Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Rely not on your strength in following the desires of your heart.” –Sirach 5:2 How many times have we said: “No problem,” “I have the power,” “Everything’s under control,” “Who can prevail against me?” (see Sir 5:1, 3) Those are famous last words. We don’t have it together, and we never will. “You have no idea what kind of life will be yours tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes. Instead of saying, ‘If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that,’ all you can do is make arrogant and pretentious claims” (Jas...

“John said to Him, ‘Teacher, we saw a man using Your name to expel demons.’ ” –Mark 9:38 Because of past wars, large areas of several countries are still land-mined. These mines cause devastating injuries and death even years after a war is over. Jesus’ war on earth with the devil is over. “It was to destroy the devil’s works that the Son of God revealed Himself” (1 Jn 3:8). Jesus is totally victorious. He “took His seat forever at the right hand of God; now He waits until His enemies are placed beneath His feet” (Heb 10:12-13). The war...

“What an unbelieving lot you are!” –Mark 9:19 Sometimes the Lord does things in our lives whether or not we have faith. Often, however, the Lord wants us to make a free decision to accept His grace. We express our freedom by faith. For example, Jesus told the father of a demon-possessed son: “Everything is possible for anyone who has faith” (Mk 9:23, JB). The father realized that Jesus was calling him to have faith. So he exclaimed: “I do have faith! Help the little faith I have!” (Mk 9:24, JB) In that situation, Jesus called not only the father...

“Abishai whispered to David: ‘God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear.’ ” –1 Samuel 26:8 Abishai gave David the traditional “wisdom of war,” that is: “Kill, nail, and spear the enemies before they do it to you first.” In other words, “do unto others before they do unto you.” David surprisingly rejected Abishai’s standard advice (1 Sm 26:9). In this he prefigured Jesus, the Son of David. Jesus didn’t just talk about having mercy on our enemies. He paid the price for mercy by...

“He was transfigured before their eyes and His clothes became dazzlingly white.” –Mark 9:2-3 On Transfiguration mountain, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’ glorified body. They also saw how their own bodies would look in Heaven. “He will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of His glorified body” (Phil 3:21). Imagine Jesus’ transfigured body as the pattern according to which our lowly bodies will be remade. God began renovating our bodies when He bought them at the price of His blood (1 Cor 6:20). Yet even though He owns...