Tagged: Bible Study

“I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” –Hosea 2:16 On this Independence Day, the Lord is telling us to pray for the Christians of the United States to come back to God. Many Christians in the USA have lost their first love (Rv 2:4). They no longer respond to the Lord as they did in the days of their youth (Hos 2:17). They must repent of compromising with the world and be espoused to the Lord in fidelity (see Hos 2:22). Some Christians are like the woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years. Their commitment to...

“I bear the brand marks of Jesus in my body.” –Galatians 6:17 Livestock are branded so that others can tell who owns them. St. Paul bore the brand marks of Jesus on his body, so all could determine that Jesus owned him. Paul’s brand marks were scars and bruises from the beatings, stonings, and other sufferings he endured for Jesus (see Acts 14:19; 16:22ff; 2 Cor 11:23ff). Other saints, like Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio, have borne the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, in their hands and feet. Could someone tell by looking at your body that you belong...

“Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.”–Psalm 85:11 What a beautiful image! Kindness and truth meet. Justice and peace kiss. How can this be? So often, kindness and peace are overshadowed by the need to right a wrong. Many times, truth and justice are compromised by the desire to avoid offending anyone. Is the above passage merely a poetic ideal that could never be achieved in the cold, hard world of everyday living? These potentially conflicting ideals come together as one in the Person of Jesus. Jesus is Truth (Jn 14:6). He is our Justice (1 Cor...

“My soul is consumed with longing for Your ordinances at all times.” –Psalm 119:20 In our selfishness and injustice, we are setting ourselves up for a famine for hearing the Word of the Lord (Am 8:11). When we sin, we contribute to a society which closes its ears and hearts to God’s Word. In many corporations, God’s Word is not welcome and not tolerated. For Christians such as myself who work in such situations of a famine for God’s Word in the workplace, we long for His Word. During our time at work, we say: “I long for Your precepts…hide...

“I for My part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build My Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus has decided to give Peter and his successors “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” The keys are a symbol of authority. Thus, the Lord has given authority to Peter, and all of the popes, as head of the universal Church. This authority to bind and loose (see Mt 16:19) is in the areas of faith...