By: Obed Pineda In the days of our Savior’s life here on earth, there was a valley that could be easily identified by anyone traveling to Jerusalem from the south, most likely because of its peculiar appearance. Sitting just outside of Jerusalem, it was held by her inhabitants as a…
By: Obed Pineda “Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10)…
By: Obed Pineda From 971 B.C. to 931 B.C., Israel enjoyed its greatest period of prosperity and peace as a kingdom. Such was the beauty of Solomon’s reign that the inspired penmen affirms, “he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to…
By: Obed Pineda Upon describing to the Ephesians the grim condition from whence they were redeemed by the Almighty, the apostle Paul reminds them “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens of the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and…
By: Obed Pineda After receiving word that his beloved had committed suicide, the Roman general Marcus Antonius (better known today as Mark Antony) took his sword and fell upon it, thus ending his life unaware that the report was false. Upon hearing of Mark Antony’s tragic end, Queen Cleopatra of…
By: Obed Pineda It is by Divine design that the Gospel according to John distinguishes itself from the synoptics (i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in several marvelous ways. One distinction is John’s careful selection of only seven miracles executed by the Lord Jesus. John himself acknowledges that, “truly Jesus did…
By: Obed Pineda “But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” (Ecclesiastes 9:4) Labels are very common in society. Quite often a single decision made by an individual is enough to earn them their reputation.…
By: Obed Pineda It has been said that when purchasing a brand new, unused vehicle from the dealership, the moment you drive it off the lot the car loses value. Perhaps the reasoning for this concept is that the car’s label is immediately switched from “new” to “used” once it…
By: Obed Pineda God has always desired that His people be a people of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, setting them apart from the rest of the world (cf. Proverbs 1:1-7, Ephesians 5:8-17). For this reason, it is valuable to learn that these three terms are not the same by definition,…
By: Obed Pineda After successfully qualifying for a tournament, a young athlete arrived to the gym where his trainer was waiting for him, to begin training again. The competitor fondly remembered the vigorous and grueling training he had endured in preparation of his participation in the qualifying stage of the…