Tag: Trusting in Jesus

Morning Musing: Romans 11:17-18

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“Now if some of the branches were broken off,  and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The relationship between Christians and Jews over the last 2,000 years has been complicated. While at least a sizable percentage of evangelical Christians today are very supportive of the nation of Israel, professed followers of Jesus have at other times been the chief persecutors of Jewish people. Such behavior and prejudice finds no support in the Scriptures at all, but Paul seemed to anticipate at least a belittling attitude toward his genetic people on behalf of his spiritual people. Let’s take the next few days and walk through his argument against such thinking starting with the illogical nature of spiritual arrogance.

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A Gift of Trust

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What do we do when everything is falling apart around us? That’s the question that Habakkuk was left to wrestle with at the end of his collection of prophecy. His circumstances weren’t great, and they were on the cusp of getting much worse. What are we supposed to do then, especially when it’s not going to be within our power to fix them? Here at the end of our journey, we finally get an answer to that question. Let’s see where Habakkuk lands in his journey with God, and talk about how we can get to the same place in our own lives.

A Gift of Trust

Do you remember the old Magic Eye books? Do you remember those images? I’ll put one up on the screen as a reminder. Believe it or not, there’s a Walleye fish and a hook in all of that gobblygook. I made the mistake of looking at one on my Facebook feed the other day (pro tip: don’t do that in public because you look really funny crossing your eyes and holding your phone up right in front of your face), and suddenly there was a new one every time I opened the app. As you can see from the Magic Eye image up here, when you look at it for the first time, there’s clearly nothing there. But once you learn how to see them and figure out what the image is, you just about can’t not see them. 

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Morning Musing: Exodus 20:8-11

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“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Some of the fieriest conflicts Jesus had during His ministry were over the Sabbath. Throughout much of the history covered by the Old Testament, Israel didn’t really keep this command very well. After the Babylonian Exile, though, and by the time Jesus came onto the scene, they were positively radical about it. The weight of this command bore heavily on the shoulders of the people. We’ve talked before about the Sabbath when God first introduced it to the people back in chapter 16. Let’s reflect again here on what God was helping the people further understand.

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The Gifts of Advent: Matthew 11:28-29

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“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Here we are in the season of Advent. This is a season known for many things. I don’t know that I have the time to even try to list out most of them. But one of the things that sits prominently on the list is gift-giving. I suspect that you will spend more time this month than you care to admit racing around trying to find the perfect thing to give to a special someone. In that spirit, as we journey through this Advent season together this year, I thought we might give some attention to some of the gifts God gives us to help us get the most out of this time; the gifts God gives to help us learn to live more fully in His kingdom. Today, we’ll talk about one gift that is perhaps our most needed by the time we get through it: rest.

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Morning Musing: Psalms 34:17-20

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“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We are sometimes tempted to think something about Jesus that is far too often presented as the truth, but which is about as far from that point as it could possibly be. We think He came to save people who have it all together. We think this even in spite of hearing numerous stories of dramatic conversions in which someone who was as far from God as he could possibly be finally embracing the Gospel. We treat those like the exceptions that prove the rule: Jesus came for the put together, and I’m not that. This morning, let’s talk about the truth.

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