We continue looking at the ancient Hebrew alphabet: the modern word for “religion” is the word – “dat” – spelled in Hebrew, “dalet”- “tav”. The ancient Hebrew letter “dalet” pictures a door. And as we have previously shown, the “tav” is a covenant sign which is pictured as a simple cross. So the word “religion” in ancient Hebrew, could also be expressed as “the door of the covenant sign (a cross)”.
...continue reading this devotion.Yesterday, I shared from this same passage. But today, something even more powerful touched my heart about it — and it was so humbling, I had to share it with you too.
...continue reading this devotion.I can’t begin to tell you. So many people I’ve shared the Gospel with have answered, “Well — I don’t need that, I’m a good person.” No, we’re not. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with our neighbor, thinking how nice or how giving we are compared to him or her. But none of us are good by God’s standards. Our good works are like filthy rags, according to Isaiah.
...continue reading this devotion.The first thirty years of my life were spent in Baltimore, Maryland, and I have many fond memories there. One of these is a trail in the woods by the Patapsco River. I used to go fishing there with my dad and spent many a weekend hanging out with my friends, wading in the water.
...continue reading this devotion.There once was a girl who hated herself. You see, she had become blind in her early teens from a rare disease. Not only did she hate herself but she hated everyone else too. She was angry at the world, angry at God, angry at everyone.
...continue reading this devotion.Tonight begins Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar year. Some of you may know that a lot of bad things have happened to the Jewish people on this date, the first of which was when the spies returned with an evil report of Israel, written about in Numbers 13 and 14. Both the first and the second Temple were destroyed on this exact day, hundreds of years apart. The Crusades began on this day in 1095. The Jews were expelled out of England on this day in 1290. They were expelled out of Spain and Portugal on this day in 1492. And these are just to name a few!
...continue reading this devotion.Maybe it’s because we live in the desert and our bodies crave salt to maintain a certain level of hydration or something, but lately we’ve become big fans of salt around here. Not a day goes by that our daughter, Elianna doesn’t ask for “salt in my hand please”, lol. “What in the world does salt have to do with grace and truth?”, you ask. Well, I’ll tell you.
...continue reading this devotion.