2 Samuel 3 – Strong-willed by definition is being determined to do something regardless of what is advised against it. This mindset is really a double edged…
The Renovation Blog
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2 Samuel 2 – As reality settles in of Saul’s death, David is crowned King over Judah. The remaining 11 tribes do not acknowledge this crown and…
2 Samuel 1 – I love a good cup of coffee. In fact, putting a pot of Joe on in the morning is the first thing of…
1 Samuel 31 – In a grisly end, Saul’s death comes as predicted within 24 hours. In the heat of the battle, the Philistines overtake Saul, killing…
1 Samuel 30 – “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” David left King Achish and with his men all returned…
1 Samuel 29 – In a most fascinating history according to Wikipedia, the gesture of crossing your fingers traces all the way back to the early church….
1 Samuel 28 – Saul was at the end of himself. He would literally be at the end within 24 hours. This most bizarre and troubling story…
1 Samuel 27 – “David said to himself…” David was tired. He had been on the run for months stretching into years. Empty promises…
1 Samuel 26 – Same story, different day. Let’s see, Saul makes a promise to not pursue David. Saul breaks the promise and takes 3000 men to…
1 Samuel 25 – Sometimes it seems that if it’s not one thing, it’s another. This is the case for David. During a reprieve of Saul’s antics…
1 Samuel 24 – In the political age of which we live, we all have opinions about the current status of our country. We hold thoughts about…
1 Samuel 23 – Drunk on the fresh blood of priests murder, Saul is out to destroy David. Ruthless in his attempts he leads his army in…
1 Samuel 22 – The disgruntled and discontent join together; the ruthless ever-growing paranoid behavior acts out in murder; the innocent are slaughtered. Oh the intentions…
1 Samuel 21 – David the fugitive; David the man on the run; he resorts to lying to seek protection. It is the strangest story here as…
1 Samuel 20 – Deep, genuine friendships are hard to come by. These rare relationships that stir a kindred spirit between 2 individuals seemingly rarely happen. One…
1 Samuel 19 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I…
1 Samuel 18 – Relationships hold highs and lows for us. There are those that are such a gem and we treasure greatly. There are others which…
1 Samuel 17 – There are many things which have been written about David and Goliath’s encounter. This magnificent storyline is incredibly inspiring and applicable to so…
1 Samuel 16 – Sometimes the moving on from a saddened heavy burden is one of the toughest things to get beyond. The opening sentence states how…
1 Samuel 15 – I will tell you, this is one of the saddest chapters. It truly brought pain to my heart on so many different levels….
1 Samuel 14 – By all accounts, Saul had now been the king of Israel for several years. This chapter peels back the miserable leader he was….
1 Samuel 13 – I’ve always wondered if Samuel purposely showed up late. It set things in motion as to bad choices which were justifiable in Saul’s…
1 Samuel 12 – Take a moment to consider the goodness of God. Yes, even if at this point of whatever is going on, your heart has…
1 Samuel 11 – We see the making of Saul as a leader within this chapter as when taking the role of king, crisis hits. Isn’t that…
1 Samuel 10 – Samuel boldly speaks to Saul of his calling and role he is about to play for Israel. He anoints him king. He tells…
1 Samuel 9 – Life is filled with so many common events. What would our perspective be if we looked at even the common occurrences of life…
1 Samuel 8 – There’s a saying, “Be careful what you ask for. You may just get it.” There is such truth to this as often we’re…
1 Samuel 7 – Twenty years – it took twenty long years for the people of Israel to get to the point they were ready to follow…
1 Samuel 6 – The Philistines knew they had to send the ark back to Israel. When it was first captured, it was put on display as…
1 Samuel 5 – Dagon was the chief god of many in the ancient world of whom the Philistines worshiped. He was responsible for the rain and the harvest or so they believed…
1 Samuel 4 – One statement, that’s all there is. Chapter 4 opens, “Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel.” We read nothing more of…
1 Samuel 3 – God has never done things the ‘normal’ way. Ever. It seems that every story within the Bible is chock full of examples where…
1 Samuel 2 – Hannah sings praise to God for hearing her heart cry. He’s seen her affliction, her struggle and now feels vindicated on every level…
1 Samuel 1 – The ache of sorrow finds its ways to the deepest parts of our hearts. When it comes, we feel it as we breathe…
2 Timothy 4 – Many times we don’t perceive we have a ministry. We think it is for clergy or people paid for such a job or task…
2 Timothy 3 – End Times thoughts are pretty much on people’s hearts a lot it seems. It is a topic that even those who are not…
2 Timothy 2 – Paul sat in chains writing to Timothy whom he loved deeply as a son. From behind bars, he continued to encourage and call…
2 Timothy 1 – This second letter to Timothy was written 2 years after the first about 66 or 67 AD. Paul had been released from prison…
1 Timothy 6 – Sometimes we get it backward. We forget that everything we accumulate, everything we strive to have, we can’t take with us in the…
1 Timothy 5 – The domino effect is something we all have experienced from time to time. This is when a chain reaction is produced by one…
1 Timothy 4 – Since Eden Satan has been speaking his doctrines of lies. His creed consists of the idea we all can be gods and operate…
1 Timothy 3 – Paul becomes very specific for those who would be in leadership within the church. Leadership is a heavy responsibility because the church itself…
1 Timothy 2 – When we think of prayer – often it revolves around the things that affect us directly. I mean, this is how it often…
1 Timothy 1 – Timothy became as a son to Paul. His mother and grandmother were Jewish believers who shaped his life as a young man…
Romans 16 – As the letter of Romans closes, Paul turns personal. From the beginning of this remarkable and outstanding work inspired by the Holy Spirit concerning solid truth,…
Romans 15 – Gosh, selfishness drives us. Choices we make are usually based on our wants. Decisions to follow through usually come with the question of ‘What will it…
Romans 14 – “Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say…
Romans 13 – Nothing is worse than a short night’s sleep. It feels as though the moment your head hit the pillow, the alarm went off. Throughout…
Romans 12 – According to the Old Testament Law, a priest would sacrifice an animal for the sins of the people. It was cut into…
Romans 11 – “It’s you, the outsiders that I’m concerned with now. Because my personal assignment is focused on the so-called outsiders…
Romans 10 – “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek…
Romans 9 – They missed the boat. The Israelites, those who knew the Scripture, awaited the promise of the coming Messiah had waited for generations…
Romans 8 – God kicked our sinful nature in the teeth when He sent Jesus. More importantly through the death of our Lord and consequent resurrection, He made available…
Romans 7 – The ways of God hold many paradoxes. If you want to be great, you must become a servant. Stories throughout show God called people to lead…
Romans 6 – Veto: A decision by a person in authority to not allow or approve something. Paul lays out the power of sin and death it brings in…
Romans 5 – We’re selfish. Decisions are made based on what benefits us, what we want to do. Seeing someone in need or crying out for help sometimes causes…
Romans 4 – Abraham was known and still today to the Jews as the Father of Israel. From the very beginning when God called him to leave his homeland…
Romans 3 – Paul paints a very hopeless and depressing picture through these chapters. As he hammers against those who use the Law to justify their behavior, lists specific…
Romans 2 – We could rattle off a list. It’s the things we find so offensive or off with people. We categorize these as sin. We place degrees on…
Romans 1 – Paul had never been to Rome; neither had the church leaders of Jerusalem. It’s widely believed the church was started from people who were in…
2 Kings 25 – The final chapter here in 2 Kings 25 records the last siege of Jerusalem, the Jews led into captivity and history of the remnant left…
2 Kings 24 – It finally happened. Judah was invaded and taken into captivity. Babylon was the new world leader. They’d overthrown the mighty Assyrians and taken…
2 Kings 23 – “There was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all…
2 Kings 22 – “Revival and spiritual awakening are marked by expressions of the conviction of sin.” -David Guzik As we’ve read the countless stories of the…
2 Kings 21 – It’s hard to imagine how an offspring of Hezekiah like Manasseh could be so polar opposite and evil. When Manasseh took to the…
2 Kings 20 – If you knew how long you had to live, would it make a difference in how you lived? Let’s set the stage here….
2 Kings 17 – It is a salacious list. Entitled, “Why Israel Fell” it records all that Israel participated in and why God removed His presence. Smack…
2 Kings 18 – Finally a king who was godly! With the northern kingdom overthrown, Judah was placed firmly between 2 world powers, Egypt and Assyria who…
2 Kings 16 – Ahaz was a weak and extremely compromising ruler. Under his leadership, their religious system was put to shambles. He reconstructed everything about it,…
2 Kings 19 – The king of Assyria, Sennacherib invades and takes several cities of Judah captive. King Hezekiah had paid a ransom of silver and gold…
2 Kings 15 – I know, I know, it may seem for some this lineage of the kings just never ends. It’s easy to gloss over and…
2 Kings 14 – Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the lineage of king after king through this book. Yes, it’s tough to push through and…
2 Kings 13 – “Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer…” 2 Kings 13:5 It’s an obscure statement of a nameless individual whom God rose up from…
2 Kings 12 – Throughout the reigns of the kings we read of something called the high places. In fact, these are mentioned 117 times…
2 Kings 11 – This is a great obscure story! For 6 years the mother of Ahaziah reigned. This self-proclaimed Queen Athaliah was the daughter…
2 Kings 10 – It’s a bloodbath. Jehu takes the mission of eradicating the false worship of Baal and the lineage of Ahab from the land…
2 Kings 9 – Elijah had prophesied years before that Ahab, his family and dynasty would be destroyed. This prophecy was about to be fulfilled…
2 Kings 8 – When it comes to things and ways of God, there are no coincidences. Ever. The opening story of chapter 8 is a throwback…
2 Kings 7 – “Hear the word of the Lord…” Elisha proclaimed boldly that within a 24 hour time frame God would bring a miracle. Even…
2 Kings 6 – Consider who in your life is deeply spiritual. Think about possibly even an encounter with someone who simply saw beyond the…
2 Kings 5 – Aram had been a neighbor to Israel for centuries but rarely was on friendly terms. Under David’s rule they payed tribute to Israel…
2 Kings 4 – 4 amazing miracles. Money provided for a widow. Raising a dead boy to life. Purifying poisonous food. Providing food for 100…
2 Kings 3 – Israel and Judah had some of the best land. The neighboring Moabites envied such ground and often would attack both nations…
2 Kings 2 – It is a story of amazing commitment and determination in a relationship. Elijah was about to be taken to heaven and his…
2 Kings 1 – As the retelling of the kings and their rule continue, we open to a strange story. Ahab was dead. Moab rebelled against the…
1 Kings 22 – Spiritual wisdom and discernment are needed on all decisions we make and carry through with. This story in 1 Kings 22 could…
1 Kings 21 – Her name is synonymous with the most evil woman in all of Scripture. In fact, her name is mentioned in Revelation as an…
1 Kings 20 – So far there have been two evil kings and two good kings. The southern kingdom, Judah, still wavers between righteous and…
1 Kings 19 – “Elijah failed in the very point at which he was strongest, and that is where most men fail. In Scripture, it is the…
1 Kings 18 – “The troubler of Israel” or as he was called by Ahab came out of hiding after 3 years. The land had seen no…
1 Kings 17 – It would be 41 years of spiritual darkness coming from the Throne Room of Israel. With Ahab reigning, the only light that would…
1 Kings 16 – He would reign for 41 years. 41 years of sheer evil would be doled out to the people of Israel as they themselves…
1 Kings 15 – The next two chapters tell of the legacies of several kings who rose and led both Israel and Judah. For the most part…
1 Kings 14 – It’s the tale of 2 kings who flagrantly walked away from God and His commands. Consider how as the nation was already split…
1 Kings 13 – It is the strangest of stories. A nameless prophet is sent to speak against the false worship King Jeroboam has established…
1 Kings 12 – The split of the nation unfolds that would last for centuries. Solomon had died. Rehoboam his son succeeded him and it was…
1 Kings 11 – For all the wisdom Solomon had, his heart led him in foolishness. It’s really quite astounding when you consider what we’ve read so…
1 Kings 10 – It’s a written showcase of Solomon’s success. From the Queen of Sheba visiting and declaring for herself the grandeur of his…
1 Kings 9 – 24 years had passed since Solomon took the throne. He had finished the construction of the temple as well as his palace. On…
1 Kings 8 – It was the moment the Israelites had longed for – the completion of the Temple. For hundreds of years they had worshiped…