I grew up with pictures like this of Jesus. Our old sanctuary had stained glass images of him with sheep or on the cross. Pictures in the hallway had children sitting on his lap. I don't remember dogs in the pictures as depicted above, but they probably existed, too. There's not anything wrong, per se, with such images except that they ... [Continue Reading]
More is at Risk Than You Think (Matthew 4; Luke 4-5; John 1:15-51)
Temptation is a funny thing. In the moment, we think it's all about what's in front of us. For this mouse, I'm sure he was just thinking about the cheese. But a lot more was at risk for him, and a lot more is at risk for us when we face temptation. We can learn this lesson by Jesus' temptations. Each tmie he was tempted, ... [Continue Reading]
Solitude (Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3)
Jesus started his public ministry at the age of 30. By records, we know he was about 33 years old when he was crucified. He had approximately 3-4 years to train his disciples and to establish the Church. That's not much time. And even in the midst of doing what was arguably one of the most important tasks on the planet, he made time for ... [Continue Reading]
What Fear Causes (Matthew 2; Luke 2:39-52)
When Jesus came, Herod saw this new king as a threat to his political power. He was afraid of losing his position of authority, so he went to great lengths to end Jesus' life. Perhaps the most terrible act of this story is that he murdered baby boys two years old and younger in an effort to kill the Christ. Jesus interrupted Herod's story, and ... [Continue Reading]
A Tainted Family Tree (Matthew 1; Luke 2:1-38)
Typically when I get to long lists of names in the Bible I skim over them, but it's not wise to do so with the list of Jesus' lineage in Matthew 1. In fact, there are a few important things to notice about the lineage that have a fairly major impact on what it means to be a follower of Christ. And if you find yourself questioning whether or not this ... [Continue Reading]
A Nice Story (Luke 1; John 1:1-4)
There's something about reading the story of Zechariah and John the Baptist's birth that's intriguing. What would you have done if you were burning incense in the Temple and an angel came to tell you that your wife who had long gone through menopause would now be giving birth? It's not like this had never happened in the history of Israel. ... [Continue Reading]
Let everything that has breath… (Psalms 134 and 146-150)
Psalm 150 will forever be etched in my mind with an experience I had as a sophomore in college. I was part of the Chorale at Taylor University, and we took a mission trip to Russia to participate in an International Music Festival in Yekaterinburg. One of the songs in our concert was Psalm 150. Imagine being in a country where people weren't ... [Continue Reading]
One Day (Psalms 82-83, 137, and 126)
The Psalms speak of a day when Israel will be restored as a nation, when mouths will be full of laughter, and when there will be shouts of joy. We don't know when this day is, whether near or far. All we know is that it's on its way. One day we will sing praises before the Lord, and we will worship Him without hindrance. One day we will ... [Continue Reading]
The interaction of God ‘ s Word (Psalms 119:1-88 and 72)
In Psalm 119 David describes what should happen with God's Word: it should interact with us. When we spend time in God's Word, we should emerge differently because it should change us. If we never allow God's Word to change us, then what's the point of studying it? Just for more knowledge? Just so we can answer more ... [Continue Reading]
The desires of your heart (Psalms 37, 71, and 94)
Psalm 37:4 says to delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Some might see that verse to mean that God will give a person whatever he or she wants. While that's a nice notion, I don't think it gets to the heart of the verse. See, when a person delights himself in God his desires change because God isn't interested ... [Continue Reading]
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