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JABEZ

“And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.  And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” (1 Chronicles 4:9, 10).   Many of you will be familiar with the Prayer of Jabez that has been shared and re-shared countless times on social media.  As I read it recently, I thought it warranted another look in order to unpack the wealth of insight contained in these two verses of the Old Testament.    At face value, this simple account of a man of God appears to fall almost randomly in 1 Chronicles.  There is no lead-up to these two verses that might tell us a little more about Jabez’ life, and there is no follow-up to tell us the details of his life after he prayed...
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JACOB'S WELL

AS JESUS JOURNEYED from Judea to Galilee, He passed through Samaria.  As He traveled through that country, He came to the city of Sychar, which was part of the parcel of land given by the patriarch Jacob to His son Joseph.  In this location was Jacob’s well, which still exists to this day.  The group stopped at the well, and Jesus sat down to rest from the journey while His disciples went into the city to buy provisions.    As Jesus sat there on the well, there came a Samaritan woman to draw water from the well.  Jesus, looking at her, said, “Give Me to drink.” (John 4:7).   The woman, surprised that a Jew would speak to her, said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9).   Jesus’ response transcended the simple conversation that they were having, and went straight to the spiritual level.  He said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, a...
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PSALM 116: A SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING

The first section of Psalm 116 (verses 1-9) perfectly describes the conversion of a soul to faith in God the Savior.   I can’t read these beautiful lines without thinking of my own conversion to Christianity.   The section begins with these words: “ I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.  Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1, 2).   God is a God Who sees, and He is a God Who hears.   I love the Lord because one day I called out to Him, and He heard my voice.   When I humbled myself before Him, the God of the universe saw me and heard my prayer.   He not only heard me, but He also responded to me and revealed Himself to me.   As a result of that day, I will call on Him for as long as I live because He continues to hear me and speaks words of life to me.   Scripture tells us that His eyes are always on the righteous, and His ears are open to th...
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