Author: Norm

November 6, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:1-4 OBSERVATIONS 1. So what is the difference between letting your light shine before men so that they may see our good deeds and glorify God (Ephesians 5:16) and practicing your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them (Matthew 6:1)? Whenever I find a ‘contradiction’ like this, I assume the…

November 5, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:43-48 OBSERVATIONS 1. The command to love your neighbour is in Leviticus19:18, but there is no command in the OT Law requiring people to hate their enemies. It may have become part of the teaching of the elders based on the psalms (Psalm 139:21), and certainly seems natural for a people who…

November 4, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 6 OBSERVATIONS 1. David is wrestling in prayer with God and with his adversaries. He pleads with God for relief, explains how warn out he is from groaning, then he yells at his adversaries, warning them that God is going to intervene. Publicly he is bold and standing firm, but privately…

November 29, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 8:18-22 OBSERVATIONS What do you notice in this passage? APPLICATION What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER

November 2-3, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Genesis 25:19 – Genesis 31:55 OBSERVATIONS What do you notice in this passage? APPLICATION What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER

November 1, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:38-42 OBSERVATIONS 1. The idea of ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ was not original to the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21), it was also found in other legal codes of the day (check out the Code of Hammurabi). Also known as lex talionis (law of retaliation), it…

October 31, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:33-37 OBSERVATIONS 1. Jesus may be referring to Deuteronomy 23:21 or Numbers 30:2, both about the serious of keeping oaths once made. Originally people would reinforce their words with the weight of something solid and reliable (Jesus gives some examples of things people would use), but over time these oaths themselves became empty…

October 30, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:31-32 OBSERVATIONS 1. Jesus refers to Deuteronomy 24:1-4. In Matthew 19:8 Jesus describes this as Moses permitting, something that was not God’s will from the beginning. This tells us something important about the Law, that it contains elements of Moses’ thinking that were not God’s will. This helps us when we confront difficult…

October 29, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:27-30 OBSERVATIONS 1. Jesus shows how sin is much deeper than wrong actions. It begins inside of me long before it shows itself in what I do. The heart is sinful, therefore sinful actions result. We may think He is being extreme about cutting off and gouging out, but He is…

October 28, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 5 OBSERVATIONS 1. David is confident that the Lord is on the side of those that do good, while He is opposed to those who are wicked, cruel deceitful. Is he referring to the heart (all of us have sinful, deceitful hearts) or to the lifestyle (not all of us choose…