Tag: character
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Full Joy
Psalm 126, Isaiah 12:1–6 Around Christmas, joy is used a lot. Many Christmas songs use the word, a lot. What is joy? Without defining it, we leave it to the world to define it for us, which is dangerous, for the world misses so much without God. For us, we need to look at joy…
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Who Restores
Deuteronomy 30:1–5, Jonah 2:2–9, Isaiah 44:24–28 Have you ever recognized that there is an implied title and character of God that gets missed? Restorer. We use Healer, often, which is close. Another word could be Reconciler. We don’t use Restorer or Reconciler, because in most cases of their use (restore and reconcile), they are action…
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Consequential Freedom
Psalm 75, Amos 1:3–2:8, Ezekiel 18:25–32 While Israel is being foretold of its doom, it is probable that a great many people were responding to the prophets (and therefore, God) that God just wasn’t being fair. Why shouldn’t they be able to be “free” as the other nations? While the focus is on them, their…
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An Expert Problem
Ecclesiastes 1:12–18, Ecclesiastes 12:12–14, John 7:37–49 One of the biggest indicators of future success is a good education. Especially in this day and age, education is not a luxury, nor is it just the trappings of the well-to-do. Education is a necessity. The “Teacher” of Ecclesiastes is often assumed to be Solomon, however, based on…
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Guarding Wrong Things
Psalm 51:1–13, Luke 15:1–10, 1 Timothy 1:12–17 “Be gracious to me…Against…you alone…have I sinned…Purify me…Turn your face…from my sins…create a clean heart for me…Do not banish me…sustain me…sinners will return to you.” The (very) abbreviated Psalm 51:1–13 above probably resonates with you. The Psalms are often flowery poems, and when we strip much of that…
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Be Strange
Joshua 7:3–15, 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 The pivotal character in the book Dune at one point talks about having a “stamp of strangeness” put upon him. This stamp was definitely a different context, yet “stamp of strangeness” was and is exactly what God does to us when he calls us and we accept him. When the…
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Freedom From Earned
Genesis 15:1–6, Romans 5:1–11, 1 John 1:5–2:2 One of the ongoing struggles that people have is earning their salvation. They think they can, or that they must. This is what is often called “works” in Christian circles. Theologians have discussed what “works” is from a more philosophical perspective. Some have argued that Abraham completed a…
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A Father’s Legacy
Psalm 89, Matthew 1:6–25, Matthew 2:19–23, Luke 2:41–52 David: the man (somehow) after God’s own heart. Imagine passing that down as your legacy. Even more, how about others passing it down for you. We “love” famous people. We “love” famous stories. Fame is fabulous. When we pass on family stories, which (we hope) are full…