Category: Lessons from Bible Stories

Making open-ended promises to others. 9Jephthah said, "If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?" 10 "The LORD is our witness," the leaders replied. "We promise to do whatever you say." The people had wanted Jephthah to get rid of the enemies badly but what they promised him indicates that they have done so rashly. They promised to do whatever he says. Don't make the mistake of making open-ended promises to others. We may pledge loyalty or support to someone in an open ended way that will eventually put us in a tight spot. Don't make foolish promises without considering the implications. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said,…

As we read the book of 2 Chronicles, we find many accounts of downfall of God's people. We can examine the different circumstances under which they fail so that we will be careful not to fall into the same trap. Listening to the advise of the ungodly. 22:2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. 22:3 He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. 22:4 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father's death they became his advisers, to his undoing. We have to be careful who we get…

Chapters 25 through 31 record God’s directions for building the Tabernacle. Chapters 35 through 39 tell how these instructions were carried out. But what can all these ancient, complicated construction details show us today? God's instructions must be followed closely How the ark should be made… Exod 25:10  "Make an Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 3 3/4 feet long, 2 1/4 feet wide, and 2 1/4 feet high. 11Overlay it inside and outside with pure gold, and put a molding of gold all around it. 12Cast four rings of gold for it, and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13Make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14Fit the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it. 15These…

1  Later on God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am." 2  "Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." 3  The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place where God had told him to go. 4On the third day of the journey, Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5"Stay here with the donkey," Abraham told the young men. "The boy and…

What is our reaction to the King? (Mat 20:17-34 NIV) Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, {18} "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death {19} and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" The passage below is the one that describes the day which we now call Palm Sunday. It is the Sunday just before Good Friday, the day when Jesus would be crucified on the cross for our sins. Jesus told His followers that He would be…

From the passage, we could see how the widow was blessed by God through Elisha. We can learn principles about how we too can have God's blessings. These are the conditions that have to be present. Cry out for help (1) The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Crying out to God for help is a starting point if we want God's blessings. Chronicles 4:8 There was a man named Jabez who was more distinguished than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10  He was…

How we can rebel against our leadership Who gives you the right to tell us what to do? Numbers 16:1  One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 2They incited a rebellion against Moses, involving 250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly. 3They went to Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?" The first way the people rebelled against Moses was to challenge…

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" 2  "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3"It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." 4"You won’t die!" the serpent hissed. 5  "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil." 6  The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So…

When things go wrong, God is still in control. God can turn "bad" situation around and use them for His purpose. (Gen 37:19-28 NIV) "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. {20} "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." {21} When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. {22} "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. {23} So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him…

As the news about the Israelites' victory became widespread, the Israelites experienced opposition from the surrounding nations. One nation, the Gibeonites, decided that they could not fight Israel and resorted to deception. Joshua 9:1 Now all the kings west of the Jordan heard about what had happened. (These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as the Lebanon mountains.) 2These kings quickly combined their armies to fight against Joshua and the Israelites. 3But when the people of Gibeon heard what had happened to Jericho and Ai, 4they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags…