for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am Philippians 4:11 Learned – Are you content with your life? Be honest. Don’t pass this off as a spiritual requirement, as if to say, “Sure, there are things that bother me, but it’s OK. I’m mostly good with the way things are,” while…
“Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15 Forget – Have you forgotten your eighth-grade geography lessons? Do you still remember high school civics? Or kindergarten games? The chances are pretty good that those…
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” Isaiah 49:14 LORD, Lord – We also complain that God has forsaken and forgotten. We think that the desperation of our lives or the frustration in our efforts or the trials we face must mean that God does not, in some…
Is my hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Isaiah 50:2 Ransom – God asks the rhetorical question, “Did you imagine that I was not able to buy you back?” It is a question much like His query of Abraham. “Is anything too difficult for Me?” (Genesis 18:14…
The fear of the LORD leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. Proverbs 19:23 Satisfied – Ask anyone. Does God keep all evil away from His children? Are Christians really exempt from harm and struggle and trials? Or do we observe something else? This proverb seems to deny our common…
Fight the good fight 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight – Paul introduces the first century spiritual Olympics, the agon of competition (the Greek means, “strife, contest and struggle”). Paul chooses a word that every Greek reader would instantly recognize – the Games. Athlete against athlete, fighting it out in the hope of victory. Striving to obtain…
to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10 Worthy – Yesterday, did you wrestle with Paul’s prayer for your filled-to-the-brim understanding of God’s will? Did you see that “our daily bread” includes every word that proceeds…
asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, Colossians 1:9 May Be Filled – Are you hungry for God? Do you feel a gnawing malnutrition about His righteousness? Are you an expectant example of the fourth Beatitude of Matthew? If you don’t have enough, then…
its desire is for you, but you must master it Genesis 4:7 Desire – The Hebrew word teshuqa is used only three times in the Bible; twice in Genesis and once in the Song of Solomon. In this occurrence, we recognize the darker side of the word. Sin desires Cain. It desires to control and…
How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman protects a man. Jeremiah 31:22 Created – The Hebrew root br’ is the verb translated “create.” It is quite unusual. Of the 49 occurrences in the Old Testament, this verb is the exclusive domain…
