Ecclesiastes 1:4-8, ‘A generation goes, a generation comes…the sun rises, and the sun goes down…around and around goes the wind…all streams run to the sea…All things are full of weariness…” According to these first verses of Ecclesiastes, the world is full of soul-numbing weariness, and this is exemplified in the cyclical nature of the world […]
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Isaiah 57:15, ‘For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’’
Ephesians 3:18-9, [That you] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Paul does not explain the dimensions that he mentions in this
Colossians 1:15, ‘…πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως…’ (the Firstborn of all Creation). I won’t get into this one too much now for the sake of time….suffice it to say that, though the Son of God is eternal and uncreated, the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, is not eternal since His humanity is created. So, according to His humanity,
John 13:3, ‘Jesus, [knew] that the Father had given all things into His hands…’ These same hands into which all things have been given are the hands that would be pierced by Roman nails. Yes, part of the ‘all things’ delivered into the Son’s hands is the suffering, sorrow, death, and damnation of His people,
2 Corinthians 5:10, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.’ Everyone, without any exception, will appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. There will be no coverings, no hiding
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Jeremiah 33:10-11, “Thus says YHWH: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’…there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride…” Joy will sing in the *very place* where sorrow now holds
Romans 10:18, “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” When faced with the question of whether the refusal to believe in Jesus as Lord is due to a lack of hearing the word about the Christ, Paul responds that it is certainly not
Romans 2:16, “…on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” How does God judge the secret things of human hearts “by Christ Jesus”? I think there are at least two ways. First, there is a day of judgment appointed for all human beings. On
Ephesians 1:10, “…to sum up all things in Him, things in heaven and on earth.” The word I’ve translated “sum up” here is used only one other place by Paul, and that’s in Romans 13:9 where he says that every commandment in the Law is “summed up” in the command to love neighbor. What
Today’s picture is a bit different than normal because it’s a collaboration that I did with a friend. Sean Eha is an excellent weaver of words and he writes poetry over at https://rebornbyfire.blogspot.com/ A few weeks ago Sean and I were talking about working on a poetry/art collab and we decided to base our
Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to YHWH, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Notice that it does not say, “let the wicked make amends for what he’s done,” or, “let the unrighteous
Philippians 2:15-16, “…you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold fast to the word of life.” (NIV) The “word of life,” refers most immediately to the Gospel, which is to say, the message that the one crucified in love under the sin and punishment of His enemies is,
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1 Peter 1:18, “…you were ransomed…with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world…” According to these verses, Christ was foreknown in the mind of God “before” the beginning of creation. But notice specifically how Christ was foreknown: as
Isaiah 24:23, “Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for YHWH of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.” What does it mean for the moon to be confounded and the sun ashamed? I think we can take this in two ways.
Psalm 30:5, For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:11, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness… Divine anger, weeping, night,
Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may last for the night…” As we arrive at the last day of 2019, I wanted to share a pair of images derived from Psalm 30:5….Today is the first, tomorrow I’ll share part 2. All of our nights of weeping are imaged by and experienced in the Night of our Lord on
Ezekiel 37:27, “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” In Ezekiel 1, we find an overwhelming vision of the cosmic Chariot-Throne of God. YHWH Himself rides on a throne of light above a firmament of crystal, supported on the wings of four
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” The Passage Explained: Paul’s words here echo his earlier call to
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Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” The knowledge (intimate, personal knowledge—same word used for the way a husband and wife “know” one another in marital union) the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. By saying that knowledge of the Holy
