Ezra lived at a hinge time in history. The Babylonians had demolished Judah and captured the people, bringing them to Babylon. After seventy years, the Persian Empire overtook the Babylonians and permitted the Israelites to return home. The reason for this traumatic series of events was the people’s idolatry. God had prophesied through Jeremiah and…
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What is Your Scent?
Jerusalem and all of Judah turn from Yahweh to worship false gods so the prophet Jeremiah confronted them. How can you say, 'I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals '? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel entangling her…
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Sober and Alert
Our God’s lovingkindness abounds toward us. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who love and worship Him. His compassionate fatherly concerns make Him sensitive to our needs. He longs to help us. We live in a hostile world influenced by the devil, so indeed we…
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Something to Consider – The Simple Basics
The beginning of a new year is a good time to review the basics. Daily read the Scriptures Psalm one illustrates the importance of keeping God’s words in our mind. It says those who delight in the law of Yahweh and meditate therein day and night will be like a tree firmly planted by streams…
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Something to Consider – Thanksgiving
Dear Ones, God bless you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving is essential to thanks living, and thanks living is essential to joyful living. Philippians 4:6 - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God Thanksgiving is a voluntary…
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Path of Life
I prefer MapQuest over my GPS because I like getting all the directions upfront before starting the journey. The lady on my GPS tells me only my next move; howbeit, most often she is kind enough to repeat herself. The Scriptures provide the general information we need to live for God and assure us that…
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The Reason for Man
The reason for man is a personal, continuous, and intimate love relationship with Yahweh. Far more important than wealth, prestige, human relationships, accomplishment, or success of any kind is our love association with our Father God. When this is first, then everything else in life seems to work out properly. When it is not as…
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The Law of Reciprocal Honor
Dear Saint, God has blessed you. Your relationship with God is the single most important aspect of your life, and He is the initiator of this relationship. He loved and called you plus placed the desire within you to love and respond to Him. In our culture, success is measured by how busy we are…
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Love Lifted Me
God bless, beloved, The other day, I was on a conference call with three healthcare providers regarding the future plans for someone in their care. The person who initiated and steered the conversation was curt and somewhat disrespectful. When I talked, she discarded what I said and interrupted. Such interaction offers an invitation to…
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The Excellent Way
Dear Believer, God’s abounding blessings to you during this holiday season. Profound and riveting is the clear and emphatic emphasis Jesus placed on love. When the skeptical lawyer asked Jesus what was the great commandment in the Law, his response was to love God with your all and all and to love your neighbor as…
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Magnified Word
How do we avoid the devastation of sin? In Psalm 119:11, the psalmist gives valuable input. “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” When God’s Word is our treasure (that which we value most), sin has much less of an appeal to us. In the King James…
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Forgive
Dear Ones, David’s beloved son Absalom premeditated a coup that caused a revolution in Israel that in the end cost the lives of over 22,000 Israelites. Absalom enticed many of the influential men in David’s kingdom to join him in the revolt such as the man Amasa. He was the first cousin of Absalom because…
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WAIT ON YAHWEH
At the age of 17, Joseph (his father’s favorite) had 11 brothers and one sister. The resentful brothers would have killed him unless Judah suggested they sell him to Ishmaelites. “Why not make a few dollars and still get rid of the brat!” At such a young age, he was ripped from father’s house and…
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Busy doing what?
“How are you doing?” he asked. The response, “I am very busy, so I’m doing good.” Conversations like this one are not uncommon in our very busy world today. We have connected busyness with doing well as if it were some kind of virtue. With all the advanced information and communication technology available, it seems…
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Something To Consider
Dear One, The United States is very blessed to have the national holiday of Thanksgiving! With our eyes upon God’s goodness and grace, we can overflow with gratitude every day and thereby live a rich life. The Scriptures repeatedly encourage us to be thankful. Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk…
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Something to consider
God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Thinking about our God and Father is always good to do, and every so often, when times are hard, dwelling on Him, His promises, and hope is my only solace. What follows is something consider. I Love Thee, O LORD [Yahweh], my strength. The LORD [Yahweh]…
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Affectionate Compassion
Our theme for Family Camp this summer was Affectionate Compassion with the epistle of Philippians as our primary text. Since loving God and others is the Christian’s primary focus and it is impossible to love God without loving people, according to 1 John 4:20, learning how to relate properly to our fellowman is essential. Camp…
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Fellowship
The ancient city of Corinth was noted for its wealth and the luxurious, immoral conduct of its people. As Las Vegas is today, Corinth was in its day-“Sin City.” It was the place in the Roman Empire where people went to indulge in carnal pleasures. The believers in Corinth had difficulty separating themselves from the…
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Synchronized Life
Jesus always had his heart aligned with the will of God and his actions with his heart. He lived a perfectly synchronized life and thereby provided an excellent example for his disciples. Confronting the hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus quoted from Isaiah – “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far…
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Something to Consider: Stay Blessed
Dear Saints, As we move into the holiday season and the winter, developing a plan to stay blessed and godly instead of succumbing to the seasonal doldrums (a time of listlessness or despondency) is wise. A few suggestions to consider are to stay physically fit, push yourself to get out of the house and attend…
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God’s Family, a Symbiotic Loving Relationship
Dear Saints, “God’s Family, a Symbiotic Loving Relationship” was the title of my teaching during the Royal Family Reunion and the subject of this writing. “Symbiosis” is a word used in biology referring to the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship. Yahweh’s family relationship designed by Him as a…
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Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Our intention with this issue of Glad Tidings, as with all, is enrichment in your understanding of our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus that inspires sharing the good news with others. Prayer is a vital part of our walk, so here is something to consider regarding the Lord’s Prayer. The foundational prayer Jesus…
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The Just Judge
Dear Saints, Yahweh is the righteous Judge, and we can trust Him to do what is right, even if for now we must endure many injustices in the present evil world. When Abraham bargained with Yahweh to save Sodom, according to Genesis 18:25, he understood that the Judge of the whole earth always…
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Delight
Yahweh’s great dream expressed often in the Scriptures is: “I will be your God, and you shall be My people.” God has always yearned for this loving relationship with man and has ensured that in the end it will be so. David is one who understood God’s desire and shared the same devotion in return.…
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