Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Matthew 5:11 When I read this I think, didn’t we just talk about persecution, why is Jesus repeating Himself? Since Jesus is doing it again, I am drawn to the [...]
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. - Psalm 86:5 Many see God in their mind's eye with a lightning bolt in His hand ready to strike down any who He finds in sin. We joke about it, don’t we? Someone says something [...]
Messiah Sighting I’ve long seen Psalm 85:10 as a reference to Jesus, and I love the picture it paints of our Lord. Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. - Psalm 85:10 John gives us this in His opening monolog, And the Word became flesh, … full of grace [...]
I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots. (Song of Songs 1:9 NKJV) This always reminds me of the scene in the movie A Knights Tale. William Thatcher is trying to woo the maiden Jocelyn and well sticks his hoof in his mouth. She asks him to speak beautiful words to [...]
but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. - Hebrews 3:6 I’ve been looking at Jesus standing before Pilate this morning. They engage in this astounding interchange. Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he [...]
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 Welcome to following Jesus, now die! What a crazy way to climax this amazing set of character builders. Just for fun, did you notice that we have had seven Beatitudes to this point? Seven is God’s perfect [...]
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; - John 10:27 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [...]
…O fairest among women... (Song of Songs 1:8 NKJV) He speaks! Verse 8 contains the Shepherd’s first words in the Song. And look at how He addresses our damsel in distress. Fairest of them all! With all our girl is stressing over: Her conflict of inner and outer cleanliness The abuse of her mother’s sons [...]
If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women, Go forth on the trail of the flock, And pasture your young goats By the tents of the shepherds. - Song of Songs 1:8 Now our girl has suffered some abuse and some frustration at the hand of her mother’s sons. Her heart cries out [...]
…they will be called the sons of God. Matthew 5:9 OK – now that is a big promise! Peacemakers will be called the sons of God. Interesting since the one and only begotten Son of God carries the title Prince of Peace. This promise raises a couple of questions for me. First, who is doing [...]