“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Romans 11:6 But if – My daughter introduced me to Instant Messaging. She is eleven. She is much more proficient than I am, flashing up code words like “brb” (be right back) and “how…
“We are fools for Christ’s sake” 1 Corinthians 4:10 Fools – “You’re crazy. How can you believe that God will do anything about this?” “You’re living a fairy tale. Wake up and smell the roses!” Or as someone once said to me, “Don’t wait for a miracle. It’s not going to happen!” Have you ever…
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler of Israel.” Micah 5:2 Too little – Do you every wonder why God seems to do everything backwards? He seems to choose people who aren’t equipped for the job. …
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You” Isaiah 26:3 Perfect peace – A double whammy! Twice as much! The big double scoop. If you want perfect peace, Isaiah gives you all you can handle by repeating the same Hebrew word twice – shalom shalom. The peace of…
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You” Isaiah 26:3 Steadfast of mind – Once I read an account of a man captured in war. He was kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time. In order to resist mental collapse, he began to build a dream…
“For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offering” Hosea 6:6 Loyalty – The paradigm example of the use of this Hebrew word is found in Psalm 136. There the word hesed is used 26 times. It is translated as “lovingkindness” or “faithfulness”. Even though the…
“But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among the people.” Numbers 15:30 Cut off – If you give it a moment’s thought, you will realize that there is a lot of cutting in the…
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1 Spiritual service – What images come to mind when you read these two words? Do you get a pang of guilt because you passed…
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1 Sacrifice – It’s all about blood. I know that most of us are squeamish about blood. When we see blood we think “Pain!” Blood…
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1 Present – When I was a child in elementary school, every morning the teacher took attendance. This was not an informal process of simply…
