Make friends quickly with your opponent at law. . Matthew 5:25 NASB Make Friends– God reminds me that I need considerable improvement in the area of interpersonal conflict. It’s not that I am an angry, hostile man. Most people find me congenial, friendly, and helpful. That’s how I like to think of myself. But God lets me…
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:7 NASB Flee– “Basically bāraḥ means to go or pass through, and to flee or hurry. It occurs mostly in narratives, referring to flight from an enemy.”[1] But how can this be true in this psalm? Is God the enemy? Do we…
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. Exodus 23:4 NASB Return – The instructions that accompany citizenship in the Kingdom of YHVH are fundamentally different than our view of political affiliation. In systems based on Western thought, individual rights and privileges are at the…
you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever Obadiah 10 NASB Shame – The Hebrew word bushah is used only four times in the Old Testament. It describes King David’s personal shame and distress and it describes the shame associated with the destruction under God’s judgment. In Obadiah, the nation…
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10 NASB Enemies – No one could ever have imagined such a statement. Today those who are followers of the Christ don’t give this verse…
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. Proverbs 25:21-22 Will reward – Does this translation make sense to you? Is God promising to give you a reward…
“And a second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:39 NASB Love – We all know that this Greek word is agapao. Agape love is the standard of Christian concern. We also recognize that it is self-sacrificing love, based not on what I might receive from another but solely on…
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (almost NASB) Friend of the world – Who is a philos tou kosmou (friend of the world)? This is a vitally important question, perhaps equal to the scribe’s inquiry, “Who is my neighbor?” If we have the…
“for the word of YHWH has been to me a reproach and derision all the day.” Jeremiah 20:8 Reproach – Jeremiah tells us that he desperately tried not to speak God’s words. He tried to shut them up within his heart. But it was no use. They became a burning fire that had to be…
“you have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’” Matthew 5:43 Enemy – Who said that? Who said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy”? If you look at the reference in Leviticus 19:18, you won’t find the second part of this citation. In fact, you will find…
