James 1:19 ESV Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; As the Turkish proverbs goes, if speaking is silver, listening is golden. Speaking is easy; listening is hard. James calls us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. We have two ears and one mouth. This suggests that we should listen about twice as much as we speak! We have a good record of Jesus's words, but he is the ultimate listener too, to respond appropriately to his hearers. James isn't just telling us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, or even to seek to emulate Christ. He reminds us that we're brethren. We're adopted into God's family through faith in Jesus. Anger isn't necessarily wrong. In our anger we're not to sin. We're not to be quick tempered. 'Abba God, we praise you for adopting us into your family. Please help us to display the family characteristics: to be good, temperate listeners. For the glory of your name, a...
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.Exodus 9:16 ESVhttps://bible.com/bible/59/exo.9.16.ESV Secular historians point to the lack of extra-biblical evidence of Hebrew slavery in Egypt and ensuing exodus. But here in this verse, God describes how this anonymous Pharoah has been immortalised in the annals of the Hebrews, so that God is proclaimed in all the earth. The mighty men of the world might think they can stand against God and win, but resistance is futile! The more stubborn Pharoah was, the more the Lord was able to display His power. The more insistent Pharoah was of keeping his slaves, the more unreasonable he appeared. It was a battle of wills, and the will of Yahweh prevailed. In the end, Pharoah will have been broken by the plagues. In the final plague, his own firstborn son was killed, the next in line to the throne of the world superpower. He might have tried to put a brave...
Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 2 Kings 19:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2ki.19.16.ESV I love the Shai Linne song, 'Jesus is Alive'. It lists a load of famous people who are now dead, but triumphantly asserts that Jesus is alive. Sennacherib, leader of the world superpower of his day, and mocker of the living God, is dead. Jesus however is alive. Leaders of world superpowers tend to get arrogant. They think they're invincible. God tends to humble them, if not in life, then assuredly in death. A solitary angel of the Lord destroyed the entirety of the Assyrian army. Sennacherib returned home with his tail between his legs. He ended up getting murdered in a coup. King Hezekiah of Judah had no earthly resources to rely upon. He could only cry out to the living God to restore the honour of His name, mocked as it was by Sennacherib. Thankfully, the Lord g...
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