“He restores my soul” verse 3; when a sheep would fall sick, break a leg, or face some other calamity, the shepherd would be there to treat, dress the wound, and nurture that sheep back to health. God our “good shepherd” is the greatest restorer ever! From the moment our relationship with Him was broken […]
In introducing Jesus John 1:4 says “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This shows us that in the original creation of Genesis 1 and 2 life came from God through Jesus. The life of the new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17 also comes from God through Him; as the […]
In Isaiah 55:1-3 God gives a special invitation: Water in the Bible speaks of life, wine represents gladness and joy, milk symbolizes nourishment, and bread that which strengthens, (cf. Psalm 104:15; 1 Peter 2:2; Revelation 21:6.) These verses in Isaiah give a clear invitation to separate from the past; to Israel at that time from […]
In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus has been invited to dinner at a Pharisees house when a sinner woman (possibly a prostitute, at any rate a known sinner) shows up at the banquet room; according to H. H. Haley “an oriental banquet was a sort of public affair” so in accordance with that culture she had the […]
Today we continue looking at Jesus response to a question regarding religious observances found in Matthew 9:16-17, where in verse 17 He brings us to the same conclusion as verse 16, but using a different metaphor; here He draws from the ancient process of winemaking. The bottles were made of leather or skin and Jesus […]
In Luke 15:8-10 Jesus uses the scenario of a woman that has lost a valuable silver coin. The message in this parable is exactly the same as that of the preceding one about the lost sheep, but using a different picture, the “or” in verse 8 clearly indicating this. Such coins were “often worn in […]
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus tells a story of a father with two sons. Since we do not have space in this meditation to talk about both sons we are focusing on the younger, who approached the father asking to receive his inheritance early. According to Jewish law at the father’s death the younger son would […]
As He often did Jesus uses an agricultural setting to teach about the kingdom of God; in Luke 13:6-9 He tells the story of a man that had a vineyard and planted a fig tree in it, expecting it to produce fruit; however after returning to it season after season and finding no fruit he […]
Psalm 34:18-22 is teeming with God’s truth of which we can only touch briefly in a short meditation. It begins by saying “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart…” which means your inner being, your feelings and intellect become crushed and broken; then it goes on saying, “…And saves such as […]
