Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts Continue Reading…
Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Imagine Zacchaeus. As a Jewish tax collector for the Romans, he lived on the lowest rung of Israel’s social Continue Reading…
Luke 18:8 “…Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” I heard a radio host ask a question the other day. “What is one thing you believe with all your heart?” He wanted to know what principles remain nonnegotiable, no matter what others say. Many thoughts Continue Reading…
Matthew 26:33-35 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away…. Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” I don’t know about you, but I have a mental cache of situations I could label “I wish that hadn’t Continue Reading…
Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. [NIV] I got a speeding ticket the other day. I knew the minute the police car pulled up behind me and those blue Continue Reading…
Matthew 18:33 “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” Our culture seethes with the push to make people pay for wrongs done in the past. I love justice as much as the next person, but I think sometimes we can Continue Reading…
John 8:10-11 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” I can’t imagine how this adulterous woman must have felt. Dragged from her literal bed Continue Reading…
Proverbs 14:9 “Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.” [NIV] Goodwill. Although expressions of “peace on earth” and “goodwill toward men” flourish in the Christmas season, peace remains elusive. And if goodwill describes willing good for others, I’m afraid we’re falling short. No Continue Reading…
2 Timothy 3:2 “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,” An article in The New York Times written by a law professor at San Francisco University described divorce as an expression of “radical self-love.” Far from being the Continue Reading…
Proverbs 18:19 “A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.” [ESV] We have become an offended people, haven’t we? Jesus warned it’s impossible to live in a fallen world without encountering offenses (Luke 17:1). We fail to meet others’ Continue Reading…