Ruel Z Chavez's Blog – May 2011 Archive (9)

I am about to sleep. But as usual, before I sleep, I opened my Bible and read Psalm 142.

My two kids are with me. We are just done evening devotion. And after that, I played chess with my second son, Ashriel Edward. He is 10. 

While reading Psalm 142, I talked to my self as usual. This is my way of talking to…

If we are not our own but the Lord's 

It is plain both what error is to be shunned

And to what end the actions of our lives ought to be directed

We are not our own

Therefore, neither is our own reason or will to rule our acts and counsels

We are not our own

Therefore, let us not make it our end to seek what may be agreeable to our carnal nature

We are not our own

Therefore, as far as possible, let us forget…

Ever since God exhibited himself to us as a Father, we must be convicted of extreme ingratitude if we do not in turn exhibit ourselves as his sons.

Ever since Christ purified us by the laver of his blood, and communicated this purification by baptism, it would ill become us to be defiled with new pollution.

Ever since he ingrafted us into his body, we, who are his members should anxiously beware of contracting any stain or taint.

Ever since he…

This post is a response to Kayla's inquiry about prayer. When she brought up her uncertainty about the correctness of her prayer, the first thing that came into my mind is the book of Psalms - the inspired prayer book of the Bible. Someone said that in the Psalms, we learn to pray in the school of prayer from the masters themselves. I believe these masters were…

The presence of God turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water (Psalm 114:7-8). This is a historical fact recorded in the Bible (Numbers 20:1-13). It is a literal rock turned into springs of water.

What are the lessons we can learn from these two verses in Psalm 114? I think it is this: that no matter how difficult our…

While I was reading Psalm 112 this morning, the second part of verse 1 caught my attention – “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.” And then three other things in the passage spoke to me that describe the man who fears the Lord.

1. His children will be mighty in the land, v. 2.
2. Wealth and riches are in his house, v.…

In spite of my current situation in life, I was glad that a pastor friend invited me to speak on the second anniversary of their church last May 1. He gave me the invitation and I noticed that their theme is about "Love as the Key."

 …

Luke 8: 1-15 is about "The Parable of the Sower." It is a very familiar parable. I have preached it myself for several times and I have heard also numerous messages based on this passage. But none struck me when my mind was opened to the immediate historical context when Jesus gave this parable.

As usual, it has been said repeatedly that four types of listeners of…

Luke Chapter 15:11-32 is the popular section of the Bible about "The Parable of the Lost Son." I was trained to think in our subject on biblical interpretation during my seminary days that a parable has only one central message. But I often hear preachers who preach from parables with multiple emphases. So I told to myself, maybe it is now time for me to deviate from the usual standard set by…