Jeremiah 32

God in this chapter isn't just promising that the people will return, though that is part of it, but promising to create a people who will follow him faithfully. The chapter ends with the promise that God will create a people who have singleness of heart and action. God will create a people from Israel who will be faithful. God will have a people that he can bless continuously. This ultimate promise is seen in the work that God is going to do in Jesus. The people that Jesus redeems will become a people that will have hearts that never turn from him. God do that work in me, I pray. 

1 Samuel 31

 

G Campbell Morgan says about this chapter that, as Saul killed his own morality, now he will go further and take his own life. Saul was so afraid of how he might die that he killed himself. Saul had no proof that his death would be more terrible under the Philistines, but he was afraid it might be, so he acted. This is a reminder that our expectations and not reality can drive us to do destructive things. Guard your expectations and keep them focused on God. 

Photo by Shakib Uzzaman on Unsplash

Romans 10

 If, as some claim, God determines who is saved and who isn't, then why is Paul praying for their Salvation? The answer is found in this chapter, it is that they have not submitted to God's righteousness (verse 3) found in Christ. What opens us up to God's salvation is faith in Jesus, and that is all. It isn't works or even knowledge, it is faith that causes action (confession, being of one mind). It is this faith that will cause you to be righteous and to live as God wants and nothing else. 

Psalm 83

 

Don't just stand there, do something! This line has been said in many books and movies to persons who have the power to intervene and are not. As we have noted before, this is something we face in our lives. There are times when we wish God would do something. We know he is able, but it seems he is ignoring us. What we do know about God is that he is righteous and will do what is right, but I appreciate that God doesn't tell us to be quiet and accept what is happening, but is okay with us asking him this question. 

God wants us to come to him and ask him to intervene. This isn't because he has an ego, but because there are times when our prayers make a difference. I can't say how, but they do according to God's own word. God may say no, but he does listen. What makes the difference for us is our attitude when we come to him. An attitude of humility and even desperation is okay; an attitude of anger and blame isn't. Come before God.

Romans 12

What is worship? For many, it is the songs we sing before the message, or the slow songs after the fast ones, in a service. They can be, but it is only part of true worship. True worship, as defined by Paul, is when we present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. There is nothing in Paul's teachings that says that our salvation is a separate thing for our bodies than it is for our spirit. If we are going to be Christians, our bodies, our actions are just as important as our spirit. Worship is the holy use of our bodies for God. This can be singing, but it can also be doing taxes if we are doing it as unto the Lord.

Paul says lust be sincere and follows that with hating what is evil (what not who). Love in the Christian sense isn't let and let live or ignoring evil. It involves clinging to what is good. 

1 Samuel 30

 

David did something that became an ordinance in Judah that all who are part of an army share in the rewards. The men who stayed behind weren’t cowards; they were exhausted. These men didn’t have the strength to fight, but they stayed behind, and it seems they guarded the things that they didn’t take with them. David wasn’t setting up a communist ideal;
He was saying that all who were in the army, front-line fighters and support, deserved the spoils of the victory. We see this as just fair today, but in those days and still in many places today, it is only those who fight who enjoy the spoils.  

The Dragon's Queen: Revelation

Blurb for my new book coming out late November 2025.

Princess Sarah of Rishona, the last royal heir, has found herself enslaved by a tyrannical dragon and a kind and brilliant giant. The oddity of this is that the dragons of Adamah are good, and giants aren’t known for their intelligence or kindness. For Sara, the goal is simple: learn the skills she needs to survive, escape, and then find her way home, but nothing is ever that simple.  

About the Author

Charles (CS) Areson lives with his family in Indiana. He enjoys reading, board games, D&D, and writing a variety of fiction and religious non-fiction. His current focus is to take his stack of finished but unedited works and prepare them for publication. These works include (the working titles): Carpenter Tales, The House of a Thousand Rooms, Closing the Door, Teia and the Dragon, Braydon the…, The Max and Link Trilogy, and of course, The Dragon’s Queen Trilogy. Got an hour? Ask him about them. 

His children’s book, The Bee in the Blackberry Bush, is available in Lao, Spanish, and English. His children’s book, The Heirs of Nosera, is a mostly true fantasy written for the love of his grandchildren.