“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3 Commit – Wouldn’t it be nice to have a guaranteed plan for success? Just think how easy life would be if you knew the absolutely sure way to accomplish anything you set out to do. That’s the promise of dozens of…
“The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4 For its own purpose – Do we really believe that God made everything for a reason? Actually, the literal translation suggests that God made everything for his (or its) answer (Hebrew: ma’aneh). The idea is that…
“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations;” Romans 5:3 Exult – In order to appreciate the paradox in this verse, we have to realize that the word for “tribulations” (thlipsis) is not about inconveniences. It’s not about daily annoying struggles or problems. This is a very strong word that means “crushing…
“and hope does not disappoint; because” Romans 5:5 Disappoint – How many times have we read this verse and never heard it speak to the depths of our hearts? Do we really believe that God engineers life in order that we can arrive at the place of no disappointment? Have we submitted ourselves so completely…
“who turned the grace of God into licentiousness” Jude 4 Licentiousness – Even in English we stumble over this word. Bible publishers have done their best to accommodate our standard third grade reading vocabulary (one of the reasons why I find it so difficult to get a publisher) by offering “license for immorality” or “sheer…
“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed” Jude 4 Crept in unnoticed – Jude writes like an e-mail memo. He gets right to the point. He’s brief. His words are carefully chosen. His message carries a punch. Most importantly, Jude sends out this Greek e mail to warn us. There’s a deadly virus on the…
“The gospel according to Matthew” According – Of course, you will recognize where this is found in the Bible but it doesn’t have a chapter and verse number. In the Greek text, it is merely KATA MATTAION. The words for the “gospel” are understood. We don’t think much about the title of the book of…
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude – You just got cheated! I don’t know how “attitude” ended up in this verse (it’s the same in the NIV), but it certainly isn’t close to the use of this Greek word in its occurrences in the Classics,…
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1 Unity – The God of Community. If you’re going to live out emotional theology, you better be prepared to live it out with others. God might deal with you individually when it comes to redemption, but He will…
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1 Behold – Stand up. Raise your hands to heaven and shout, “Yes, God!” Now you get the idea. David puts this Hebrew word, hinneh, right at the beginning of his thought because he wants to emphasize and intensify…
