Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
… and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Summary: How should we understand this passage? Sometimes, understanding is hiding around the corner and can only be seen out of the corner of our eye.
Continue reading “Colossians 1:24b – The Everyday Believer”From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Summary: Paul continues with his description of the body of Christ, and with it, we continue our exploration of what that means.
Continue reading “Ephesians 4:16 – What if God Sneezed?”… apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers …
Summary: Understanding who these people are requires us to understand our relationship with Jesus, the body of Christ, and those who do not yet know our Lord.
Continue reading “Ephesians 4:11b – Circles of Faith”… and prophets.
Summary: Prophetic voices are the mouthpieces of God when he wants to communicate with humans. When God speaks, the voices he uses have no choice but to obey.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:5d – Fire in the Bones”
… as something completely reliable,
Summary: God’s Word is very different than human words. God’s motives are pure, and his perspective is true.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:19b — Jonah and Injuricus”
…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”Up until this point in Zechariah’s prophetic song he has been talking about the coming Messiah, Jesus. Now his vision switches to his own newly born son, John.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him…
At the time John is born, Zechariah and Elizabeth are old people. It seems unlikely that they would have still been alive when John started his ministry, so they would never see the fulfillment of his calling with their eyes of flesh. Through the Holy Spirit, however, Zechariah is able to see what John will become: a prophet of the Most High, preparing the way before Him.
Continue reading “Vision”