Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
… as you hold firmly to the word of life.
Summary: Paul’s words about THE “word of life” lead us to wonder about our connection with Jesus and his Word, the Bible.
As Paul continues his thought, he finally brings us to the crux of the matter. In our passage for this meditation, he tells us to “hold firmly to the word of life.”
Continue reading “Philippians 2:16a – The Word of Life”
Who, being in very nature God…
Summary: Understanding the nature of God is a tall order. Perhaps the best we can do is to understand that we are not God and then learn to recognize who God is.
Imagine for a moment that you are a puppet. (You can be any kind of a puppet you would like to be!) You live in a world populated by puppets of all different types. Some are nice, others are mean. You know the world we live in.
Continue reading “Philippians 2:6a – Punch and Jesus”
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
Summary: Learning about God is a tricky business. It is easy to fall into the trap of depending on someone else’s description of God rather than listening to God directly.
Dear Readers: The next few days will be hectic for me at home, so we are reposting a few meditations from our series on the Lord’s Prayer. I will still be checking for comments. I hope to see you here!
Several months ago, I felt the Spirit pointing me towards the prayer in Matthew 6: 9-13. It is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer,” and is one that I learned as a child. Being raised as a Lutheran, we said the prayer every Sunday in church.
Continue reading “Matthew 5: 1-2 — Finding Jesus”
… for your progress and joy in the faith…
Summary: Paul’s mission to the churches is somewhat unique and is summed up in this passage.
I find it interesting how God stage-manages his will in the world.
If I hadn’t already known better, I would have thought that the “Acts of the Apostles” would have been a story about how the former disciples of Jesus had become apostles to the world. But that didn’t happen.
Continue reading “Philippians 1:25b – When Paul Met Jesus”
…and then he said to his disciples, ”Let us go back to Judea.”
”But Rabbi,” they said, ”a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
If I close my eyes and picture myself sitting among the disciples with Jesus, I imagine that we are camped near the bank of the Jordan River, near where John the Baptist appeared out of the wilderness and started preaching. In my mind’s eye, it is morning. The sun is peeking over the eastern horizon and some of the disciples have been up since very early. A fire is going in the middle of the camp and as the few disciples who are still asleep wake-up, they gather around the fire where a breakfast of small fish is cooking. Someone passes around a rough-hewn wood plate with dates on it and I take one to eat and pass the plate on.
Continue reading “Timing – John 11: 7-8”