Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27 NASB Be angry – I get angry. Just ask my wife. I can lash out, criticize, debunk and disparage with the best. Paul certainly doesn’t have to instruct…
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Romans 15:1 NASB The weaknesses – Who determines where you put your effort? Do you perform the cost/benefit analysis before you commit? “How do I know that the beggar at the intersection will really use the…
Thus says the Lord, “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when it went to find its rest.” Jeremiah 31:2 To find its rest – Good luck with this one! The root rāgaʿ is a very difficult one to separate into its philological and semantic relationships. Although there is a development…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Wrestled – On the surface, especially in translation, the story seems straightforward. Jacob is alone. He fights all night. He is defeated but tenacious. He is blessed with a new name, Israel. But nothing about this story is so…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Until daybreak – Someone confronts Jacob in the night; someone who isn’t supposed to be there. Or is he? Does Jacob go back across the ford of Jabbok because he “knows” (in some Hebraic way) that there is someone…
One of the frustrations of traveling and teaching is the lack of time to meditate. I’m afraid that spiritual knowledge can’t be rushed, especially in the Hebraic context where knowing is not simply gathering information but also absorbing the content into life transformation. It’s far easier to accumulate books, audio files and web pages than…
Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. Genesis 32:22 NASB Jabbok – Everyone knows the story. Jacob wrestles. He loses. He is blessed. Israel is born. But maybe we know the story too well to actually…
“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Luke 7:47-48 NASB Love much – What does Yeshua mean with this odd statement? What does it mean…
Just outside the airport of Cape Town, more than a million people live in Khayelitsha. I met a few. Makes you wonder how come God treats us with such kid gloves.
