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Open the Bible UK Daily

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

religion & spirituality christianity

All Episodes

03:03

Samson’s First Step on the Road to Disaster

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/20

“I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.”Judges 14:2You have to use your imagination to picture Samson. He has been in the weight room, and he looks magnificent. He has bronze skin and deep-set eyes, and his abs are toned to perfection.One day, this Old Testament hunk is in a town called Timnah, and he sees a Philistine woman. She must have been a stunner, because Samson was absolutely smitten the moment he saw her.So, he comes home and says to his

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03:33

3 Things to Know about Samson

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/19

The woman bore a son and called his name Samson.Judges 13:24Before we come to Samson’s story, here are three things you need to know about him.1. Samson was a believer. Hebrews specifically tells us about “Samson… who through faith…” (11:32, 33) did many things. That means we should expect to see him in heaven. For all his flaws, Samson was a man of faith.Samson had a special place in God’s purpose: “The child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand

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02:42

The Story of Samson

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/18

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.Judges 13:1Today we begin looking at the story of Samson. Most of the book of Judges takes place at a time when God’s people were under great oppression. The Philistine army had invaded their soil, and a foreign power was in control of their country.God’s people had no army and no king, so everything depended on a resistance movement. But there was no

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02:37

How You Can Avoid Esau’s Plunge to Disaster

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/17

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry.Genesis 27:34No one wants their life to end the way Esau’s did. So how can we avoid Esau’s plunge to disaster?First, submit yourself fully to the authority of God. You have to begin with the heart of the problem. The heart of Esau’s trouble was that he was godless. If you want to avoid his plunge to disaster you have to begin by letting God be God in your life.Second, establish God’s values as the

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02:30

Esau’s Plunge to Disaster

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/16

“Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.”Genesis 27:29The promise God gave to Abraham now belonged to Jacob. Try to imagine the scene a few moments later when Esau arrived with a meal for his father: “Sit up, Dad. I’ve got your stew, and I’m ready to receive your blessing.”“Who are you?” Isaac asked him.“I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (27:32).Then Isaac realised what had happened, and he began shaking. “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me?”

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02:49

What Happened to Esau’s Blessing

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/15

He [Isaac] said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”Genesis 27:24One day Isaac told Esau to go and prepare a meal for him, and after that Isaac said he would give Esau his blessing.But when Rebekah overheard this, she rushed over to Jacob. “Your father is about ready to announce God’s blessing. He wants to give it to Esau, but you can pretend to be your brother and the blessing will be yours.”“But he’s hairy as a goat,” said Jacob. “My skin is smooth. Dad will know I’m not

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02:27

The Pattern That Led to Esau’s Plunge to Disaster

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/14

Esau despised his birthright.Genesis 25:34If you lose touch with God, you will become confused about values. The values on which true wisdom is based are not just plucked out of thin air. They are based on the character of God.This is the great issue of our time. Our nation has lost touch with God and now we are confused about values. Having turned from God, we have lost sight of the value of human life, and the result is that thousands of men and women have acted on an impulse. That is a plunge to

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02:32

Esau Was Confused about Values

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/13

See to it that no one... is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.Hebrews 12:15-16Esau was the firstborn son in the family God had chosen to bless. It’s hard to imagine a greater privilege than that. Priceless gifts from God were placed in his hand, but he couldn’t see their value.All that mattered to Esau was the next meal, the next fishing or hunting trip, the next paycheque, the next contract, the next game, the next relationship. That’s what he lived

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02:14

Esau Acted on Impulse

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/12

“Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!... I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”Genesis 25:30, 32Esau wasn’t a great thinker or planner. He tended to go with the flow and live for the moment. When he felt hungry, all that really mattered to him was getting some food.The problem with living at the level of impulse is that over the course of a lifetime all kinds of impulses will come to you, some of them good, and some of them bad.You see someone on the street who looks

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02:40

Esau’s Hasty Promise

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/11

Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So [Esau] swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.Genesis 25:33One day Esau was out hunting, and when he came back he was hungry. It just so happened that his little brother, Jacob, was cooking some stew in the kitchen.You know what it’s like when you’ve been working a long day, and you missed lunch, and traffic was backed up on the way home. Your head thumps, you feel exhausted, and when you come home there is the aroma of home cooking wafting from the

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02:59

The Story of Esau

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/10

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”Genesis 25:23We have been looking at Bible characters who took a plunge to disaster, to discover what we can learn from them, so that we won’t follow in their footsteps. Today, we look at the story of Esau.Esau’s story begins in the maternity ward where his mother, Rebekah, is giving birth to twins. It had been a difficult pregnancy because

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03:07

A Potential Turning Point in Cain’s Life

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/09

“My punishment is greater than I can bear.”Genesis 4:13It would hardly have been surprising if God had ended Cain’s life right then and there in the fields. But in the mercy of God, the world’s first murderer was given another chance.If you were Cain’s friend, you might counsel him like this: “Cain, God has not cut you off. He is speaking to you. He is showing you mercy. Don’t miss this opportunity. Be reconciled to Him. Accept your punishment, confess your sin, and turn to Him in true repentance

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02:31

Cain Underestimated the Power of Sin

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/08

[Sin’s] desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.Genesis 4:7Never underestimate the power of sin. The quickest way to take a plunge to disaster is to allow a sin into your life and then say to yourself, “It’s not a big deal. I can handle it.”Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). In other words, sin has the power to rule over you. Once you let sin in, it has the ability to invade every area of your life. If you give sin an inch, it will try and take a

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03:15

Cain’s Plunge to Disaster

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/07

“If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.”Genesis 4:7This is the first time the word sin is used in the Bible. “Sin?” Cain must have said. “What is sin?” Sin is more than simply a choice that you make. God is saying that there is a power at work in the world and it is like a wild animal. When you refuse to do what is right, it will sneak up on your house. It will crouch outside the door. Then one day as you are coming out, it will pounce on you, without warning, and overpower you.As time

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02:27

What God Said to Cain

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/06

“If you do well, will you not be accepted?”Genesis 4:7We don’t know whether God spoke to Cain when he was at the altar or later. But let’s assume for a moment that God spoke to him in an audible voice, as He often did in the Old Testament.Cain was still smouldering when God spoke to him, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” (4:6). Cain knew the answer. “Because I’m fed up with my stupid little brother. Because when he brings an offering, You put on a great fireworks display, but when I

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03:16

Why Abel's Sacrifice Was More Acceptable Than Cain's

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/05

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.Hebrews 11:4Very often, the New Testament gives us the key to understanding an Old Testament story, and the New Testament tells us quite clearly that the difference between Cain and Abel was faith. Cain was a man without faith. He came with his family to worship God. He even brought offerings to God. But he did not have faith. Faith is trusting in

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03:19

Cain and Abel Bring Their Offerings to God

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/04

Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.Genesis 4:3-4The first family did not have a church. They had some kind of altar. Perhaps it was just a pile of stones, but it was the place where they met with God.Each boy brought an offering. Cain had a crate of fruits and vegetables; Abel had some animals from his flock. Then we are told: “The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and

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02:36

Cain and Abel

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/03

And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.Genesis 4:2Sometime later, another little bundle of life came along, and Adam and Eve named him Abel. We aren’t told how old Cain was when his brother was born, but we can probably assume he had a mixed reaction to the arrival of the new attraction, as most older brothers do.Here was some competition—a little upstart who needed to be kept in his place, a rival who needed to know who was boss. After

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02:39

The Story of Cain

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/02

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”Genesis 4:1Having sinned against God, the first man and the first woman were now outside the Garden of Eden. They were living under a terrible judgement, but God had graciously given them hope in a great promise: a deliverer would be born. An offspring of the woman would inflict a deadly blow on their enemy, the serpent, who had brought devastation to their world (3:15).But of

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02:49

Deckchairs on the Titanic

Open the Bible UK Daily ·

2025/08/01

Now these things happened to them [Israel] as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.1 Corinthians 10:11Wouldn’t it be nice to go off on a long cruise to a warm place with magnificent scenery, endless food, and a good book to get lost in? What could be better? Unless, of course, the name of the cruise ship happens to be The Titanic.Over these next weeks, we are going to follow the stories of Bible characters who took a plunge to disaster

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