Psalms: 72 Meditation Revelation: Rife with symbolism, this passage describes in prophetic terms the birth of Jesus and His near slaughter at the hands of King Herod the Great. Consider Isaiah 14:12-20, we see Satan hurled from heaven along with a third of the angels with him. A battle ensues which culminated in Christ’s victory …
Tag: Matthew 13
Tuesday, November 3
Psalm: 61 Meditation Matthew: This teaching is about counting the cost of discipleship. Jesus seldom paints a rosy picture of growth of the kingdom. Still you give all that you have for the re-buried treasure and the pearl of great price. Everything! These two parables are about individuals who find the treasure or pearl. The …
Monday, November 2
Psalm: 65 Meditation Nehemiah: Jerusalem had been leveled by Nebuchadnezzar. Dust and rubble. Nehemiah and his volunteers managed to rebuild the city walls in 52 days. Apparently the history of Jerusalem itself struck fear into the locals such that they sent threatening letters to ward of Nehemiah and those with him. His worried friends suggested …
Saturday, October 31
Reformation Day Psalms: 46 Meditation Matthew: Yeast. Yeast is usually associated with sin [I can only think of one instance where leaven (yeast) refers to the spreading of the gospel (or “The Kingdom of heaven s like…” Matthew 13:33). The Jews were commanded in Exodus to remove all yeast during the time of Passover [8 …
Friday, October 30
Psalms: 20 Meditation Nehemiah: Nehemiah and Ezra should have been twins except that Ezra was a priest (thus of the tribe of Levi, a son of Aaron and Nehemiah was of the tribe if Judah. Ezra had returned to Jerusalem ahead of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was an official sent by Artaxerxes (or Xerxes the king) to …
Thursday, October 29
Psalm: 65 Meditation Revelation: John recounts his visions using imagery both he and his readers will understand. He talks about four formidable horses – to our mind quite frightening. Zechariah the prophet, who live about 500 years earlier also described four horses as a means of describing impending judgement – the same here. Let’s confine …
Wednesday, October 28
Psalms: 35 Meditation Matthew: Why did Jesus speak in parables? The answer is that few will want to hear the message like those who enter by the “wide gate” (Matthew 7:13-14). This is the hard saying that there will be considerably fewer people going to heaven than we can imagine a loving God to do …
Tuesday, October 27
Psalm: 9 Meditation Ezra: The letter being sent is very much like the last one (Ezra 9:11-16): same letter new king – Darius. Because of jealousy, a new crop of people are determined to arrest the rebuilding of the Temple. Again, the king (Darius) is encouraged to search the archive for the royal authorization to …
Sunday, May 17
Psalm: 93 Meditation 1 Timothy: The hymn (typically indented in the English text) is not unlike one of many choruses we sing on any given Sunday morning. So, this was a tradition begun millennia ago. The “mystery of goodness” is simply good Christian living (as examples to the world) as outlined in Chapter 2:2. The …
Lead us not into temptation
James the brother of Jesus writes this concerning temptations that we face. James 1:13-14 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. God never …
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