SCRIPTURE: Job 22-27 According to Eliphaz, God is punishing Job because he is evil: “You took clothes away from your relatives just because they owed you some money. You left them naked for no reason at all. You didn’t give any water to people who were tired. You held food back from those who were hungry.”…
Bad publicity
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:38-41 Jesus preferred to avoid the publicity of demons. He didn’t mind when people told others (He encouraged it, Mark 5:19-20), but He silenced the demons. Why, isn’t any publicity good publicity (like when Christians protest a Disney movie, and it increases sales)? It seems to me that Jesus was not interested in notoriety or…
“Not even angels or demons…”
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:31-37 Do you believe in spirit beings (other than God)? Angels or demons or ghosts or spirits? I remember ‘playing’ with the Ouija board while in high school; we also tried a seance. At the time I thought it was a joke, though in hindsight I realize how stupid this was. I cannot prove…
Fair-weather believer or foul-weather atheist?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:22-30 The people liked Jesus as long as He said nice, agreeable things. But when He started challenging their hearts and motives, they got angry. Jesus says that God faces the same thing: God blessed ‘foreigners’ because His own people were closed to Him. One big reason people resist God is because they don’t…
Am I desperate for good news?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:14-21 To appreciate this reading, we need to step into the lives of those mentioned. What was life like for the poor, prisoners, the blind, the beaten down? Would this lead to depression, despair, wanting to give up on life and hope? What would good news be like for them? That God is stepping…
My hope as I get older
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 71 Even if I’m almost in the grave, you will bring me back. This Psalm makes me think of what Paul said: Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the hard times we suffered in Asia Minor. We were having a lot of trouble. It was far more than we could stand….
I know that my Redeemer lives!
SCRIPTURE: Job 15-21 Job’s friends are confident that this is how life works. If you live good, then you will have a happy life; sin, and you will suffer. Everyone who suffers must have sinned, while those who experience goodness must be good people. Job does not deny that sin and suffering are related, but he…
Facing temptation
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:1-13 Jesus was just like Adam and Eve in the garden: sinless, but able to be tempted to sin. Satan tempts Jesus like he did Adam and Eve (only now in a wilderness, not in a garden). Adam and Eve should have responded as Jesus did, by quoting what God said. Each time He…
You are my child, and I love you!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 3:21-38 Luke ties this moment to the original creation: “Jesus… son of Joseph… son of Adam… son of God.” Yes, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, but He is also the fully human son of Adam, son of God. When God created Adam, God said: “You are my son, and I love…
God, making we want to get help!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 3:10-20 I mentioned earlier that holiness (being perfect) is not a prerequisite for mercy. But having said that, repentance is a prerequisite for mercy. Repentance involves a sense that something is wrong (in us and in the world) and we need help, we need mercy. Like the alcoholic needs to recognize their problem before…