Actually, Abraham had only two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. One arrived through human conniving, the other through God’s promise. Isaac. The youth who as good as died on an altar built of wood his father had laid on his back. The son whose life returned to him when God provided a ram instead (22:9-19).
Read More promise, righteousness
The Pharisees devoted themselves to the rules of ritual purity and to turning the nation to righteousness—something they believed would prompt God to deliver them from the Romans.
Jesus’ purpose in his teaching was to reveal the heart of God. He distilled the entire law into two principles: to love God supremely and to love others as much as we love ourselves. While the Pharisees looked for outward conformity, Jesus looked for inward change.
Read More heart, rules, righteousness
Have you ever noticed the prominent role that trees play in the Bible? The creation account in Genesis begins with God planting two very special trees in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. After our first parent’s disobedience, we were banned from access to the Tree of Life. But the amazing, good news of the Bible is that at the end of the book, in the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, God restores our access to the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:1-5).
Read More forgiveness, righteousnessThis part of the story begins with a ‘buck up’ speech from God! It does not take long for Joshua to find out the truth about what is really going on. The people of God have disobeyed the source of their life and their power. They broke their covenant with God. God has not left them – they have left God.
The tragedy of this story as it unfolds is that people closest to Joshua are just as disobedient as many of the others.
Read More compassion, righteousness, grace, judgment
Whole hearted Hezekiah distinguished himself by his single minded obedience. That obedience required vigorous opposition to the entrenched practices of his day. One widespread activity was the worship of many gods. Perhaps this had a pragmatic component, rooted in fear.
Read More obedience, success, righteousness
Read Reflect The rising generation known as “millennials” is very attuned to and concerned about power – power as it is exercised in gender relations, in religion and perhaps most of all, the dynamic relationship of power and money. These who began adulthood somewhere around the turn of the century are aware that as they […]
Read More authority, power, righteousness, money
Read Reflect Psalm 17 is certainly challenging to read. There is so much here that can cause us to stumble if we do not rightly place ourselves within the context of the psalm. As you read, you will notice that David is calling out for the Lord to acknowledge the righteous (vv 1-5). After he […]
Read More enemies, vindication, protection, salvation, righteousnessThese words were written a long time ago at a time when the author’s environment was markedly different from ours. In spite of all these differences and all the changes that have occurred over the past centuries, what Agur describes here clearly shows that the heart of man has not really changed at all.
Read More haughtiness, weakness, hypocrisy, greed, respect, oppression, exploitation, deprived, rébellion, pride, righteousness
When the risen Christ confronted Saul/Paul on the Damascus road, Paul’s whole life was radically changed. He turned from flushing out Christians in Damascus to kill them, to joining with them in worshipping their God whom he now knew. He turned from hate and rage to love and peace.
Read More life, commitment, transformation, righteousnessThere are some difficult words in Romans 4. Difficult not because they send us running to the dictionary, but difficult because in the biblical context they don’t mean what they do in everyday speech and can be misleading.
Read More faith, righteousness, translation