Taste and See

Parties and drinking and divorce and beauty contests and murder plots and…God turned it to good?

“Love is patient and kind;…it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way” (1 Cor 13:4-5, ESV).

Two drinking parties going on at the same time in the same town. They'll soon connect. What could go wrong? 

“Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.” —William Cowper 

Nehemiah empathized with the people's needs, emended their mistakes, and encouraged their success. 

“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,…You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!” (Ps 80:1). 

The priesthood we enjoy today, as with Christ's High Priesthood, is not according to law but by grace. 

God's good and acceptable and perfect will, believe it or not, awaits your willingness (Rom 12:1-2). 

How good to know that God promises to keep His people, and then promises to keep His promises! 

The willingness to be, and to have, just what God wants for us would set our hearts at rest. 

One big difference bet ween saints and sinners is where they go to satisfy their inner hunger. 

“God doesn't give us joy instead of sorrow, or in spite of sorrow, but joy in the midst of sorrow.” —W. Wiersbe 

How could they be expected to do the will of God if they didn't know the Word of God? How can we? 

Lies are often confused with history. The real story is often written by unheralded heroes.

Good leaders should not only talk but toil; not only toil but train; not only train but transfer. 

The life of faith can no more be sustained by flattery than it can be destroyed by criticism. 

Tobiah and company couldn't betray Nehemiah; they had to pay a friend he trusted to do that. 

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust'” (Ps 91:2). 

Is there a God-honoring objective? A plan to take you there? A commitment to follow through? 

In the life of faith, it's impossible to enrich others without ourselves becoming soul-enriched. 

True brothers never take advantage of you. They grieve your difficulties and celebrate your success. 

I'd rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God.

The antagonists talked down to the workers. The workers talked up to God—then kept on working. 

Heaven! “Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there” (Rev 21:25, BSB).

Where can we find Wisdom? “At the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words” (Prov 1:21). 

The following studies are illustrations, not interpretations, of the access points into God's presence. 

You can tell a lot about a person when work's to be done. Does he want a lighter load or a stronger back?

God is building in us as well as through us. And His masterpiece will have His saints' names upon it!

With good art, good morals, and good walls, it all comes down to putting lines in the right place.

The transforming vision wasn't what he saw with his eyes but what “God had put in [his] heart” (Neh 2:12).

Those who risk their all on the Lord may find they lose everything only to gain everything.

Kneeling before God certainly helps us gain the right perspective when standing before kings.

Why is prayer so strategic? We're talking to the Person who knows everything and can do anything!

Prayer lifts us up to God. But it does more than that. It brings God into our circumstances, too.

“To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble” (1 Pet 3:8, NASB).

Spiritual accomplishments are designed so they require both faith in God and grace from God. 

Shechaniah (“dwelling with Jah”), like a shooting star, appears just long enough to light up the darkness. 

Rarely are the right choice and the easy choice the same thing. God's will is never said to be easy.

God's door is open. He knows the whole story. His heart is toward us. He wants to restore us. Are we ready?

Some of God's servants seem to have instant success. Others walk right into trouble. But God…

In Christian marriage, we don't seek for our partner to meet our needs, but to share Christ's bounty.

Balaam-like, Satan can't curse God's people, but he can turn the blessing of marriage into a battlefield.

“O the sweet rest that's prepared for the faithful Will be His blest and final, ‘Well done.'” —L.E. Campbell 

Commentators differ on the dollar value of the treasure to be transported, but all agree it was a lot! 

The Jewish Levites were servants to the priests; the Gentile Nethinim were servants to the servants! 

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” —John C. Maxwell 

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers…What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Ps 8:3-4). 

Be willing in your sacrifice. Be careful in your spending. Deliver fully in your service. And teach others.

As they left, so they returned, in three waves: under Jeshua (538 BC), Ezra (458 BC), and Nehemiah (444 BC). 

The temple was a masterpiece. But who knew the Owner's Manual, explaining its use? Enter Ezra! 

God will rebuild your ruins: “It's never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot