The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:31 NASB As yourself – Does the psychology of the Bible require self-love before sacrificial love? When both the Tanakh and the apostolic writings speak about loving your neighbor, the underlying condition seems to be…
A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy? Amos 3:8 NASB Prophesy – At age twenty-one I graduated from my first university and moved to Switzerland. “Why?” you might ask. It was my desire and intention to sit at the feet of Francis Schaeffer. A missions group I knew promised…
It happened in the days of Ahasuerus—that Ahasuerus who reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. Esther 1:1 JPS It happened – Some time ago we investigated the Hebrew phrase miqreh (see Today’s Word on Ruth 2:3).[1] It’s used for “happy accidents,” accidents that are really somehow orchestrated by the invisible…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB To be alone – When I wrote Guardian Angel a decade ago, I wanted to correct the false claim that Paul was misogynistic. I wanted to demonstrate that the common Christian…
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Exodus 1:1 NASB Came to Egypt – Bob Bartels wrote to me. “I am finally realizing and enjoying the thought that the Bible is not a textbook but a story of God’s interaction with…
“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NASB Require –…
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB Weakness – Is God weak? Our immediate reaction is “No! Of course not! God can do anything. He…
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NASB Renewing of your mind – When Paul calls his readers to renew their minds, what does he mean? Does…
But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? Genesis 50:19 NASB In God’s place – Genesis is a book of emotional distance. It begins with expulsion, continues through isolation (Noah), betrayal (Sarah), discrimination (Esau and Jacob) and ends with alienation (Joseph). Through all of these lives, God seeks…
