Proverbs 17:15-24; Amos 8-9; Romans 5:12-21 "Forest Hills" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Ink Block Print on Paper Proverbs 17:15-24 includes principles that are timely, useful, valuable, and applicable for living. “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent” (verse 15) are both grave errors (scientifically, the former is a Type II error and the latter, a Type I error, respectively). The consequences of committing either kind of error are devastating because in e

Psalm 86:11-17; Amos 6-7; Romans 4:16-5:11 "Southern Pastoral" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Ink & Watercolor on Paper Psalm 86:11-17 is instructive about God’s character and our relationship to it. David says, “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name” (verse 11). From this verse, we see that the ways of the LORD must be learned, all of which imply the need for schooling; we need instruction in the

Psalm 86:1-10 ; Amos 5 ; Romans 4:1-15 "Lost in My Woods" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas Properly, according to Psalm 86, our posture before the Lord should always be [1] to recognize that we are “poor and needy;” [2] to call on Him to hear us; and [3] to ask Him to “guard our lives” (verses 1-2). We need God’s mercy and His salvation. If we are ever to experience real joy, it will come only from Him – other forms of joy are essentially cheap and temp

Psalm 85:8-13 ; Amos 3-4 ; Romans 3:9-31 "Nathan Watching TV, I" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Pencil Sketch on Paper Today we finish Psalm 85 and see that genuine “peace” depends upon “listening to what God the LORD has to say” (verse 8). The author, a son of Korah, informs us that salvation and peace result from hearing (i.e., “listening to” or “heeding”) the Word of God. The old English word for this kind of “listening” is the word “hearken,” which is not used much

Proverbs 17:5-14 ; Amos 1-2 ; Romans 2:17-3:8 "Little Bariloche Wood" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Watercolor on Paper In Proverbs 17:5-14, we encounter timeless truths which also produce practical, observable outcomes for our lives and within our culture. For example, today we live in an age when we have witnessed people who – without any justifiable reason – look down on poor people, make fun of their plight, or mock them as “lazy or good-for-nothing” simply because

Psalm 85:1-7 ; Jonah 1-4 ; Romans 2:1-16 "He Leadeth Me" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Watercolor on Paper Having finished our readings in 1 st and 2 nd Kings yesterday, we will now move on and take a little break from the kings of Israel and Judah to consider the books of Jonah, Amos, and Hosea, whose lives and ministries were contemporary with the narratives of 1 st and 2 nd Kings. We will return to 1 Chronicles a little later this month. The book of Jonah, writ

2 Kings 24:8-25:30 ; Psalm 84:8-12 ; Romans 1:18-32 "Deep in the Forest" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas Today we come to the end of 2 nd Kings. Reading this book has always impressed me because of Israel’s reckless sinfulness before God. Personally, I do not and cannot claim to live any better before God – which is why I think this book is so convicting to me. Actually, we all find ourselves in the same sinking ship … the S.S. Predicament . In yesterda