The Law God gave to Moses reflected His perfection, restating the Law He imprinted on our hearts when He created us in His image (Romans 2:15). So, if you explore the different cultures throughout human history, you will discover much overlap with the Ten Commandments. God engraved His written Law because the law in our […]
Psalm 27: The Lord is My Light and My Salvation
December 31, 2016 by
Christmas Day is past. The multi-colored lights are coming down, and dried-up trees now find themselves in the trash heap. Is the season of Christmas so soon dimmed? The grand season of blinking lights comes and goes, with little more effect than crumpled tinsel on a discarded tree. Such gloomy thoughts may cause us to […]
John 1:1-14, Revelation 12:1-5: The Cosmic Battle of the Incarnation
December 25, 2016 by
Our Lord’s coming in Luke’s Gospel gives us the crèche and the baby’s manger. In John’s Gospel, we, instead, find a cosmic battle tucked within. He mentions no characters by name, not Mary or Joseph. The singing angels and awestruck shepherds are missing in action. Where is the mention of Bethlehem? In the beginning is […]
Luke 2:1-20, The Song of the Angels
December 24, 2016 by
Christmas night: The night when God’s blessings come to us—and more. They also come to calm our troubled souls. In ages past, long ago, God revealed Himself in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He also revealed Himself, not only in a still small voice but also in […]
Deuteronomy 18:15-19: Jesus, the Greater Moses
December 17, 2016 by
The Ten Commandments always hammer home the same truth. God gave His “Words,” which is what the Hebrew of the Old Testament calls them, at Mt. Sinai, described in Exodus 20. God carved His words on a stone tablet for His people, Israel. The event filled God’s people with fear: Thunder boomed, lightning cracked, and […]
The Canticles of Christmas: Luke 2:25-35, “Simeon’s Song”
December 15, 2016 by
Our Lord Jesus comes to His Temple as an infant. He will come many other times: when He is 12 to sit and teach the teachers, in His last week before His death to drive out the moneychangers. Jesus will also come to His Temple in mercy to proclaim the Kingdom of God and, on […]
The Canticles of Christmas, Luke 1:67-79: Zechariah’s Song
December 7, 2016 by
The people of Israel suffered from amnesia. So do we. When life goes well, we forget our rescue and become complacent. The psalms remind us: “Our fathers in Egypt failed to understand [God’s] miraculous deeds or remember [His] many acts of faithful love” (Psalm 106:7). Former slaves found themselves trapped—with the Red Sea in front […]
Malachi 3:1-4: Jesus the Refiner
December 5, 2016 by
Advent is a season highlighted by holy living. By the Spirit’s help, we meditate on the Word, Jesus Christ, understanding the life He calls us to live. In Advent, we prepare for someone’s arrival, not of this figure we call “Santa Claus,” but for the coming of Jesus. His first coming and His second. Our […]
The Canticles of Christmas, Luke 1:46-55: Mary’s Song
November 30, 2016 by
How did Mary remember what she never experienced? She is young, a teenager when the angel appears before her. He announces: You will become the mother of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, God in human flesh. The angel’s presence and greeting catches her by surprise; his message does not. Mary wonders how she […]
Deuteronomy 26:1-11: Thanksgiving and Thanks-living
November 23, 2016 by
Desiccated lips become the desert land, cracking under the unrelenting sky. Her skin begins to blister, stinging red from the blazing sun. The Autumn day scorches the farm field, baking it as the heat of Summer. Her head swims, woozy, waves of distorted air rising from the ground, altering the shape of the wheat. She […]
