Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 32
June 4, 2018
Jerusalem’s Water Gate—Where the Source of Truth Gushed
Why You Need to Wall Off Your Time with the Bible
The best way to make sure we respond positively to the opportunities God provides us is to prepare ahead of time for them. But how do we anticipate those moments? The Lord has shown us how.
(Photo: Scribe copying the Scriptures. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
At the end of the exile, God moved the heart of the pagan King Artaxerxes to allow Ezra—a scribe and priest—to return to Jerusalem in 458 BC. Fourteen years before Nehe...
May 30, 2018
Walking with God Requires One Thing Most of All
How the basics keep us from growing cold.
We start strong. Determination and strength come easily. Faithfulness flows from our hearts. Then life happens. We didn’t plan to grow cold spiritually. But we did.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
Somehow, we can wake up after a number of years and discover that our lack of passion for God has gradually shifted Him away from our hearts. We then find ourselves living in the ruins of once-vibrant spiritual lives.
How does this happen? By forgetting this on...
May 28, 2018
How God Turns Unfair Criticism into a Blessing for You
From Bahurim to Susa, the Lord’s Providential Ironies Flow from Benjamin’s Tribe
It’s tough to hear criticism—especially when it’s wrong. One of the dark moments of King David’s reign saw him shuffling barefoot over the Mount of Olives, fleeing rather than facing a fight with his rebel son Absalom.
(Photo: Sunrise over the Mount of Olives. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
After David made his way over the summit, he passed below the Benjamite village of Bahurim. There a loudm...
May 23, 2018
God is Guiding Your Life and How You Can Know it For Sure
What seem like chances are really God's choices.
Sometimes it can feel like the Lord isn’t leading you toward anything significant in life. Or worse, that He has overlooked or abandoned you. One story reminds us that idea just isn’t true.
(Photo: Women harvesting wheat near Bethlehem. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
In the Old Testament, a destitute single-again woman named Ruth had little hope for a future. One day she took advantage of a provision in the Law that allowed...
May 21, 2018
God’s Surprising Tests for You Often Look for One Thing
When the tests come, we can believe what is true or what is false.
God’s tests are most often pop quizzes. You don’t see them coming. If you knew you would be running late tomorrow morning, you’d prepare ahead of time. But that’s not a real test.
(Photo: Shiloh, where Hannah trusted God. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
A real test hits your blindside. It tests the mettle of your theology, and often, it even seems to contradict it.
You have walked with God, but a family memb...God’s Pop Quizzes and Your Struggling Answers
When the tests come, we can believe what is true or what is false.
God’s tests are most often pop quizzes. You don’t see them coming. If you knew you would be running late tomorrow morning, you’d prepare ahead of time. But that’s not a real test.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)
A real test hits your blindside. It tests the mettle of your theology, and often, it even seems to contradict it.
You have walked with God, but a family member suddenly gets terribly ill. Your integrity on the job ha...May 16, 2018
What’s Your Motive? There’s Only One Way to Tell
How Tisha B'Av & the Burnt House Examine Us
What’s your motive? In Jerusalem, one site always begs the question. I find it fascinating that when the New Testament talks about God judging our motives, it uses the metaphor of a burnt house.
(Photo: The Burnt House in Jerusalem. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Some call it coincidence. Some call it Providence. But according to tradition, both the First and Second Temples (in 586 BC and AD 70) were destroyed on the same date in...
May 14, 2018
The Levitical Cities—God’s Word Made Accessible to You
Finding it is the easy part. The next step is the tough one.
I am convinced God is far more concerned that we know His will than we are. In fact, He has gone to great lengths to help us understand what we need to know. It’s always been this way. Here’s why.
(Photo: Tel Jokneam, one of the 48 Levitical Cities. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
God’s will is found in God’s Word. If we want to find His will, we must read His Word. It’s often that simple—and yet, it’s also diffic...
May 9, 2018
How to Insert Your Quiet Time into Your Crazy Life
One discipline more than any other will make all the difference.
Sometimes I’m amazed at the chasm that stands between my morning quiet time and the rest of the day. You know what I mean? At times, there seems such a huge breach between Scripture and the real world.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
Drinking deeply of the Word of God in the early morning hours, I express in prayer my love for the Lord, His Word, and His church. It’s all good.
But then I leave the house.
May 7, 2018
Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: How a Jewish Perspective Can Transform Your Understanding [Book]
Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: How a Jewish Perspective Can Transform Your Understanding by Lois Tverberg (Baker, 2018) When we read the Bible, we face a huge disadvantage. In the busyness and distraction of our 21st-century Western world, we can stare straight at the words on the page but miss their meaning. Even our Christian worldview can too easily assume a narrow perspective and, once again, miss the rich background upon which the Messiah lived. Bridging the g...
