Month: July 2018

The Man Who Got It

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In this second-to-last installment of our series, Hard Sayings, we wrestled with the power of the cross.  Just how big is the grace Jesus won for us there?  It can save a normal sinner, sure, but can it save the worst of them?  We’re actually faced with a harder question here: Do we want it to?  Is Jesus’ offer of life to anyone fair?  Keep reading to see the answer.

 

The Man Who Got It

Do you remember your parents ever doing something for your brother or sister that they did not do for you?  What was your immediate complaint?  That’s not fair!  Actually, you probably said it with a bit more…emotion in your voice.  That’s not faaaaaaiiiir!!!  Worse yet, do you remember your brother or sister or cousin or a friend or, really, just about anyone, getting something you were convinced in your heart of hearts they didn’t deserve?  What did you say then?  About the same thing: “That’s not fair!” Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 3:3

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“The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

I love this verse. The detail about the lamp of God functions in two ways. The first is entirely mundane. In the tabernacle (the reference to “the temple of the Lord” is anachronistic since the temple wouldn’t be built for over 100 years, and anyway, the Hebrew here refers simply to a large building or structure so tabernacle would be an acceptable translation as well), there was a special lamp, a candlestick more precisely, that was lit each night and burned until morning. The other meaning here is more special. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 2:4

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“As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you remember a time as a kid when you were misbehaving, knew it, but weren’t doing anything about it? You just kept right on down that path figuring that you’d deal with the consequences when that time came. And eventually, the time did indeed come. Your parent or teacher or some other authority finally caught you and sat you down and basically said, “You’ve had your fun, but what were you thinking? Now it’s time to pay the Piper.” Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 3:1

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“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli.  And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who wasn’t really listening? Let me rephrase that: When was the last time you tried to talk to someone who wasn’t really listening? I have three boys at home under the age of 10. In our household that’s a daily exercise, and it will probably continue to be that way for the next 15 years or so. Joy… Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 23:6-8

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“Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

A major purpose of the Law of Moses was to give the people of Israel a national identity that set them apart from all the other nations around them.  Over and over again we see that the Lord wanted them to be different from everybody else.  All the other nations, in spite of their own uniquenesses, were functionally the same: They were pagan.  Israel, on the other hand, was to be a people of the Lord. Read the rest…