“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ” Galatians 1:6 Called – Who was the active agent in your salvation? Was it the preacher who uttered the invitation? Was it the evangelist you heard at the meeting? Was it your friend who explained God’s plan…
“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” Deuteronomy 4:24 Consuming – If you’re invited to God’s kitchen, don’t ever expect to see left-overs. It might not seem like much, but the fact that God specifically requires the Passover to be completely consumed is important. God’s message in the Passover meal…
“The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.” Ecclesiastes 9:17 Quietness – When life just gets to be too much raucous confusion, do you just want to get away to a quite place? Imagine sitting by a gentle mountain stream, or at the seashore on…
“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” Luke 18:1 Ought – By now you should have guessed what we find in the Greek? God’s divine requirement. The little word dei. Jesus knew what it meant to carry out God’s necessary…
“and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30 Must – It’s worth repeating. Dei, the Greek word for the necessary character of God’s will, is a pivotal word for living. The jailer knew it. “What is necessary for me?” is his cry. Put aside all…
“Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”” John 3:7 Must – Perhaps you never thought about it but it is true nonetheless. There is a divine necessity to life, written into the structure of existence. When a believer is claimed by the divine will, life can never be lived…
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh” Galatians 5:13 Opportunity – How would you describe an “opportunity”? Would you use words like “happy occurrence”, “favorable circumstance” or “luck”? Opportunity is that intersection of the right things in the right time at the right…
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 Ransom – What picture comes to mind when you hear the word “ransom”? Do you think of the famous Lindberg case? Maybe you see Mel Gibson’s movie images. In…
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 Desires – Is your God just a divine Santa Claus? The Hebrew mish’ala is here translated “desires”. The root verb is sha’al, usually translated as “ask”. We usually think of this verse in the following way: if we…
“But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.” Mark 3:27 Plunder – What was Jesus’ perspective on the power structure of this world? It’s a question worth asking. If Jesus is God, then how He views…
