Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
Summary: Paul declares that his entire life before Jesus was a waste. Is that true? The question makes us ponder the timing of Jesus’ birth.
Have you ever worked hard on something, only to get to the end of it and realize it wasn’t really what you wanted or needed to do?
Continue reading “Philippians 3:7 – Wasted Effort”
… in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
Summary: Paul reminds us that he was a Pharisee before he met Jesus.
What does Paul mean by saying “in regard to the law, a Pharisee?” The answer, it turns out, requires that we understand the story behind the Pharisees.
Continue reading “Philippians 3:5e – Before He Met Jesus”
“children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky…
Summary: Paul’s words point us to one of the most important questions facing Christians: How do we know we are saved?
What does he mean by suggesting that we can become “blameless and pure” (Philippians 1:15a) and “children of God without fault?” Is he suggesting that we can attain some level of perfection as believers in Christ?
Continue reading “Philippians 2:15b – Star Light”
… and he began to teach them.
Summary: The weird truth about Jesus is that he also happens to be God.
There are many “teachers” out there, but not all teachings are true. So, who is Jesus, and why should we listen to his teachings?
Continue reading “Matthew 5: 2 — Who is Jesus? Part I”So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
Summary: Learning to trust Jesus is a big step for people who are used to trusting themselves.
Continue reading “Galatians 3:26 – Good and Right”… so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Summary: Paul is very close to his topic. So close that he makes assumptions about his audience and what they know. Deconstructing what Paul says requires us to look into the Old Testament for clues.
Continue reading “Galatians 3:22b – Letting Go, Grabbing On”… which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Summary: What kind of “good works” does God have for us to do? Looking through the Scriptures it seems clear that one way of looking at our work for God is to be caretakers for his Garden.
Continue reading “Ephesians 2:10c – Gardeners”
… has given us everything we need for a godly life …
Summary: What is a godly life? It is a question we should spend some time thinking about. Jesus is God, so we know that we should be like him, but are we to be like him in every way?
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:3b — A Godly Life”
…when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah …
The suffering of the Messiah is the pivotal event in all human history. Without a willing Messiah, humanity would have eventually burned itself up. In the final analysis, after all the souls were counted, God would not have had much to show for his trouble. The rest of us would have ended up in the eternal garbage bin, languishing forever in the vacuum of rejection we had crafted for ourselves.
But that is not how it played out. Instead, the God who created us became our savior. More than that, our salvation was not an impulsive gambit. It was not a last-minute effort to save the day. Instead, our God knew from the very beginning that a savior would be needed. (See Genesis 3: 14-15) He also knew who that savior would be, and the point in history when salvation needed to occur.
Continue reading “1 Peter 1: 11 (b) — The Value of Hindsight”
Imagine two old shepherds sitting around the fire reminiscing about the “good ol’ days” when they were younger and would spend all of their time with the sheep. The fire crackles gently as the cool of evening settles in around them like a dark blue shawl on their shoulders. The stars begin to come out and one shepherd says to the other, “Remember that night when the stars came alive and we heard angels speak and saw the baby Messiah?”
Continue reading “Remembering”