“so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:10 Sincere – But what’s the point of being sincere if you are sincerely wrong? Paul isn’t interested in sincerity. Sincerity by itself has never been enough. In this verse, “sincere” is…
“so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:10 Excellent – Ah! But it really doesn’t say this. In this translation, the text presumes that the intention of “testing” is to determine excellence. But the verse really says, “testing the…
“so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:10 Approve – All that glitters is not gold. In fact, even gold comes in various denominations. Ten carat, fourteen, eighteen, twenty-four and pure. You need to know the difference when you…
“But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey his voice”” Exodus 5:2 Who – The most important question you will ever ask yourself is found in the mouth of Pharaoh. “Who is the Lord?” We are all Pharaohs when it comes to this question. Pharaoh believed that he was the incarnation of…
“You are the salt of the earth” Matthew 5:13 Salt – We’ve all heard messages about this verse. We have been reminded that as believers we are to “infect” the world. We are to spread the message of the good news to the “unsalted”. But salt has another meaning that needs some attention. Salt is…
“Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance” Hebrews 6:1 Not laying again – What does your ship’s log say about progress on your journey? If you feel like you are just going in circles, if you look back over your life…
“Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance” Hebrews 6:1 Maturity – I still love one of Rod Stewart’s songs. The words are magical. “I am sailing, I am sailing, Home again ’cross the sea. I am sailing, stormy waters, To be…
“Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance” Hebrews 6:1 Press on – When you read this verse, think about the implication of this action. Who is the agent here? Who does the “pressing”? At first it seems like this is a…
“And you shall point them out to your sons, and you shall speak of them as you sit in your house, and as you walk in the way, and as you are lying down, and as you are rising up.” Deut. 6:7 Point – Did you know that God invented the cattle prod? Of course,…
“O Lord, correct me, but with judgment, not with anger” Jeremiah 10:24 Anger – “Anger” might not be quite strong enough. “Wrath” is more like it. Why do we need to see the difference? Because we are not dealing with some impersonal force that creates accidental cataclysms. We are dealing with a personal God Who…
