God is calling his people. He is urging them to listen and to respond. It seems to be the same story over and over again. God shows his power and wisdom on Israel’s behalf, but they quickly forget. They see the impossible task ahead of them and feel lost and vulnerable. They look to each other, and their leaders, to protect them. But Isaiah stands in the gap as he speaks the words of God in an effort to keep them from harm.
Read More our own understanding, listen, peace, faith, justice
Read Reflect Yes, but when is the When coming? We are so much in love with “When,” always curious and anxious about the future, and no less so with the idea of a Jesus who is coming back. We are passionate about time in general and we want to know when Jesus is returning. For […]
Read More judgment, Day of the Lord, peace, second coming, readyRead Reflect So now we’re at the last paragraph, the Coda, the Postscript. One can imagine Paul running out of papyrus or ink now, and cramming in his final list of important things to remember and get across before he has to escape from a mob or dash off to a secret rendezvous. There’s a […]
Read More blameless, exhortations, peace, God is faithful
Read Reflect This psalm has been described as a “psalm of confidence” because of the quiet trust it places on our God. The geography of Jerusalem expressed the emotions of the pilgrims graphically. Although Jerusalem is on a hill, it is surrounded on all sides by a ring of higher hills, and as the pilgrims […]
Read More shalom, security, peace
Read Reflect The Book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Bible. For those who understood that the Prophet Nahum’s name actually means “comforter,” the melancholic tone of the visions and oracles herein must have made them wonder what there was to be comforted about. But it all depended […]
Read More peace, choicesThis psalm is a picture of what shalom looks like in practice.
We can only imagine what it would be like if everything in our lives were perfect. Perfect harvests. Plenty of food. Fruit and vegetables in abundance and at an affordable price.
Read More peace, God’s kingdom, shalomRead Reflect How do we do what’s right and good when tolerance, complacency, permissiveness, selfishness, moral decline, and pleasure seeking abound? How do we “discover the right route for our souls” (v 16, Msg) when even believers are lazy and content, congregate around preachers who tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3), […]
Read More listening, repentance, peace, right road, good choicePaul is writing to the Corinthians about coming to make sure they are being truly faithful to Jesus. He urges them to evaluate themselves before he gets there. He wants them not to sin so that when he comes he does not have to be hard on them. Finally, he prays for their restoration (v 9).
Read More peace, self-examination, faithfulness, readinessIn Psalm 3, we reflected on why we can sleep well at night. Psalm 4 brings us to the place of understanding how we can sleep well at night.
Psalm 4 begins with David praying and crying out for vindication from God.
Read More peace, sleep, vindication, pause