Category: Bible Reading & Meditation
“Let the governor and the elders of the Jews continue to work on that house of God; they are to rebuild it on its former site.” –Ezra 6:7 The Israelites rebuilt the Temple with the support of government taxes and the prophetic messages of Haggai and Zechariah. That is an unusual combination. Governments and prophets don’t usually mix. However, the Lord can do anything and use anyone at any time for His glory. The Israelites never dreamed a Persian king would be used to rebuild the Temple. We never dreamed the Lord would transform Eastern Europe and Russia as He...
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“As He moved on, Jesus saw a man named Matthew at his post where taxes were collected. He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ ” –Matthew 9:9 We hear the Lord knocking on the door and calling us by name (Rv 3:20). We sense something inside drawing us to Jesus. He still is calling today’s “Matthews” to follow Him. Nevertheless, we are afraid to say “Yes.” We’re afraid of what people will think. It has never been popular to follow Jesus. To be His disciple means becoming a fool in the eyes of the world (1 Cor 4:10). We are afraid...
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“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men who will put Him to death.” –Mark 9:31 The Lord’s favorite subject is the cross. However, we naturally don’t understand His message of the cross (Mk 9:32). Moreover, we are afraid of the cross (Mk 9:32). Therefore, we don’t want to understand Jesus regarding the cross. We will not even question Him about it (Mk 9:32) but merely talk about something else – like ourselves. However, Jesus will question us if we won’t question Him. He’ll ask us: “What were you discussing?” (Mk 9:33) We may...
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“I charge you to keep God’s command without blame or reproach.” –1 Timothy 6:14 The Lord charges us to obey Him. Pastors tell parishioners to obey the Lord. Parents command their children to obey. Christians who love each other charge each other to obey the Lord (see Jn 15:10). However, we are naturally inclined to disobey, “do our own thing,” and not listen to others, even to God Himself. By the Lord’s death and our Baptism into His death (Rm 6:3), we have been given a new nature – one that is not fallen and not tending toward disobedience. However,...
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The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace: Romans 8:6 Physical growth is nature’s way of allowing your body to develop. Your spiritual nature needs to grow too. Many people ignore this important aspect of their lives because it cannot be observed or measured like your body can. Yet, that does not make it any less important. The greatest Guide and Adviser that you could ever find is Jesus Christ. He is the revelation of the living God and therefore has a perfect understanding of the problems that you wrestle...
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