but the gift of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 6:23 Gift – Sin pays. God gives. Once we understand the difference, life changes direction. Yesterday we learned that sin pays for our allegiance. We earn our way to hell. Now comes the startling news. God doesn’t pay. We don’t earn…
The wages of sin is death Romans 6:23 Wages – Sin pays! Paul desperately wants us to see that sin is the paymaster of living our way. Sin gives you your wages for your time and effort. It’s just that the wages sin pays are death. Too many times we read this verse as a…
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; Psalm 73:28 Good – Do you remember the boxed candy called “Good and Plenty”? Black and white tiny morsels of licorice packed the pink and white container. I’m sure Asaph never heard of licorice but the word he chooses to describe “good” could easily…
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; Psalm 73:28 Nearness – Asaph wrote this psalm. He was a choir leader and musician in David’s court (see 1 Chronicles 6:39). In 1841, Sarah Adams put the thought to the music we know. “Nearer my God to Thee” recalls Asaph’s great Hebrew hymn….
But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Jeremiah 18:4 As It Pleased – Did you wake up this morning? Of course you did. And the first thing that should have crossed…
For I think that God set us out last, the apostles, as appointed to death, because we became a spectacle to the world, even to angels and men. 1 Corinthians 4:9 Spectacle – “All the world’s a stage,” said Shakespeare. Paul agreed. But Paul’s version of the play of life is a bit different than…
being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts Hebrews 11:38 Was Not Worthy – What are your measurements of success? Don’t brush this aside as though they are obvious. Remember that we often say what we believe but we do what we value. And when it comes to…
Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. Revelation 2:22 Commit Adultery – God is speaking. Listen up! To the church in Thyatira, God says, “You are lying in bed with the great whore Babylon. You are…
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 1 John 5:19 Whole World – Read the verse again. John knows that the whole world is evil, but do we? Do we really see that the world (kosmos) is completely under the power of…
being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts Hebrews 11:37-38 Destitute – The real difference between the Christian perspective on life and the world’s perspective can be seen in one simple thing: rank. The world believes in the gospel of first-position. First, best, most, top of the ladder,…
