By: J. B. Hixson, Ph.D.03/12/2022“A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)Have you ever had the feeling that you are going the right direction, but you just do not know where you are going to end up? You are not really scared because you are kind of enjoying the scenery along the way. But you just do not have a clear picture of exactly where you are headed.Seve...  Read More

By: J. B. Hixson, Ph.D.04/20/2022“I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You…. I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2–6)Many people see life through the lens of retribution. When something bad happens, they ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” They assu...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.04/24/2022One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.” (Jeremiah 24:2–3)Have you ever had an argument with a ch...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.06/21/2022“Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.” (Proverbs 26:27)When my children were younger, I used to plan an occasional “date with dad” for my girls. I remember one occasion when I took the two oldest bowling. The joy on their faces as they watched their bowling balls make their way down the alley toward the pins wa...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.05/16/2022Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Co...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.05/04/2022“Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” (Acts 2:43)Have you ever thought about how easily amazed we are? Just this morning, when I stepped outside and felt the crisp, cool, mountain air I thought to myself, “This is amazing! What a beautiful morning.” During family game night the other night, it was amazing when on...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.04/11/2022“Therefore, we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen ar...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson. Ph.D.08/17/2021Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. (Proverbs 17:12)Have you ever been cornered by a wild animal? Few things are more terrifying than the sight of a ferocious animal determined to attack. Just ask Allena Hansen, a 56-year-old woman from Caliente, CA. She had an unfortunate encounter with a bear and had to endure ten hours of surgery to ...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson. Ph.D.11/14/2021“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6)Have you ever noticed how much we are motivated by comparison? Call it “keeping up with the Jones’s.”  We are a society prone to comparison. When we buy a car, we don't just want a good car. We want a better...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson. Ph.D.09/30/2019“A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." (Prov. 14:30)Like many Proverbs, this one puts forth a contrast.  It is an example of contrastive parallelism in Hebrew poetry.  In this type of poetry, the first line states a principle and the second line amplifies that principle by stating the opposite.  The contrast in Proverbs 14:30 is bet...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.09/29/2021“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:15-20)Many well-meaning but misinformed Bible students use this passage as a license to judge others. These “fruit inspectors” point a finger at the outward behavior of others and quickly draw conclusions about the ge...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.12/11/2022Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at ...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson04/04/2022"And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear." (1 Peter 1:17)When my children were younger, I often had the privilege of telling them a story before they went to bed. It was always a special time for us. The anticipation in their eyes, as well as their sweet giggl...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.11/09/2016Our nation chose a new leader this week.  And like many of you, I watched late into the evening on election day, and into the early morning hours of the next day, waiting to see precisely who our next President would be.  Eventually, the winner was declared and America made it through yet another presidential election that many are now calling historic.  In fact, as ...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.09/24/2021I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. (Isaiah 42:8)The year was 1715 and Louis XIV of France had died.  Louis, who called himself, “The Great,” was the monarch who made the infamous statement “I am the State!”  His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was correspondingly spectacul...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson02/09/2022“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:12–13)It is February, and that means that our thoughts turn to love. People are always searching for love, aren’t they? But sadly, to borrow the words of country singer Johnny Lee, most people are “Lookin’ for love...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.08/26/2021Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fi...  Read More

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.09/05/2021Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.(Proverbs 13:12)Waiting is no fun. Nobody knows this better than a child. When our oldest daughter was eight, we took her and her younger siblings to a neighbor’s swimming pool. As we walked through the gate into the backyard, we instructed the children to wait by the pool until mom a...  Read More