True Religion (1)

“but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24 NASB Boast – Go ahead! Brag a little! Let the works of your hands and the thoughts…

A Man Without Worship

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?   1 Peter 4:18 NASB Godless man – Peter calls these people “godless” and “sinners.” “Godless man” is the Greek word asebes. It literally means, “without worship,” but the general sense of the word is…

Who is He?

But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.” Revelation 22:9 NASB Do not do that – A strange change in capitalization occurs in the NASB of Revelation 22. The…

Relationship Management

And the Twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables . . .”  Acts 6:2  NASB Not desirable – What does God want you to do?  Ah, while you are answering that question you must also ask,…

BIG!

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You.  Psalm 145:10  NASB All – How big is the universe?  If you want to have some appreciation for the size of our environment, take a look at this.  Then reflect on your significance in the vast expanse of…

Etymologically Impossible

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  James 1:27  NASB Religion – John Gager points out that the word “religion” did not exist before the Christian era.  The idea is worth investigation. …

The Cry from the Cross

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.  Psalm 22:27  ESV Worship – “The philosophy of Jewish living is essentially a philosophy of worship.  For what is observance, if not a form of worshipping God?”[1] Once you grasp the…

The Gospel for the Gentiles (2)

 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Romans 1:21  ESV Did not honor – Paul delineates two critical failures of those whom God consigns to futility.  The first is that even though…

Worship in Corinth

That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.  1 Corinthians 11:10 ESV Because of the angels – Sometimes when you have half a conversation in a letter from another culture and another time, you can barely figure out what the argument was all about. …

My Right to Worship

Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.  Proverbs 21:2  NASB Right – “What is truth?” asked Pilate.  He might as well have asked, “What is correct?”  In his eyes, the truth and the cultural norms were relative.  He only echoed what Solomon said centuries before.  Everyone thinks…