“Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.” (ESV)
I love what this is saying here. When it comes to the promises of God, we don’t have some beta version of a program that doesn’t yet have all the bugs worked out of it. We have something that was not only true and reliable from the start because of its source, but something that has also been tested and tried by hundreds of millions of users along the way. Read the rest…
“My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” (ESV)
How do you feel about God’s commands? Here in v. 136 of Psalm 119, the psalmist has poured hundreds of words into his proclamation of his love for and devotion to God’s law. Here he lands on an idea that is worth considering for a moment. Again: How do you feel about God’s law? Read the rest…
“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (ESV)
One of the most common criticisms of the Bible (usually made by people who have either not read it at all or else not read it closely) is that it is full of contradictions. Places like this give these folks a great deal of ammunition. At first read and even second and third, this is obviously a contradiction. As one commentator noted, if these verses were located in different parts of the Bible it would seem the contradictory nature was exceedingly obvious. Read the rest…
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Here is another place where we get realism instead of encouragement. Yet how important is this reminder for those who are following Jesus? If you want to follow Jesus well, you are going to face persecution of some kind. In fact, if you’re not facing at least some amount of persecution, you may want to look at how you’re doing in the faith. Read the rest…
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This is something we see emphasized more indirectly in John’s Revelation as well. The closer we get to the end of this world, the worse things will get; the worse people will get. Read the rest…
