“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7 NASB Master – “To be sure, we sin. Each of us has a yetser, an impulse to evil,…
Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. Genesis 37:1 NASB Sojourned – Did you think Jacob’s emotional trauma was resolved at Jabbok? Do you believe that crossing over into conscious self-identity means finding peace? Perhaps you need to reconsider. The Joseph story begins on an ominous…
for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13 NASB Deeds of the body – We agree with Paul. We need to put to death the “deeds of the body.” But what…
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19 NASB Sons of God – How about you? Do you anxiously await with eager expectation the revealing of the sons of God? Or do you dread the Day of Reckoning? Or, perhaps even worse, you just…
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2 NASB Law – Paul is a complex writer. He uses Greek vocabulary to its maximum. In fact, sometimes he just makes up words. So to imagine that Paul always means…
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:24 NASB Set me free – Just for the moment put aside Augustine’s exegesis claiming that this verse is the expression of Paul before he became a Christian. Historical analysis demonstrates that Augustine’s conclusion is wrong. At the…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3 ESV Comfort – Do you remember? Do you remember sitting in your father’s lap, safe, his arms around you, holding you as the most precious person in all the world? Do you…
He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters were standing above the mountains. Psalm 104:5-6 NASB Above – Here is a visual representation of the cosmology of Genesis: It’s nothing like even the simplest grade…
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me on my high places. 2 Samuel 22:34 NASB My high places – “Just keep going up. At first you won’t see it, but just keep going up.” We were four miles into the climb. Not a hike. A climb. Every step was altitude gain. And…
Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. Psalm 104:2 NASB Tent Curtain – Read this verse without your current Einstein cosmic concepts. Read it without the Hubble telescope, the textbooks on astrophysics or even without those glow-in-the-dark stars you attached to your youngest child’s bedroom ceiling. Read…
