because having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful Romans 1:21 Glorify – Thankful – Some ancient Jewish scholars translate Genesis 2:7 about the creation of Man with the words, “and Man became a speaking being”, rather than our common, “and Man became a living being.” If Paul was…
Yet not as I will, but as you will Matthew 26:39 Yet Not – These two tiny Greek words (plen ouk) contain everything you need to know about prayer in God’s family. You might object, “Wait! Haven’t we just spent days looking at all the nuances of Hebrew and Greek words for prayer? How can…
Evening and morning and noon, I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. Psalm 55:17 Cry Aloud – I am not an emotional person. It’s just the way I’m wired. My struggles occur inside my head. By the time I reach tears and crying aloud, things have got to be pretty…
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:23 (NIV) Petitioned . . Answered – Ezra’s statement shows us the proper protocol for answered prayer. It does not guarantee that the answer we receive is the answer we hope to receive, but it tells us that answers do…
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) Seek – Did you think that “seek” and “look for” are the same thing? Not in Hebrew. Yesterday we discovered that “look for” is…
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) Look – Have you ever played the game “Hide and Seek?” What is the purpose of this game? It’s simple – do not be…
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5 Light – In a recent message, John Rankin posed an interesting question. “How often do members of the covenant community make it a policy to tell pagans or other outsiders that what they believe is wrong?” The answer, says…
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; Psalm 18:46 Blessed – What do you get for a man who has everything? If you thought that was a tough question, try this one: what do you give to a God Who owns everything? David gives us the answer: knee bends. The Hebrew verb is barak. …
and there is no deliverer from My hand Deuteronomy 32:39 Deliverer – I’m not trying to scare you, but you should be scared. The question about God’s hand is really simple. Is His hand an open palm or a closed fist? Does God welcome your attitudes, behaviors and thoughts with open arms, embracing you as…
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” Hebrews 10:30 Repay – You won’t hear much about vengeance from the pulpit today. One hundred years ago, you would have been shocked not to hear this word in a sermon. But today we have evolved to a higher moral order where we…
