“I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.” Psalm 101:3 We know what “worthless” means. It means “good for nothing, garbage, trash.” Of course, in these days of recycling, garbage and trash might actually be worth something. …
2 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;” Exodus 34:6 A few days ago we looked at another form of this word (chanan). Have you been gathering chicks under your Hebrew wings? Today we…
“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;” Exodus 34:6 It is customary at social gatherings to be asked the question, “What do you do?” You have probably heard it hundreds of times. But what…
“One who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Proverbs 19:17 Repay – Just in case you are still unconvinced that this verse is about accounting, the Hebrew word gemul makes it certain. Gemul is a word that means “a deserved receipt for something.” …
“One who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Proverbs 19:17 Poor – Poor me. The poor in Haiti. That poor person. Poor circumstances. All of these thoughts use the word “poor” but they all have slightly different meanings. And that is exactly the…
“One who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Proverbs 19:17 Gracious – What does it mean to be gracious to the poor? Most of us would immediately reject the Martha Stewart “gracious living” answer. We know that being gracious to the poor does…
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10 Persecuted – What does “persecuted” mean to you? Prison cells? Torture chambers? The rack? Burned at the stake? Fed to lions? Maybe you think less graphically. Maybe “persecuted” is about being turned down for…
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4 Who – Who are you? The answer has nothing to do with your name, heritage, nationality or gender. This “who” is really a different question in disguise. It is really the question: whose are you? It is a question…
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4 End – The Beatles almost got it right. On Abby Road, the boys sing, “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make“. Almost, but not quite. God’s perspective is a little different. …
“but only a few things are necessary, really only one:” Luke 10:42 Really only one – Life is designed to bring us to the circumstances of our defining moment – the moment when who we really are in the depths of our being is revealed. The problem is with “defining moments” is this: you never…
