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Month: March 2021

Nobody had ever heard of anyone miraculously healing the blind, but it was a distinguishing mark of the true Messiah (see Isaiah 61:1-2).

Nobody had ever heard of anyone miraculously healing the blind, but it was a distinguishing mark of the true Messiah (see Isaiah 61:1-2).

BibleGateway: John 9:1-33 ESV Text: John 9:1-33 John 9:1–33 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9:1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it…

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Just as God said, the Babylonians conquered Judea, exiled the best and brightest of the people, and set up a puppet king. The Lord was their only hope for deliverance.

Just as God said, the Babylonians conquered Judea, exiled the best and brightest of the people, and set up a puppet king. The Lord was their only hope for deliverance.

BibleGateway: 2 Kings 24:1-17 ESV Text: 2 Kings 24:1-17 2 Kings 24:1–17 (Listen) 24:1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke…

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The Lord would not reverse the judgment planned for Judah, but there was a way of escape for the faithful: those who trusted in Him for forgiveness would have forgiveness and life.

The Lord would not reverse the judgment planned for Judah, but there was a way of escape for the faithful: those who trusted in Him for forgiveness would have forgiveness and life.

BibleGateway: Habakkuk 2:2-5 ESV Text: Habakkuk 2:2-5 Habakkuk 2:2–5 (Listen) The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith 2 And the LORD answered me:   “Write the vision;    make it plain on tablets,    so he may run who reads it.3   For still the vision awaits its appointed time;    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it;    it will surely come; it will not delay. 4   “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,    but the righteous shall live by his…

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But at God’s answer, Habakkuk was concerned. Why would He bring justice this way? Why would a nation even worse than Judah take over the land?

But at God’s answer, Habakkuk was concerned. Why would He bring justice this way? Why would a nation even worse than Judah take over the land?

BibleGateway: Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 ESV Text: Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 (Listen) Habakkuk’s Second Complaint 12   Are you not from everlasting,    O LORD my God, my Holy One?    We shall not die.  O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment,    and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.13   You who are of purer eyes than to see evil    and cannot look at wrong,  why do you idly look at traitors    and remain silent when the wicked swallows up    the man more righteous than he?14   You make mankind like the fish of…

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Though Josiah’s reforms in Judah were good, the need for God’s judgment on their sin remained. Habakkuk cried out for it and God promised it would come via Chaldea (Babylonia).

Though Josiah’s reforms in Judah were good, the need for God’s judgment on their sin remained. Habakkuk cried out for it and God promised it would come via Chaldea (Babylonia).

BibleGateway: Habakkuk 1:1-11 ESV Text: Habakkuk 1:1-11 Habakkuk 1:1–11 (Listen) 1:1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. Habakkuk’s Complaint 2   O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,    and you will not hear?  Or cry to you “Violence!”    and you will not save?3   Why do you make me see iniquity,    and why do you idly look at wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me;    strife and contention arise.4   So the law is paralyzed,    and justice never goes forth.  For the wicked surround the righteous;    so justice goes forth perverted. The Lord’s…

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Unbelief is slavery because the unbeliever can do nothing but sin before God. Only the truth, the message of Christ’s forgiveness, can break those chains.

Unbelief is slavery because the unbeliever can do nothing but sin before God. Only the truth, the message of Christ’s forgiveness, can break those chains.

BibleGateway: John 8:30-59 ESV Text: John 8:30-59 John 8:30–59 (Listen) 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. The Truth Will Set You Free 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you…

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Jesus reveals the Father because He is from the Father and is with the Father.

Jesus reveals the Father because He is from the Father and is with the Father.

BibleGateway: John 8:12-29 ESV Text: John 8:12-29 John 8:12–29 (Listen) I Am the Light of the World 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where…

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Martin Luther wasn’t the only one to lead a country in a return to God’s Word. Josiah led the “Reformation” of the Old Testament. What gifts our gracious God gives to His Church!

Martin Luther wasn’t the only one to lead a country in a return to God’s Word. Josiah led the “Reformation” of the Old Testament. What gifts our gracious God gives to His Church!

BibleGateway: 2 Kings 23:1-30 ESV Text: 2 Kings 23:1-30 2 Kings 23:1–30 (Listen) Josiah’s Reforms 23:1 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the…

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In our day of printed books and the internet, who can imagine the Bible ever being lost? In Josiah’s day, though, it had been. Let’s never forget the blessings of being close to God’s Word!

In our day of printed books and the internet, who can imagine the Bible ever being lost? In Josiah’s day, though, it had been. Let’s never forget the blessings of being close to God’s Word!

BibleGateway: 2 Kings 22:1-13 ESV Text: 2 Kings 22:1-13 2 Kings 22:1–13 (Listen) Josiah Reigns in Judah 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left….

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God answered Hezekiah’s prayer, but not just to save Hezekiah. He had all of Judah in mind, didn’t He? All the world, even.

God answered Hezekiah’s prayer, but not just to save Hezekiah. He had all of Judah in mind, didn’t He? All the world, even.

BibleGateway: 2 Kings 20:1-11 ESV Text: 2 Kings 20:1-11 2 Kings 20:1–11 (Listen) Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Now, O LORD, please…

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