Walk in Wisdom
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Latest Devotional
The Prepositions of Providence
Deuteronomy 1:1 & 3
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. … In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them.Alas, we’ve reached the final scroll of Moses’ Pentateuch, a scroll that begins with a thorough review of all the highlights and lowlights from their storied journey thus far, yet it also contains new insights as well, previously unheard lines of dialogue that offer deeper insight behind-the- scenes: little details missing from Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers that only the sanctified gaze of hindsight can produce.
But notice that this opening paragraph is a tidal wave of prepositional phrases. “Beyond the Jordan,” “in the wilderness,” “in the Araba opposite Suph,” “between Paran,” “in the fortieth year,” “on the first day.” My wife has recently been teaching our son, Micah, various English grammar lessons, and he gave me this definition of a prepositional clause when I quizzed him on it before work one morning: “A prepositional phrase adds details to what’s happening; it gives us more information.” Yes, so when we encounter a mound of prepositions like these in the Scriptures, it should tell us something wonderful about our LORD’s working in our lives of faith. It tells us that the where and the when of God’s sanctifying ministry is just as important to our testimony as the how and the why. Think about it: Moses doesn’t simply record for the people what God said, as if God’s quoted words are the only translatable, timeless elements to retain along the journey, but he relays precisely where the people were when God said them, at exactly what stage in their advance, at precisely the stretch of highway down to the very mile- marker, because the timing and placement of God’s provision is as important as the substance of it.
Friend, consider that the landscape of your present, perhaps even mundane life—the historical context for God’s Word—is no triviality. In fact, it’s pivotal to your soul’s advance to glory. Think of those prepositional phrases you’re swimming in right now, and perhaps drowning in, as waves of grace.
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The Grace of Problem Solving
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Make Me a Sanctuary
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Sabbath Psalm (From Fanny Crosby’s hymn ‘Blessed Assurance’)
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Spiritual Scars
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Better Judgment
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A Roll Call
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Kingdom Rising
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A Tale of Two Pilgrims
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Depth of Mercy’)
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A Leprous Colony
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Word Spreads
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Dry Seasons Pt. 2
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Dry Seasons
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For the Record
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Sabbath Psalm (From Priscilla Owens’ hymn ‘Jesus Saves!’’)
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Monumental Letters
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A Second Impression
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Fighting Words
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Either-Or
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Striking Justice
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Sabbath Psalm (From Lidie H. Edmund’s hymn ‘My Faith Has Found a Resting Place’)
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The Fall of Balaam
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Justice—A Double-Edged Sword
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Spoken For
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A Divine Intervention
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Promises Performed
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Out of the Ordinary
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Dying Request
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Hand in Hand
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When God Speaks for You
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A New Genesis
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from John Peterson’ hymn ‘A Flag to Follow’)
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In Broad Daylight
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No Place Like Home
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Balaam’s Final Oracle
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Faith—An Oasis
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Balaam’s Second Oracle
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Henry F. Lyte’s hymn ‘Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken’)
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Balaam’s First Oracle
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A Language Barrier pt. 2
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A Language Barrier pt. 1
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No Solicitors!
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Out of the Shadows
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from Palmer Hartsough’s hymn ‘I Am Resolved’)
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The Way of Kings
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Lost Books
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The Truth Bites
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The Hand-Off
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Rebels All
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Mary D. James’ hymn ‘All for Jesus’)
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Come to the Waters
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Eulogies for the Living
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Sin is Oh So Draining
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In Christ Alone
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Guardians of the Gift
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Sabbath Psalm (From E. W. Blandy’s hymn, ‘Take the World but Give Me Jesus’)
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A Sappy Symbol
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Rhetorical Righteousness
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A Powerful Posture
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Making Memories
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Tribes and Tongues, pt. 2
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from Philip P. Bliss’s hymn, ‘Let the Lower Lights be Burning’)
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Tribes and Tongues, pt. 1
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Stop the Rot!
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Jesus Love the Little Children
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Beating Hearts
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One-Sided
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from Joseph Scriven’s hymn, ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’)
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The Beginning of Wisdom
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The Grasshopper Principle
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Do You See What I See?
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Time Out
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A Reconciling Rebuke
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Sabbath Psalm (From Fanny Crosby’s beloved hymn, ‘Near the Cross’)
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Unrighteous Rhetoric
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A Story Shared
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Moses’ Complaint pt. 2
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Moses’ Complaint pt. 1
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Famished
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from George Matheson’s hymn ‘O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go’)
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Burning
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High Notes and Low Notes
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Silver Chords
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The Waiting Room
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The One and the Many
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Sabbath Psalm (A revision of John W. Peterson’s hymn ‘A Student’s Prayer’)
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Transitions
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The Gold Standard
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Between the Angels
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An Acceptable Approach
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Waxing Lyrical
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of John W. Peterson’s hymn, ‘Just One Step at a Time’)
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Locks of Love
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A Nazirite New Year
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Love is Jealous, Love is Kind
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Get Your Hard Hat Ready
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Blue Collar Cloth
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Fanny Crosby’s hymn ‘All the Way My Savior Leads Me’)
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Beyond the Blue