Tag: Morning Musings

Morning Musing: Acts 17:25

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“nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
– ‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:25‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever done someone else a favor? I suspect so. That’s not an uncommon thing to do. It’s a basic cultural courtesy in most human cultures. Someone needs something, we are able to do it for them without cost, and so we do. And, while we don’t often cash in on this right away, there’s usually an unspoken understanding that once this favor has been given, a favor is now deserved. In most cases, this whole system keeps society running smoothly. But, what about the times when it doesn’t work? Paul touches on one here. 

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Morning Musing: 1 John 1:6

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“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

Sometimes you come across something in the Scriptures that, if you think about it very hard, can make you break out in a cold sweat. It doesn’t happen so often as to make you read with armor on, but you’ve still got to watch out for it. This is one of those places. 

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Morning Musing: Matthew 2:5

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“They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter)

What does it look like to live like the Scriptures are true? In the church today there is much talk about the authority and reliability of the Bible. That’s been the case for much of the last century. There is a whole industry of folks who are committed to defending the Bible as absolutely true. That’s not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but defending the truthfulness of the Scriptures and living our lives as if they really were true are two different things. 

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Morning Musing: Luke 6:22-23

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“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
– ‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:22-23‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

In this world there are two opposing forces. They are not even remotely equal, but opposite, as popular literature and several different religions hold them to be, but they are opposing all the same. There is the world and there is God. If we are received by and accept the reception of one, we will reject the other. As Jesus Himself made plain, we cannot have both. More specifically, if we receive God, the world isn’t going to like us anymore. 

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Morning Musing: Matthew 2:16

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“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

This is the hardest part of the story. This episode reveals Herod—known to history as Herod the Great—as one of the single greatest monsters ever to walk the face of the earth. It puts him in the ranks of Hitler and Stalin and Mao. He may not have killed nearly as many (though he had many thousands more than this put to death in his time, including family members), but anyone who would order the wholesale slaughter of babies jumps to the head of that deadly class. The bottom line right now, though, is this: What on earth are we supposed to do with this? 

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