However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: Deuteronomy 28:15 NIV Curses – I’m writing this in April. You’re reading it in July. Hopefully what I have to say no longer applies,…
Exalted be the living God* and praised,. He exists—unbounded by time is His existence.* He is One—and there is no unity like His Oneness. Morning Blessings, ArtScroll Siddur, p. 15 Unbounded by time – The line above is from the morning service in the Jewish Prayer Book. The asterisks in the sentence indicate that there…
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1 NIV This we proclaim – If you read this text in the NIV, you would immediately be confronted with a…
You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Matthew 23:26 NASB Inside – This morning I wanted to write something profound in novel form. As I walked down the hall to my office, it suddenly struck me that there were…
To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 1 Peter 1:1 NASB Aliens – Are you one of the parepídēmois? Translated as “aliens,” we might be tempted to read this as Grundmann explains it: “Christians are only temporary residents on earth and must not let their lives be shaped by its interests. They…
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB Natural man – The psychikós ánthrōpos (natural man). The man who does not accept the things of the spirit of God. Who is this natural…
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NASB Desperately sick – You probably thought this verse was about the propensity of human beings to sin. You might have been taught that we have this terrible, fatal illness called disobedience. It really doesn’t matter at this point whether…
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” John 8:51 NASB Never see death – How can these words of Yeshua possibly be true, especially 2000 years later? He died. Everyone who heard the words died. Everyone ever since has died. Was he just a deluded apocalyptic prophet who…
but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:23 NASB Stumbling Block – You certainly know that Paul’s choice of the Greek is a bit more outrageous than the typical translation, “stumbling block.” The Greek is skándalon. You can immediately see the English derivative, “scandal.” We choose “stumbling block” because…
