-
Proper Confidence
Sometimes a reading plan will put interesting passages in parallel. Like 2 Chronicles 32 and James 5. (7-21-11) Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. (James 5:12 NIV)…
-
Redeemed Where?
You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the lord will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies. (Micah 4:10 NIV) (Originally written 6-9-2011.) You will go to Babylon, the place of punishment and despair. (see Psalm 137 on “By the rivers of Babylon.”) The place of discouragement and exile.…
-
Other Sides of Love
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV (6-26-2011) Not timid. Check. That leads to power. Check. And self-discipline. Check. But love? That doesn’t sound like power. In our culture love is kind of associated with weakness. But not in God’s…
-
Reminding God
“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.“ 2 Chronicles 20:10 (6-21-2011) Again with the reminding God of what He already knows. Honestly, as you look through…
-
Zeal
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11 (5-31-11) Zeal is slippery. We can replace it with excitement, which is transitory, or we can lose it to exhaustion, which is consuming. So how do I keep my zeal? Well, Paul tells us: maintain your spiritual fervor and serve…
-
Whose Feet?
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Romans 16:20 (6-3-2011) Under our feet. God is doing the crushing, but He is using our feet. Sometimes Satan’s attacks can be fierce. Or so persistently annoying as to be disheartening. But God can…
-
The Courage to Pray
“Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.” 2 Samuel 7:27 (Originally written 5-3-11) The courage to pray a prayer. Not recite it. Pray it. Bring it before God as a…
-
Anxious
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23 (4-29-11) Anxious thoughts. When I think of this verse, I am usually thinking of it in terms of sinful thoughts in the more traditional vein. Lust, pride, jealousy. But the word here is ‘anxious.’ Lord, look for anxious thoughts,…
-
Just a Thought
But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” So David and…
-
Ready?
Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6 (4-13-2011) Love the confidence in God, confidence I need to mirror. And notice he…
For years, I’ve produced brief devotional videos called Jumpstarts that I published in various outlets. (You can find them here, as well as the odd podcast.) The root of those videos was daily Bible journals I’ve been doing for decades.
I recently decided to take a hiatus from the videos, and instead publish excerpts from those journals here.
As you’ll soon see, they tend to be brief, normally consisting of just one main idea. They may also be a little rough. I’m not going to do much editing. You’ll get them just the way they came out of my brain, years, days, or months ago.
Find me on:
Jump In
If you’d like to have Stuff Steve Said emailed to you basically daily, put your email address here.
Bible/Life 