1Sam 13-14 How do we handle rejection? The people rejected Samuel in favor of a king. God reminded him that they were not rejecting him but God Himself. That is a powerful lesson for us to remember when we, too, face rejection. Samuel’s humble character is revealed in how he faced this. He went to […]
Job 21-23 If there is one sin that God hates more than any other, it is this: hypocrisy. A hypocrite has the form of godliness without power. But, strangely enough, both Eliphaz and Job agree on certain points. First, both agree that a hypocrite’s elation or joy is brief and lasts only a moment. [Job […]
Ps 55-57 How To Handle Hypocrites King David feels abandoned by someone. This was the person who was one of the king’s closest and most intimate of friends. To show how close they were, King David said: my close friend in whom I confided would share personal thoughts with each other and walk together in […]
Job 32-34 and Luke 18 Self-Righteous Hypocrisy For the first time, we hear from the young man Elihu. In reading this, one NT story comes to mind: the story of the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble Publican in Luke 18:9-14. It is amazing how the OT and the NT mirror each other. Enter Elihu, who […]
Jeremiah 43-44 Israel had come from captivity to freedom, yet they wished to return to Egypt. What irony and foolishness is this! In 1776 our nation was born out of conflict and bondage to a foreign government. Yet here in 2020, we find some that want us to return to that same bondage. They burn, […]
Jeremiah 40 to 43 In the NT, Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites meaning one who has the form of godliness without the power. But these religious leaders were not the first; Jeremiah meets them in our reading today. They came to Jeremiah feigning piety seeking God’s counsel about the next step. Standing before him, they […]
Revelation 3&8 Part 6: “The Empty Manger” The Alpha and Omega’s solemn pronouncement to the Church in Sardis. I hold the seven spirits of God and the seven stars and thus can see your vulnerability. Your walls appear strong and impenetrable but the enemy without sees with his binoculars that your watchman failed to stay […]
We have heard it said over and over and over: you are judging and that is wrong. Now to be sure there are times when we are to judge and to judge righteously when we discern error. However, in this chapter Paul over and over and over is trying to get our attention that when […]
When you read the word “defilement” what images come to mind? Is it some picture of a far off land and people searching through the dump looking for food? OR Is it some picture of a church with people dressed in their finest taking communion who have yet to take this step: Psa 51:2 Wash […]
“Is Your Postiche Showing?” Today’s good word is “postiche” [pahs teesh] which comes from the French and carries with it the idea of fake or counterfeit. In Luke 12 Jesus reveals the postiche of the Pharisees to his disciples and provides warning signs that they too could become just as counterfeit in their faith. To […]
