The subtitle in my Bible says, “Discipleship is costly.” And that has been my attitude toward these verses. I must give up my rights (deny myself) and go through some difficulties (carry my cross), but it will be worth it in the end. Perhaps you have had the same attitude too. Thanks to my pastor’s sermon yesterday, I have a fresh perspective.
Pastor reminded us that these words come from the One Person who loves us the most. . . .
Read MoreGod is kind to everyone, even to people who are not grateful for the incredible sacrifice He made for them. God is kind even to evil people. And God expects the same from us. He wants us to have mercy for the mean.
This phrase in Luke is at it at the end of Jesus’ teaching on loving your enemies. I think of an enemy as someone known to me, but not in close relationship. For example, I would consider an abusive . . .
Read MoreNow I am seeing the Trinity of God Everywhere and in All things!!
I noticed that the Old Testament priests were consecrated with water, blood and oil (Leviticus 8). That is three things! I wondered if these could represent the Trinity. As it turns out, they do! . . . .
Read MoreI delight in finding the Trinity of God hidden in familiar passages of Scripture. I discovered one this one in the contents of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant contained three things: 1-the stone tablets upon which the finger of God wrote His covenant, 2-a golden pot of manna, and 3-Aaron’s rod that budded (Heb.9:4).
It is easy to see how the stone tablets symbolize God the Father because . . .
Read MoreThe trinity of God is right here in this first sentence! In fact, these four words speak volumes: God said, “Light, Be!”
In the beginning God – “Elohim” in Hebrew – created the heavens and the earth. “Elohim” is God plural; coupled with a singular verb it denotes the majestic plural. So the character of God that is emphasized when He spoke His first Word is that of plurality and unity and power.
The Spirit of God is “ruah Elohim” in Hebrew. “Ruah” is breath or wind. So the Spirit of God is the breath of God. This is important because our voice is carried on our breath. Without wind . . .
Read More“Holiness” is God’s theme for me lately. This passage in Romans is just one of the many examples of “holiness” surfacing in my readings. Here the Holy Spirit is referred to as the “Spirit of Holiness.” It seemed like an interesting twist of semantics at first. But actually, their word choice was deliberate. And it adds weight and significance to the passage.
If we say “Holy Spirit,” that indicates that the Spirit of God, Himself, is Holy. We are saying that Holiness as His nature. “Holy” is who He is. But if we say “Spirit of Holiness” that indicates . . .
Read MoreAaron, the priest, wears a "seal" in the form of the gold plate on his turban. The "seal" that Aaron wears declares that he is, "Holy to the Lord!"
This caught my attention because we, like Aaron, are priests of the Most High God. (1 Peter 2:9) We have also been “sealed” with the Holy Spirit for . . .
Read MoreDo you see the difference? In the first version, the implication is that a group of people decided that instead of referring to the disciples as “The Way” or some other designation, they would be called Christians. In the second version, God Himself reveals some new thing about Jesus followers! This is a game-changer!
This is much more significant than . . .
Read MoreI would love it if I could read the Word of God in its original language. Every detail, every name, every number, is written for our learning. And so much is lost in the translation. For example, these verses on healing in Acts are actually a lesson on living a praise-filled life.
The notes in The Passion translation point out that the name of the town where Peter is ministering, Lydda, means “strife.” And the healed man’s name, Aneneas, means “praise.” So, this man named “Praise” is living in a place called “Strife . . .
Read MoreThe day that our physical body ceases to breathe, and our spirit passes into eternity, is what we refer to as “death.” But in the above verses, Jesus refers to this as “entering life.” In other words, what we would call “death,” Jesus calls “life.” Think about that a moment!
Jesus has an eternal perspective. He knows that our true life begins . . .
Read MoreI’ve been sitting at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane Washington this last week wondering if each day will be my Dad’s last one. Every morning I would walk in intending to be a bubble of joy . . . to push back the darkness. But at the end of the week, I awoke one morning with a negative dream and my thought patterns spiraled downward. Yikes!
That day I was NOT a bubble of joy! My mind seemed unable to focus or . . .
Read MoreToday, I am identifying with Hannah and Ruth, two faithful women from the Old Testament.
Hannah pops out of obscurity long enough for us to see her tenacious faithfulness. Then she fades into the obscurity of history again. You can read her story in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2.
Hannah is faithful to God even when no one else in her family is. Her faithless husband loves her but doesn’t trust God to provide children so he marries another woman. The second wife . . .
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