SCRIPTURE: Psalm 73 Why is it so hard to live for God, to live a good life, why do good people suffer? I once heard someone’s testimony: ‘my life was relatively easy, until I met Jesus, and life became hard.’ There is a sense where this is true, because to follow God is to live against…
The good old days?
SCRIPTURE: Job 28-31 “How I long for the good old days! That’s when God watched over me. The light of his lamp shone on me. I walked through darkness by his light. Those were the best days of my life. That’s when God’s friendship blessed my house.” (Job 29:1-4) When were the ‘good old days’ for you?…
Helping others experience Jesus
SCRIPTURE: Luke 5:17-20 What strikes me about this story (so far) is v.20. Jesus responds to the faith of the man’s friends. I don’t think that Jesus forgives the man BECAUSE his friends had faith. But it was because of their faith that this man got to experience God’s forgiveness. He was loved and forgiven before…
If He is willing?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 5:12-16 I have been with people who prayed this prayer, and apparently God was not willing to heal them. It’s interesting to notice that Jesus’ purpose is NOT to heal all people, all the time. Instead of spreading the word, He limits the spread of the message (‘don’t tell anyone”). And when the crowds…
Kingdom catching with Jesus!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 5:1-11 Jesus’ mission is to announce the good news of the commencement of God’s kingdom (Genesis 1:26-28). Finally, God’s world is under a worthy leader (Jesus, the Adam we were supposed to be). Jesus invites us to join Him, to invite God’s wayward children to share in the full life of God’s kingdom. With God,…
Recharging for the mission!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:42-44 Jesus was sent to announce God’s good news, that God’s kingdom (Genesis 1:26-28) had finally commenced. Ultimately His message was for the whole world, but His specific audience was the nation of Israel. When people wanted to keep Jesus (and His good news) to themselves, Jesus moved on. There is an important lesson for…
The kind of leadership our world needs
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 72 What does our world need… good leadership. God appointed Adam and Eve to rule creation, but look at the mess we made of it. Solomon is reflecting here on good leadership: a good leader is just and merciful. When we live and lead in a just and merciful way, the whole creation and…
Only God can judge me
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…