Psalm: 92 Pentecost Meditation John: Jesus is qualifying in whom His Spirit will dwell. Jesus’ principal commands are to love God and to love our neighbor. Those commands are more in the nature of activities of the soul (heart) than the physical activity of work. Jesus’ promise to send His Spirit is contingent on Jesus’ …
Tag: Holy Spirit
Tuesday, April 26
Psalms: 52, 53 Meditation John: This scene is the Last Supper (Passover). According to this passage the secret of eternal life is “That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (v. 3) Then Jesus prays for the disciples who will be left alone once Jesus leaves until …
Friday, April 22
Psalm 29 Meditation John: The scene is the Last Supper. Jesus is telling His disciples that He is “going away” – as it turns out, the very next day and then permanently 40 days after that. This news casts a pall over the disciples because they will feel “rudderless” (fishermen – remember?) without Jesus. He …
Monday, February 7
Psalm: 90 Meditation Mark: Surely the best way to create bad blood among colleagues might be just such a scenario as described here. Who is the greatest? Really? Once the Holy Spirit descends, the point Jesus is making – the paradox that the first be last and servant of all – becomes abundantly clear. Earlier, …
Tuesday, January 18
Psalm: 33 Meditation Ephesians: “You must no longer live as the Gentiles live…” (v. 17) Gentiles were regarded as “sinners” always. Israelites, on the other hand, are God’s people. Black and white, as it were. Habitual Bible reading (study) will serve us by lightening our understanding and softening our hearts. This Bible reading is intended …
Monday, December 13
Psalm: 68 Meditation 2 Peter: I confess, I have never met St. Peter, well, not yet anyway. What I can say is that the Peter of the gospels is vastly different from the writer of this epistle. What changed? What happened? The most major event in Peter’s life must have been Pentecost – the descent …
Sunday, November 14
Psalm: 97 Meditation Ecclesiasticus: This passage will close our brief overview of Ecclesiasticus. (I can hear a collective sigh saying: “It’s about time.”) What Sirach craved for and received (I might say with determination) is a gift we receive upon being “born from above” (John 3:3), that is from the Holy Spirit. Sirach spent 51 …
Tuesday, November 2
Psalm: 119:121-144 Meditation Ecclesiasticus: Sirach here is helping us to see not only the beauty of Wisdom but also Her place in the order of things. As I slide off the rails, please bear with me. When Solomon describes Wisdom, he hints at Her divinity. I think this Wisdom is the Holy Spirit of Whom …
Wednesday, October 13
Psalm: 39 Meditation Luke: John the Baptist was a Levite, Jesus of the tribe of Judah. Isaiah in chapter 40 prophesies John’s coming. By the time John arrives on the scene, there had been no prophet in the land – numerous false messiahs but, alas, no prophets. John had received the gift of the Holy …
Wednesday, September 29
Psalm: 119:97-120 Meditation Acts: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” (v. 2) It is a mystery to me how anyone could hear the gospel and yet not have heard about the Holy Spirit. As the passage reminds us, John preached a “greater than he” would arise and that He would baptize …