The final word of Psalm 23 is “Forever”, just one word but it is not isolated from the rest of what has just been said, his confidence is that he “will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” This confidence instills Hope, Assurance, Peace, and rejoicing! Forever from the Hebrew focuses on a length […]
Psalm 23:6 continues “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord” The word for dwell properly means to sit down, and implies to dwell, remain, settle, and even to marry, which gives us a right to dwell there as a member of the family! Again, where did he say he would dwell? “…in […]
Continuing in verse 4 of Psalm 23 we come to the third of four powerful statements in this verse, “For you are with me”. I see this as another key to the entire Psalm, (similar to “The Lord is my shepherd”) the assurance of His presence! God knew His redeemed people would go through dark, […]
“He leads (guides) me in paths of righteousness” Verse 3. This shepherds Psalm has a counterpart in the New Testament where in John 10 we are introduced to Jesus the good shepherd; in verses 3-4 we read “…he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…and the sheep follow him, for they know […]
A grapevine usually does not grab one’s attention, except when its branches are laden with lush clusters of fruit; it is the fruit that is the main attraction to the vine! However it is the function of the vine to provide the vital sap to the branches producing the fruit. In John 15:1-8 Jesus likens […]
“But the fruit of the Spirit is…Meekness” KJV (which we are using for today’s meditation). Meek, gentle, humble, lowly all seem to be companions in this fruit. We should never confuse meekness as being weakness, rather as I quote from the Spirit Filled Life Bible; it is “power under control. The person who possesses this […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…” Galatians 5:22. What is fruit? It is one’s off-spring, or the product of any plant; the outward manifestations of the life of the plant, or with animate beings of the parents. Likewise the fruit of the Spirit is the outward manifestation of the God-life of the Holy Spirit within […]
In the light of Scripture, Perhaps taking root in rabbinic literature, leaven is often viewed as being symbolic of corruption and evil. There are Scriptures that appear to support this such as Matthew 16:6, 12 where it refers to erroneous teaching and legalism, and 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 where it represents fleshly corruption, and Galatians 5:9 […]
In Matthew 7:24-27 and the parallel account of Luke 6:48-49 Jesus likens us to one of two houses, one built on a solid rock foundation, the other hastily, perhaps thoughtlessly, built on shifting sand. The first withstood the storm and the flood, while the second differing only in its foundation was destroyed by the same […]
From the times of ancient past viticulture (cultivation of grapes) has played an important role in Israel’s history, with their region having very favorable terrain and climate for this crop which was an important contributor to their life. In Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus uses these facts as the focal point of a parable teaching us that […]