Miriam
Read: Exodus 2:1-10; 15:20-21 Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously . . . (15:21) Miriam must have been the type of little girl who paid attention. We find her watching over her little brother as he floated away from her in a basket down the Nile. She watched and followed, and eventually […]
Sarah
Read: Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-3 At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. (18:14) Sarah knew the pain of unmet longing. For years, she had hoped for a child, only to be met with disappointment again and again. By the time these strangers came […]
Hagar
Read: Genesis 16:6-14 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing.” (v. 13) Nobody asked the handmaid. Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian slave, had no choices. She did not choose to cast her lot with Abram’s growing band of wanderers, to have Abram’s child, or to become […]
Gospel on Wheels
Hari is an ambulance driver in Udhampur, India. Ambulances are always in high demand and short supply in India, but these days Hari receives more calls than ever. As India’s healthcare system continues to be stretched to the limit due to the spread of COVID-19, Hari must work long and tiring days, putting himself at […]
Sarai and Hagar
Read: Genesis 16:1-5 Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. (v. 2) Often, when we get to this part of the story, we talk about Sarai’s lack of faith. She becomes a cautionary tale warning people against not trusting God’s timing. However, I think she deserves a bit more credit. She had […]
Sarai
Read: Genesis 12:1-9 And Abram took Sarai his wife . . . and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. (v. 5) Nobody asked the wife. Abram, later to become Abraham, the great patriarch of the Old Testament, is celebrated as a man of great faith. However, his wife, Sarai (later called […]
Eve
Read: Genesis 3:9-24 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (v. 20) We know Eve’s story: she was deceived by the serpent, chose to eat of the fruit, and gave some to Adam. Then they were driven out of the garden to wander in a wilderness of […]
Wilderness Journeys
Read: Psalm 68:4-10 . . . when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain . . . (vv. 7-8) God’s people often find themselves on a journey. Adam and Eve left the safety of Eden’s enclosure for the wild world, Abraham and Sarah were nomads in the desert, and […]
The Great Encouragement
Read: Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee. (v. 16) We often call this passage “The Great Commission,” and with good reason. A commission is a command to do something specific on behalf of someone else. The Great Commission sounds the farewell message of the risen Lord to his followers, and includes his […]