As we approach the day we call Christmas we hear much said and sang about shepherds, angels, sheep, the manger; these however are not the real “Christmas” story, they are only props surrounding the real message of the occasion, the message delivered by the angel to the shepherds in Luke 2:11 was, “For there is […]
As we approach the Christmas holiday let us pause and think about the day we call “Christmas. First we are quite sure that Jesus was not born on December 25 or January 7 (Orthodox Christmas), and there is really no Biblical command to set aside a special day to celebrate His birth; now that does […]
As followers of the Lord Jesus we have been commissioned to carry on His ministry here on earth while He prepares a place for us in heaven (John 14:2-3). This is illustrated to us in the parable of the minas in Luke19:11-37 in which the nobleman equipped his servants and instructed them to “Do business […]
In Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus teaches us about His return, likening it to a Hebrew marriage. The betrothal had been made, then during the engagement period the bride stayed at home with her parents and prepared her trousseau while the groom went to prepare a home for them. Jewish weddings usually took place at night, beginning […]
As we travel through life we often find it filled with sorrows, pain, hurt, and heavy burdens. The Bible recognizes this in Job 5:7 saying, “man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.” The same sentiment is expressed in 14:1. There are two different Hebrew words used in these verses, respectively meaning trial, […]
In John 10:3-4, Jesus, portraying Himself as a shepherd leading his sheep, says, “he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And … he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” We are like sheep that when left to wonder on their own become disoriented, scattered, […]
Since the secret place of God is in Jesus who became the physical manifestation of the rock upon which Moses stood, the physical manifestation of God and His presence, we can only enter through Him. He Himself declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, No man comes to the […]
In Psalm 17, David references his own situation in which enemies and evil men have oppressed and surrounded him. He calls on God to be his vindicator, appealing to Him for His help. There is a neat thing about Scripture, where in portions like this, it focuses on the then present time and people, yet […]
In Luke “the Lord said, Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Repetition of a name was considered an expression of love, and I suspect that it would also spark attention to the importance of the message that would follow. Jesus spoke directly to Simon, possibly because […]
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help?” (Psalm 121:1). The KJV places a period at the end of this verse, but six other versions I have looked at place a question mark. Looking at it from that angle, the Psalmist recognizes that the hills and mountains in […]