Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
[If] … you continue in your faith …
Summary: How should we describe faith? In these days of computers following a map is much different than it used to be. Yet the principles are the same. “Do we trust the map?,” or “Do we trust the computer?,” are both basically the same question.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:23b – The Map”… if …
Summary: A short little word can mean a lot, especially when used as a condition for Christ’s redemption.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:23a – IF”… to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation …
Summary: Understanding what believing in Jesus means for us after death is life-changing.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:22b – His Plan Was Jesus”But now he has reconciled you [to God] by Christ’s physical body through death …
Summary: The means of reconciliation is not an intellectual exercise. Rather, it is an act of love so profound that it blinds us to anything else.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:22a – A Change of Heart”Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Summary: The construction of Paul’s sentence provides us with some interesting insights into our relationship with God.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:21 – How the Battle Goes”… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Summary: We conclude our meditation on this passage with a look at the cross. More than a blood sacrifice, balancing the scales of justice required pain and humiliation as well.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:20b – Part IV: The Cross”… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Summary: The importance of blood is well understood. Without it, we cannot live.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:20b – Part III: A New Covenant”… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Summary: God’s love for us is, in many ways, beyond human understanding. To gain an insight into God’s love for us, we can look at our own love for small, cuddly animals.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:20b – Part II: Puppy Love”… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Summary: The art of learning often has to do with asking questions. Taking that art to the next level leads us to the questions behind the questions.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:20b – Part I: War and Peace”… and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
Summary: Harmony is a beautiful thing. Disharmony is … well … painful. Jesus is the cure for the pain of disharmony.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:20a – A Former State”