“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Jesus says two really important things here. The first gives us the rubric for having confidence in our fellowship. The second gives us the dual result of this state of affairs. Read the rest…
“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Here’s an important principle that radiates from the pages of the New Testament: If we do what Jesus did, we will experience what Jesus did. Put another way: If we walk the path Jesus did, we will receive what Jesus did. This is at one and the same time incredibly challenging and also incredibly encouraging. Read the rest…
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
At first read, this is a pretty far-out there claim for Paul to make. I mean, as far as an objective fact goes it is totally false. He was not crucified with Christ. As far as we know, he was not anywhere nearby when Jesus was crucified. More than that, given where he was theologically then, he would have been part of the crowd cheering on the event. He would likely have been glad to have been able to drive the nails into His hands and feet himself. So what does he mean? Read the rest…
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Living the life of Christ day-in-and day-out is a tall order. It’s a huge task. If we let it, the thought that we are to live each day following after the pattern of Christ and doing what He said can be an overwhelming thought. If we think about it in the wrong way, it can leave us wondering whether it’s really all worth it. How are we supposed to do this on our own? Read the rest…
“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This has always seemed like such an odd punishment to me. What would this have been like? Was it instant? Did she gradually start to transform from the feet up or the head down? Is there any kind of a natural explanation for this or was it entirely miraculous? Was Lot aware of it at first? Or, did he go on for some distance before realizing he couldn’t hear her trying to keep up any longer? If only they had smart phones back then! We could have gotten the whole thing on video. Imagine how many hits that would have received as a YouTube post… Read the rest…
