Tag: discipline

  • Discerning Differences and Spirits

    2 Timothy 3:1–9, Hebrews 12:11–15 (read online ⧉) Every generation (so far) says of the one to follow has said at least one of the lists in 2 Timothy about the generation that follows. It’s not that there isn’t truth to it, yet it is not necessarily the same heart truth. Especially the transition from…

  • Unmade To Become Whole

    Deuteronomy 7:7–12, Deuteronomy 8:5–6, 2 Samuel 7:11–16, Hebrews 12:3–11 (read online ⧉) The way Deuteronomy 7:10 is often interpreted is as “…[God]…destroys those who hate him…” However, אָבַד (“awbad”) is also translated elsewhere in the Scriptures as broken or unmade. The concept of unmade or broken, so as to be re-made or “fixed”, is much…

  • Tuesday after the First Sunday of Advent

    Lamentations 3:16–18, Zechariah 8:18–23, Nahum 1:15 (read online ⧉) In the United States, peace is often perceived as having plenty. Peace, as many of the saints who walked before us learned, is not found in the plenty. It is found in the lacking. This does not mean that lacking, in and of itself, is a…

  • Different Not Defeated

    Obadiah 11–17, Joel 2:12–19, Luke 21:12–19 (read online ⧉) The problem with being a follower of Jesus is, well, being a follower of Jesus. First, it makes you different. There’s step one. Being different. We all want to fit in, but as a follower of Jesus Christ, we aren’t supposed to just “fit in” to…

  • Witnessing Falsely

    Jeremiah 5:1–3, Mark 11:12–14, Mark 13:28 Bearing false witness is a known problem. Isn’t it? Maybe not. In Jeremiah, those that bore false witness refused discipline (no matter how loving and grace-filled). In fact, the implication is that they took their behavior and made it a way of life, rather than an incident in life.…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 5th Tuesday after Easter

    Psalm 118, Romans 5:1–5, Hebrews 12:7–13 Patience. The old quip, “don’t pray for patience, for then God will provide circumstances that require it.” Endurance and patience. One is primarily a verb in scripture (Endure), while the other is a noun. In other words, they are different (scripturally) only in so far as how they are…