It was the demons who saw him first.

 Whether it is two demon-possessed men, as in Matthew 8, or just one, as in Mark 5, the heart of the story is that Jesus has power and dominion over evil. 

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The Last Laugh

 God repeatedly assures Abram that he will be the father of many nations - as many descendants as stars in the sky or grains of sand on the shore. But there's only one problem. Both he and his wife Sarai are old; too old to have children, it would seem. When God - in the appearance of a traveler - tells newly-renamed Abraham and Sarah that she will have a son within the year, she can only laugh. But God has the last laugh.

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Water into Wine

Noted as the first of Jesus' signs, the story of the wedding at Cana of Galilee-where Jesus turns water into wine—is found in John Chapter 2. We are left to wonder just why  Jesus, his mother Mary, and his disciples are in attendance at this wedding, and just why his mother takes it upon herself to solve the problem of no more wine.
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Credit Where Credit is Due

In the period of the Judges, the Israelites once again turned away from the Lord God, and as a consequence came under the domination of the king of Canaan, whose military power was formidable because his army was commanded by Sissera, who had nine hundred iron chariots as the backbone of his army. For twenty years Sissera oppressed the Israelites harshly.

At this time Israel was led by Deborah, a Prophetess and Judge who settled disputes under a palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim. She held both religious and civic authority and people came to her for judgment and guidance, calling her “a mother of Israel.” In Judges 4:6 we learn how Deborah, an army commander named Barak and an unexpected ally freed Israel from military oppression.

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Like Father, Like Son

 

Genesis 26 tells a story with a familiar ring. Only 6 chapters earlier, the narrative is that Abraham once passed through Gerar and, worried for his safety, introduced Sarah as his sister. Eight decades later, his son Isaac arrives in Gerar under the same pressures and repeats the same line about Rebekah. It might have worked — if Isaac hadn’t shown a little too much affection for his “sister.”

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 From the Memoirs of Balaam's Donkey

Numbers 22 is where we find the amusing story of a donkey talking to its master. And for good reason!

 She came for water. He came for her.

The encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John Chapter 4 is one of the most boundary-breaking scenes in the New Testament. As Jesus and his disciples travel through Samaria they stop at Jacob's well near Sychar. While the disciples go into town to buy food, Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, speaks openly with a Samaritan woman there to draw water. He reveals his identity as the Messiah - earlier than in any other encounters, and as a result the woman becomes the first evangelists in the Gospel of John, bringing her townspeople to see Jesus.

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 Potiphar's Wife

There's a familiar story in Genesis 39 about Joseph being sold into slavery and brought to Egypt, where Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, purchases him and places him in charge of his household. Joseph prospers — until Potiphar’s wife repeatedly attempts to seduce him. 

But what about years later, when Joseph/Zaphenath-paneh is second only to Pharaoh and Potiphar's handsy wife needs grain to survive?

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A Tale from Egypt

Genesis 12 is the setting for this story. The drought in Canaan has driven Abram and his nephew Lot to Egypt, distant and mysterious. Fearful that his beautiful wife Sarai would so entice men in this land that they would kill him to obtain her, he instructed Sarai to claim that she was his sister. God was not pleased.

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A Burial Gone Wrong

In 2 Kings 13:30 there is an odd little story about a burial gone wrong with an amazing (and amusing) outcome. One can only think that this story was retold for countless generations. Here's my retelling.

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The Ark of the Covenant Comes to Obed-Edom's House

In 2 Samuel Chapter 6, King David attempts to return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. In his excitement, he makes a colossal blunder. Here's what might have happened next.

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