King Inside
In the Mornings

It is funny to me, how of all Jacob’s children and their children, God chose Judah’s and Tamar’s hot mess of a relationship to be the seed from which Jesus would be born. Judah had three sons. His oldest married Tamar. But his oldest died leaving no heir. Tradition dictated his second son would give Tamar an heir. But the second son chose to have the fun but not the...

Bible or Hallmark Movie?
In the Mornings

Genesis 19 is just a bizarre chapter. I read most of the chapter with an expression of disgust, thinking, “If this were a TV show, I would have turned it off.” It’s weird when you think you need to watch a Hallmark Movie to cleanse your pallet from a Bible reading. How does an entire town unite and decide to sexually assault strangers visiting your town? Was there a town...

Curse or Habit
In the Mornings

Are there generational curses? I don’t think so because of verses like this: Old Testament: “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” Ezekiel‬ ‭18:20‬ ‭NIV‬‬ New...

Reconciling in Love
In the Mornings

In light of everything that has been going on this week, I have been reading and meditating on Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas were two mighty men of God. They had preached together and had seen many miraculous signs. Paul, the straight forward Apostle and Barnabas, the encouraging Pastor. They seemed like the perfect match…until they weren’t. At the end of Acts 15 the dream team had an argument so...

Family
In the Mornings

Yesterday, because of some recent developments, I was thinking about my family’s history – my lineage. As I thought about it, there was this shame that came upon me because of the decisions made by people before me and even choices I have made. I found myself saying, “Man, my family is pretty screwed up.” Immediately the Holy Spirit said, “So was Jesus’ family.” Jesus’ earthly lineage is filled with...

Redeemed and Restored
In the Mornings

God redeems and restores. Do you believe that? No matter how bad things may seem now, no matter how desolate your situation appears, no matter how barren your land is at this moment, God is redeeming and restoring at this moment. He redeems and restores so beautifully that when you look back, you will be tempted to think the wrong was caused by God. You will think if I hadn’t...

From Prosecutor to Preacher
In the Mornings

Are you praying for a loved one who seems as if they are a million miles from Jesus? Take heart, no one is beyond God’s loving redemption. Saul, now known as Paul, not only opposed the Gospel message, but actively persecuted the church. He rounded up Christians and had them violently slaughtered. Yet God, redeemed Paul. Paul became known as the man who formerly persecuted the church but is now...

Redeemed
In the Mornings

King David had many sons, many choices for someone to proceed him as king. Yet he chose Solomon. Solomon was the child born from David’s most renown sin. When David should have been at war, he was home napping, and spotted a beautiful woman innocently fulfilling the law of purification. He spotted her, took her, slept with her and then killed her husband as a cover-up. Solomon was the product...