Now or Never

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB Time – How difficult it is for us to not read this verse (and the following elaboration) as if it is about dates on the calendar! The addition of just a few extra words pushes…

The Divine Day-planner

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB Time – Do you remember how Moses Luzzatto defined mercy? Mercy is God giving us more time. Mercy is delay of judgment. Mercy is God waking us up the next morning and saying, “OK, now…

Mysterious Confusion

“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB May turn – Rabbi David Aaron addresses the difference between Jews and Christians on the subject of prayer in his online article, “Why Do We Pray?” In that article he states the Jews do…

What Time Is It?

So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. John 7:6 NASB Time – Do you have time? “Time for what?” you probably ask. Well, if you were talking with Yeshua on this particular day, the answer might be, “Time to do what you were designed to…

Foreknowledge

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 New Living Translation In advance – Read it carefully. The NLT is the only contemporary translation that I know that clearly implies God knows…

Reading Again (Again)

There is a time to act for God; set aside the Torah  Psalm 119:126  (Heschel) To act for God – You won’t get this translation in the English Bibles.  Most English Bibles, and a lot of translations of the Jewish Tanakh, read something like, “It is time for the Lord to act, for they have…

Kingdom Announcement (Again)

Thy kingdom come  Matthew 6:10 Come – We know that God’s Kingdom is not a physical place.  The Greek word basileia is about reign and rule, not palaces and courtyards.  God’s Kingdom is revealed wherever His servants and citizens live according to His government.  But what does it mean to pray, “Your Kingdom come?”  Hasn’t it already arrived when we…

Happy Today

Happy those who keep justice, who do righteousness at all times.  Psalm 106:3 (Robert Alter translation) At all times – “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it then your life will surely show it.”  So…

Don’t Hold Your Breath

How long will you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?  Psalm 62:3  ESV How long – Three thousand years and counting.  That’s how long.  Does that seem possible?  Does it seem reasonable?  David asks the perrenial human question.  How long do we have to wait, Lord?  Lifetime after…

Recalculating

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  Hebrews 11:13  NASB The promises – Is it really true that all the saints in the hall of fame, all those righteous Old…