, that question was addressed by Scott McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.[1] The context for the question was McKnight’s recent NICNT commentary on Colossians and Philemon (Eerdmans, 2018).
 

Exodus depicts the story of what God did when he heard his chosen people crying out for justice and deliverance from Egyptian oppression. Enter: the burning bush in Exodus 3. God commissioned Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to save them from the Egyptian tyrants. He told Moses to request Pharaoh's permission to let the Israelites leave Egypt. And Moses answered God’s call saying “Here I am.” But did he mean it?

The Lord’s mission of reaching the lost through Paul (Saul) began with his conversion from Christian-hater to devout disciple. The account, which forms a significant part of the apostle’s life and legacy, is described in three places in Acts (9:1–19; 22:2–21; 26:9–18). The basic narrative is the same in each case, but there are slight differences in the details in each telling of the account.
 

Several years ago, I had a neighbor whose father died and soon afterwards her dog died. When the father died, I never acknowledged his death in anyway to my neighbor. However, when the dog died, I expressed my condolences to her. At the time, I thought it was odd that I did not acknowledge the father’s death, but did the dog’s death. I remember thinking, “I put more emphasis on the dog dying than I did the father dying which seems odd.” Part of this misplaced value was my inability to know how to interact with the death of a human. 

I dug the shovel into the wet soil, pulled up on the roots, and placed tangled weeds one-by-one into a large Ikea bag. After a half hour my back ached, and the large number of remaining weeds angered me.

“I can pull weeds for the rest of my life and never finish. This is such a waste of time,” I thought.

A few minutes of anxiety passed, and the Holy Spirit softly unearthed a lie I believed: my value depends on my achievements.

Somewhere along the way this lie planted in my soul and produces tangled weeds. I live with constant self-talk: “Gotta get more done…gotta get more done.” The anxiety is exhausting.

DO YOU EVER TIRE OF THE ANXIETY TO PUSH HARDER TO ACHIEVE MORE SO THAT OTHERS (OR GOD) WILL VALUE YOU?

HERE ARE 3 TRUTHS GOD IS REMINDING ME: