“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Free – “Free” used to mean something special. But modern life-style advertising has done a tremendous job of corrupting this word (along with a lot of others life “pure”, “safe” and “guaranteed”). …
“I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Matthew 26:63 Adjure – Manipulation. Demands. Pleadings. Bartering. Sometimes we resort to all sorts of tactics in order to force someone to speak. “Don’t you know what will happen if you don’t say something?” “Why…
“Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings”, he said. They came to him, clasping his feet and worshiped him.” Matthew 28:9 Greetings – Chairete! We know that Jesus’ greeting announces a change in the entire structure of the universe. It is not “Hello, how are you?” It’s not “Have a nice day.” Jesus replaces the wish for…
“Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings”, he said. They came to him, clasping his feet and worshiped him.” Matthew 28:9 Greetings – “Oh, God, how could this happen?” the women thought as they walked toward the tomb. Jesus has been crucified. All of his disciples were in hiding. On the first morning after the Sabbath, these…
“Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” John 20:15 Weeping – The Passion story in the gospel of John uses a literary device to enhance the emotional immediacy of the scenes. The verbs are in the present tense, transporting the reader into the right-now action. It is John’s way of involving us in…
“My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion” Proverbs 3:21 Vanish – Did you know that gravity bends light? When you watch the sun setting over a flat horizon, the image that you see just before the sun vanishes is really not where you think it is. The gravity…
“he who abide in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit” John 15:5 Much – Last year I severely pruned the grapefruit tree behind my house. I cut and chopped and whacked the useless branches. This year I picked so many grapefruit that I had to use wheelbarrows to haul the fruit away. …
“He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Romans 8:11 Indwells – Once I realize that the life I experience is not my life but rather His making life in me, another wonderful truth becomes obvious. If I can just get…
“He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Romans 8:11 Give life – One of the greatest paradoxes of this world is the paradox that we are really not alive without His indwelling Spirit. Look around you. All of those people…
“It is finished.” John 19:30 It is finished – What do you want to be the last word of your life? This is not a trivial question. What word will summarize everything that describes who you are? What single word would you choose as your remembrance? Jesus uttered this last word with his dying breath. …
