Matthew 16:15, “But who do you say that I am?” Though Jesus asked this question of a particular group of people at a particular time in history, it resonates from the living scripture to every person on the planet….ultimately, this is THE question….who do we–not our families, not our traditions, not our leaders–who do […]
John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” One of the wonderful things about John 15:5 and the surrounding context is that Jesus makes our fruitfulness all about abiding
Jeremiah 4:14, “…wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved.” I’m continuing to read through Jeremiah during the “prophets” section of my morning reading. This verse especially jumped out to me today, for two reasons. First, in it, the Lord commands the impossible. We cannot “wash our heart” from evil since our
Genesis 12:3, “…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” These are the climactic words of YHWH’s initial covenant promise to Abram in Genesis 12. With these words the entire “History of Redemption” proper gets started. Through Abraham will come Israel, through Israel will come Judah, through Judah will come David
Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.” I’ve been teaching a small Wednesday night study at our local church and for the last few months we’ve been walking through the ecumenical councils.
Genesis 9:13,15, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth…And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” The most memorable element of God’s covenant with and all creation after the flood is the visual sign
Matthew 14:27, 30-31, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” … “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you
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Jeremiah 4:30, “And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain do you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.” Every god except the One True God of scripture
1 Corinthians 6:17-20, “…he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him….do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” What
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Luke 9:23-24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my save will save it.” The God of the universe is the God who declares Himself to His
Isaiah 65:13-14, “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall go hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall
1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”–these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” Often times verse 9
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“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence–…to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
Isaiah 64:1-4 + Matthew 27:46-45 Read More »
Genesis 50:20, “As For you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” The most implication-laden element of this sentence is that word, “meant.” It’s used twice in verse 20. First we see Joseph say that his brothers meant what they did to him as evil…that’s not surprising, we know our
Philippians 3:10,”…that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” This verse and picture didn’t grow from my reading this morning, rather it comes out of my own experience, the experience of those around me, and the sermon that my Father-in-law gave at our local church
Isaiah 2:12,17, “For YHWH of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up–and it shall be brought low…and YHWH alone will be exalted in that day.” The idea for this picture actually came from my reading in 1 Corinthians this morning. As I was reading
Matthew 6:22, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” I’m reading through
Isaiah 61:1,2, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me…to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.” It seems that the proclamation of the year of YHWH’s favor and day of His vengeance form form something of the center
Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Say to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” John 8:28, “So Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am…’” English translations of John
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Deuteronomy 26:8, “And YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror…” So, the idea for this morning’s picture actually comes from my reading of the baptism account in Matthew. I was freshly reminded of how Jesus embodies the exodus of Israel in Himself–passing
