All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture– Let’s follow up on yesterday’s lengthy (I apologize) description of the Bible as a book about human encounters with God. Peter Enns adds some important insight: Seeing God as a character in the story…
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB Scripture– “I wrote that when I was stupid.” So said David Flusser when questioned by one of his students about an article he published years before. That’s how I feel today. If you ask…
You will remember Lucille’s prayer request. Here is her update Shalom to all! Your prayers for Ashleigh, my sweet granddaughter are so deeply appreciated. Thank you all! An update, as I promised. Ashleigh is embracing the love she was denied for so long, from me, Aunts, Uncles, cousins she has not known (my side of…
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-27 NASB Rule– There are two important verbs that are…
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.Psalm 95:1 NASB Shout joyfully– Put on a happy face. That seems to be the intention here, so the translators offer a positive rendering of the verb by adding “joyfully.” The actual Hebrew is simply the verb rūaʿ, which can mean…
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 NASB Have sinned– Let’s reconsider Paul’s declaration. If sin is basically disconnection (i.e., disconnection from the source of life—God—and consequently from His creation including other people), then Paul is declaring that each and every one of us experiences, at some level, a sense…
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, Romans 8:3 NASB Weak as it was– God saved you, right? I mean, you couldn’t save yourself, could you? You sinned. Repentance and restitution don’t…
I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, and my sorrow grew worse. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned; Psalm 39:2-3a NASB Silent– Listen! Silence is a good thing, right? Don’t we long for an escape from the din around us? The traffic, the elevator music, the indecipherable human clamor of…
It happened when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart. 1 Chronicles 15:29 NASB Leaping and celebrating – We’ve commented in the past that the books…
For the Jews there was light and gladnessand joyand honor. Esther 8:16 NASB Gladness/joy – The usual Hebrew word for “joy” is śimḥâ. It comes from the root śāmaḥ, “to rejoice.” You would have expected it to be the Hebrew translated as “joy” in this verse. But it isn’t. In this verse, śimḥâ is translated “gladness,” because there is…
