Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions … with all kinds of prayers and requests.
Summary: Today’s passage leads us to look at another letter of Paul’s where he expands on this topic of praying in the Spirit.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:18c – All Kinds”—not as unwise but as wise
Summary: Wisdom is a word that describes a state of mind. We attribute wisdom to the things people do when they work out well. People who are careful how they live and keep their eyes on Christ do well.
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:15b – The Light of Christ”… but rather thanksgiving.
Summary: Paul has a simple instruction for us, when we talk, we should speak words of thanksgiving. Finding something to be thankful for can be a challenge. Fortunately, when we step back and take a look at the big picture, our reasons to be thankful become clear.
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:4b – Worse Than Death”… according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Summary: Sometimes, it helps to use a little imagination when trying to sort out what God is telling us through his Word.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:11 – The Wisdom of God”… the manifold wisdom of God
Summary: Manifold wisdom is a concept that requires some thought to understand. How can many answers come from one source? With God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:10b – Gems of Wisdom”
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.
Genesis 3: 15
The Perfect Gift
Today’s “Wisdom Wednesday” text is not from the traditional wisdom literature in the Bible. Instead, we are looking at the wisdom of God in action.
Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior. The reason we need a savior is that Adam and Eve could not resist the wiles of Satan. Having sinned, they became spiritually dead, separated from God. At the same time, they were able to see something they had been protected from while they were alive in God. They could now see evil. The tragedy was (and is) that people do not always recognize evil for what it is.
Continue reading “Wisdom Wednesday – Merry Christmas!”It turns out that today’s “Wisdom Wednesday” post is found in the next installment of James…
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Finding Wisdom
What good is wisdom? What does it buy you? How is a person with this thing called “wisdom” any better off than the next one who has none? What is wisdom anyway?
Continue reading “Wisdom Wednesday – James 1: 5”
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.
Back in the beginning, way back in Genesis 3, we are told the story of What Went Wrong. In verse 5 we hear the Serpent telling Eve that if she ate the Forbidden Fruit, “… you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” What the Serpent didn’t tell Eve was that she would not be able to tell the difference. It is a small detail, but very important.
Jesus calls the Serpent, “…a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) The purpose of a lie is to deceive. Not being all-knowing like God, we are easily deceived. We see the lies, we just can’t tell the difference between what is true and what is not true.
For us to be able to know the difference between truth and lies requires that we look to God. Proverbs reminds us:
Continue reading “Antidote – John 14: 16-17”