Jeremiah 31:14, “I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares YHWH.” The feasting of the priests on abundance and the satisfying of the people with God’s own goodness seems to be parallel concepts. The abundance on which the priests will feast is […]
Psalm 8:3-4, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” God has made the universe essentially infinite in order to mercifully
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” – Galatians 6:14-15 An edited entry from this morning’s journal: The
Isaiah 40:10-11, “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him…He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom…” I really love this passage from Isaiah because it–like many other places in scripture–sets before us both
Mark 5:36, “Do not fear, only believe.” Do not fear, only believe. Jarius’ daughter has just died, and this is what Jesus speaks to him. Two questions, what is he to believe and what is the dichotomy between fear and belief? First, what is Jarius to “only believe”? Well, in context it seems that
2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Strongholds seems to be a term Paul is using for any invisible
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Read More »
Mark 2:10, “…the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” I get so familiar with the idea of sins being forgiven that it can lose its wonder for me at times…but consider what Jesus is saying here. He is claiming to have the authority to forgive injustices and transgressions committed against
Genesis 29:7, “‘Water the sheep and go, pasture them.’ But they said, ‘We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.” What first caught my attention here was the repetition of “rolling away the stone” language (29:3, 8,
Hebrews 10:12, “[Christ] offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins…” During the evenings this week I’ve been preparing a message for this coming Sunday on the topic of “seeing Jesus in the Old Testament.” The strategy I plan to use to help people “see Jesus” in the first 2/3 of scripture is
Revelation 20:12, “…and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life…And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The simple idea of “judgment day” landed heavily on me this morning as I was reading Acts
Matthew 27:26, “…having scourged Jesus…” I was reading through Matthew 27 this morning and came across these three simple words referring to Pilate’s sentencing of Christ….the full verse reads: “Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.” What gripped my attention this morning is how much horror
The first section of Jeremiah is truly staggering to read. YHWH is finished with His people and His patience is at an end…He WILL judge them and they WILL be destroyed in the death of exile. I keep waiting for the “gospel turn” but it doesn’t come…again and again and again the people are–justly–hammered
Jeremiah 30:12, 17 + 1 Peter 2:24 Read More »
Genesis 28:12-13, 16-17, “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, YHWH stood above it (or “beside him” or “on it”)…. Then Jacob awoke from his
Genesis 28:12-13, 16-17 + John 1:49 Read More »
Jeremiah 17:13, “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.” Luke 10:20, “…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” There is only one
Jeremiah 17:13 + Luke 10:20 Read More »
2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” Paul was constrained,
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Read More »
Genesis 46:4, “I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again…” The Lord speaks these words to Jacob before the Patriarch moves with his family down to Egypt in order to escape a famine in the land. While the immediate fulfillment of Gen. 46:4 happens when
2 Corinthians 3:3,”…you are a letter from Christ…written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone it on tablets of human hearts.” What does Paul mean here? In the immediate context he’s talking about “letters of recommendation” (that is, letters proving him to be a trustworthy
John 12:3, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” This morning I was reading in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and came across Paul’s statement that “[God] in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” I took some time to
2 Corinthians 1:5 (my translation), “For just as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, in the same way through Christ abounds also our comfort.” What is Paul saying here? He’s just finished asserting that his comfort in the face of affliction is to the end that he might be able to comfort those
