But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!
Here in Matthew 23, Jesus has just outwitted the Sadducees and Pharisees when they tried to rhetorically trap him. He famously says “give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his,” and clarifies the golden rule. Thoroughly stumped, the religious leaders quit asking him questions, then Jesus delivers an epic diatribe on hypocrisy… […]
The people of Israel did not head straight to the promised land. After being miraculously brought out of Egypt they were doubting God and squabbling internally within days. In order to get them prepared for true community in the promised land God had some reminders. We pick up the story in Deuteronomy 8… Keep and […]
Here in Psalm 27 David is crying out and asking God for one thing. Not a revolving prayer list of wants, but one big ask that he is desperate for God to agree to. Light, space, zest— that’s God! So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. 2 When vandal hordes […]
Paul wrote letters to many believers, but it’s clear he had a special place in his heart for Timothy. Here, at the beginning of 2 Timothy, Paul is encouraging his younger brother in Christ to be bold in using his gifts. Paul recognizes his potential and shares why Timothy can overcome his timidity to serve […]
In Matthew 21 Jesus has his triumphal entry; palm leaves are waved, tables are kicked over, it’s an exciting and well-known series of events. But at the end of the chapter, Jesus tells two convicting stories directed at religious leaders and us… THE STORY OF THE TWO SONS 28-30 “Tell me what you think of this […]
Life is far too complex to figure out by ourselves. God simplifies and shows us the direction to maturity. Throughout the book of Proverbs, God helps keep us on track. Here in Proverbs 2 we see how to make insight our priority… 1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you; collect my counsels and […]
You’re familiar with the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. But here is the end of Luke 2, where Scripture highlights two faithful believers as they encounter the child at the temple… In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of […]
The arrival of Jesus signaled the beginning of a new era. God entered history in a personal way, and made it unmistakably clear that he is on our side, doing everything possible to save us. It was all presented and worked out in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It was, and is, hard […]
For Isaiah, words are watercolors and melodies and chisels to make truth and beauty and goodness. Or, as the case may be, hammers and swords and scalpels to unmake sin and guilt and rebellion. Isaiah does not merely convey information. He creates visions, delivers revelations, arouses belief. He is a poet in the most fundamental […]
Prophets use words to remake the world. The world—heaven and earth, men and women, animals and birds—was made in the first place by God’s Words. Prophets, arriving on the scene and finding that world in ruins, finding a world of moral rubble and spiritual disorder, take up the work of words again to rebuild what […]