“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 NIV Serve – The world is preoccupied with freedom these days. It is current political coinage. In the…
I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:23 NASB You are my God – Who is a Gentile? Before you answer with the…
“Thus says the LORD, “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness.’” Jeremiah 31:2 NASB Found– The Hebrew verb māṣāʾ is used for finding just about anything. The Israelites found grace, but that wasn’t what they were looking for. They were looking for a way of escape. They were fleeing from their pain. Just like…
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Matthew 6:24 NASB Cannot serve– It’s not possible to “opt out” in the Hebrew worldview. Choosing not to participate is still a choice. …
“It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, Deuteronomy 11:13 NASB To serve Him with all your heart – Maimonides points out that the Hebrew expression, le’ovdo bekol…
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4 NASB Ministry – Two criteria. Just two. Prayer and “the ministry of the word.” The first should be obvious (although all that is involved in the word “prayer” might not be obvious to us[1]). The second requires some investigation….
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 2 Timothy 1:3 ESV As did my ancestors – Sometimes the smallest phrases require the greatest attention. In this introduction to his letter to Timothy, Paul makes an almost parenthetical…
For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Parazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, to do His task, His unusual task, and to work His work, His extraordinary work. Isaiah 28:21 NASB To work His work – “As for me and my house.” Joshua’s often-quoted declaration makes his…
and there was not a man to till the ground Genesis 2:5 (Hebrew World translation) To till – There is no difference between sacred and secular. Better read that again since nearly everything about our culture is based on separating sacred and secular. We have church and state, spiritual and carnal, righteous and wicked and…
In a place where there are no people, strive to be a man. Rabbi Hillel Pirke Avot 2:6B No People – Hillel’s saying is not an endorsement of the monastic life. He is not suggesting that we strive to become truly human in the wilderness. What Hillel means is this: there are plenty of communities…
