Author Archives: Steven Wales

DOES GOD HAVE AN ANGRY FACE?Jeremiah 33:9.

Children are so honest. I remember mine asking me directly, “Daddy, are you mad right now?” Kids look for clues and when the clues are not clear, they just ask. Children wonder about God in the same simple terms: ‘Does God have an angry face or a happy face?’ God is angry about sin, injustice,Continue reading “DOES GOD HAVE AN ANGRY FACE?Jeremiah 33:9.”

PRAY ABOUT PRAYING. Jeremiah 32:42.

When someone is ill, we tell them to pray. Then we tell them to pray with faith, to pray BELIEVING. But what if you don’t have faith? Can you muster up faith? Can you strengthen your own faith? I don’t know—but you can pray FOR faith. If you need more faith, ask God! If youContinue reading “PRAY ABOUT PRAYING. Jeremiah 32:42.”

MARRIAGE IS A TEACHING TOOL. Jeremiah 31:20.

We think romance is the point of life. Far more than half our songs and movies are about romance. Our culture worships romance like an IDOL. Yet God created romance. Imagine—God Himself created His number-one rival. He created those feelings, the passion, the electric charge when two hands touch, the sparkle in the eye andContinue reading “MARRIAGE IS A TEACHING TOOL. Jeremiah 31:20.”

BLOOM WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED. Jeremiah 29:5-7.

Everyone should train as an endurance runner. Running teaches great lessons: Go one more mile. One more block. One more yard. One more step. Never quit. You can do it! My mom used to say, “bloom where you’re planted.” That was her way of saying: Do the best you can do in the pot you’reContinue reading “BLOOM WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED. Jeremiah 29:5-7.”

COOKIE CUTTER. Joshua 18:6-7; Jeremiah 29:11.

I used to watch my mom use a rolling pin to make a sheet of thin, flat cookie dough on wax paper. Then she stamped it with tin cookie cutters to cut out shapes: doughy little Christmas trees or stars or bells or stockings. She would bake them, spread icing on them, and—voila! Christmas cookies.Continue reading “COOKIE CUTTER. Joshua 18:6-7; Jeremiah 29:11.”

PROOF TEXTING. 2 Timothy 2:15; Jeremiah 28:15-17.

A Bible professor accused me of “proof texting” when I used a single verse to prove a point. Bible doctrine should be proven with many verses, across the entirety of scripture, from many writers, across the centuries, and from both the Old and New Testaments. Proof texting, by contrast, is when you argue a pointContinue reading “PROOF TEXTING. 2 Timothy 2:15; Jeremiah 28:15-17.”

I’ve Got Good News and Bad News. Jeremiah 29:5-14.

The bad news is, you have not received your number-one wish.  Most people have not.  Some wishes will not be fulfilled. All you can do is accept it and keep trusting the Lord.  The Israelites were in trouble.  God punished their continued idolatry by sending the nation into bondage.  Jeremiah’s message went like this: TheContinue reading “I’ve Got Good News and Bad News. Jeremiah 29:5-14.”

Clear Words are Better than Dreams. Jeremiah 23:28-29.

Have you ever had a dream from God? People are fascinated by the unusual: dreams, visions, prophetic words, speaking in tongues, etc. But the Bible tells us over and over that there is something more valuable than these things. I had an interesting dream once. I was in a huge place filled with thousands tryingContinue reading “Clear Words are Better than Dreams. Jeremiah 23:28-29.”

Dreams vs. the Word. Jeremiah 23:28-29

Which is better, a dream from God that requires interpretation, or the text of His Word that gives clear direction? The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain? Is not my word likeContinue reading “Dreams vs. the Word. Jeremiah 23:28-29”