Ezekiel 18:32, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Today’s picture and passage are a simple reminder to me of two eternally weighty realities. First—There are paths that we can walk—paths of idolatry, of taking the Lord lightly, of small concessions here or there—there are […]
John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” When John says that no one has ever seen God he is very intentionally echoing the exchange between Moses and YHWH in Exodus 33:18ff where God says that no one can see
Exodus 15:23,25, “…they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter…and YHWH showed [Moses] a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.” Directly following the Lord’s miraculous, self-revelatory redemption of His people from Egypt through the Red Sea, we come to an unexpected narrative vignette
Exodus 15:23,25 + 1 Peter 2:24 Read More »
Ezekiel 17:23-24, “On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall
John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” I’m preparing to teach on John 1:15-17 this weekend at our church and so this passage has been on my mind the last few days. I won’t get into all of it now, but a few points that
Ezekiel 16:62-63, “And you shall know that I am YHWH…when I atone for all that you have done…” When we see our perversions drowned forever in the atoning blood of Christ, then we will know who our God is. ___________ This passage from this morning‘s ll of scripture. The level of graphic specificity used
Ezekiel 14:23, “…and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done…” Here is a question-silencing word. Here is a settling, quieting, storm-stilling word. We stand within the vantage point of history, using the frail faculties of our mortal, fallen minds and hearts as we attempt to understand
Matthew 25:40, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” For today’s picture, the text I put together with the image is actually not the text that gave me the idea for the image….the passage
Matthew 25:40 + Luke 9:46-48 Read More »
John 21:20, “…the disciple whom Jesus loved…” John cannot stop writing about love…if you’ve read his gospel or his epistles, you know this. And I think there is reason–John is the only New Testament writer (so far as we know) who stood at the foot of the cross. This disciple’s writings are drenched in
Isaiah 66:2, “But this is the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” What a simple and crucial reminder of the posture we are to take before the LORD our God. HIS word, HIS revelation–which for us means–HIS inspired scripture is to rest
(16) No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but pits it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. (17) For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and
Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God And the exact imprint of His nature…” In the evenings I’ve been preparing to preach this coming Sunday on John 1:14, about the Word being made flesh. One of the points I’m hoping to emphasize is the revelatory nature of the incarnation. I
Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that YHWH is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” See how the Spirit—through David—urges the people of God to press in further not merely know of YHWH but to feast, as it were, on Him, to taste and see for one’s self that He
Here are some notes from this morning’s journal. I wrote our Exodus 6:6-8 in an outline form as a way to make its chiastic structure more explicit. A>B>C>D<C'<D'<A’, with “D” as the central affirmation. I am YHWH >>> A) and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, >>>>>> B)
John 1:10, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.” This was part of the text that I preached on this past Sunday. As I was preparing for the message I was trying to sit under the weight of the reality that John
1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Everyone wants “love” to be on their side of the argument. Everyone wants to appeal to the “loving thing” to do, or to say that
Daniel 7:9-10, “…the Ancient of Days took His seat…A stream of fire issued and came out before Him…” Revelation 22:1, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” I’ve always been intrigued by the connection between these
Daniel 7:9-10 + Revelation 22:1 Read More »
“Sing praises to YHWH, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name! For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 30:4-5 Much to see here! First, notice that this entire
Luke 3:16-17, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and whit fire. his winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” See the authority that John ascribes to the coming Jesus, to the
Colossians 3:1-4, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in
