“and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there” John 11:15 Glad – The second Beatitude in practice! Jesus lived by the words he taught. When he gave us the Beatitudes, he provided God’s insight into life as it is. He told us about lucky lives in the midst of crisis. We…
“a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear” Acts 15:10 Yoke – “and the truth shall set you free”. But not if you are shackled to a burdensome yoke. Peter uses the word zugos. The yoke is a restricting agent used to bind two things together so that neither one…
“and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32 Truth – Discipleship and dependence. That’s the truth about freedom. In the last two days we discovered that this great verse is the extension of obeying the teaching of Jesus. We also found out that freedom is about serving a…
“and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32 Free – The New Testament might have been written in Greek but it is not Greek in its thought patterns. When it comes to “freedom”, the New Testament is miles away from our current cultural thinking about “freedom”. We are…
“and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32 And – Do you know what a “sound byte” is? It’s that 15 seconds of news where you hear someone say something relevant. But have you ever noticed that the sound byte usually begins in the middle of someone’s speech…
“Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10 Wrath – According to the modern liberal school of theology, God finished His anger management training with flying colors. That Old Testament God of fire and brimstone has been replaced. We live in a time when God is portrayed as a peaceful, grandfatherly…
“For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined;” Luke 22:22 Going – Where are you going? This is not a simple map-direction question. It’s a “Life Determining” question. And there is only one possible answer. You are going to your death. That’s exactly what Jesus has in mind here. Even…
“Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and let it be done as you have believed.” Matthew 8:13 Go your way – Have you learned to follow orders? Most of us are quite good at giving commands and expecting them to be carried out, but we are not so enthusiastic about receiving commands. Have…
“to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout” 1 Peter 1:1 Aliens – We’ve all heard it. Life’s a journey. The road less traveled. Did you know that God invented the idea? Every Christian carries a green card. You don’t get this card until you change kingdoms but when you do become a citizen of…
“BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger” Ephesians 4:26 Anger – It comes from the same root, but it’s not the same word. Yesterday we discovered that “BE ANGRY” is in a quotation from Psalm 4. Paul uses the Greek word orgizo. Then Paul modifies…
