We’ve been staying with Sherry’s Dad, her sister, and our nephew for nearly two weeks. It was like being “home” again, because we had lived here for five years previously. Palos Verdes, California, is one of my favorite places in the world: pristine beaches, rugged cliffs, expansive ocean views, and cool ocean breezes. The best thing though, is being with people you love. We got to spend some quality time with family, and also visit old friends. Life is good.
Sherry and I read the Bible before we go to bed. One night this week we read Mark, chapter 5. The gospel of Mark shows Jesus as a servant. He gives his all to save each individual he meets. The price of a soul is beyond earthly value.
I’ve learned over the years to listen to my wife. Sherry is what Proverbs 31 calls a virtuous woman, and that includes her being filled with wisdom. After completing a full marathon last year, I was thinking of doing it again. But Sherry recommended I cut back a little. The upside is that I didn’t have to run up to the top of a small mountain and could stay pretty level. Today I enjoyed—really enjoyed—running the Coeur D’Alene Half Marathon. The weather was perfect, the view along the lake was reminiscent of visiting the Sea of Galilee, and there were plenty of wonderful people to meet and encourage along the run.
There’s an old saying: “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” That may be true in one sense, but when we do things properly—God is faithful to reward us. There are consequences [positive or negative] for what is done. That is never truer than in the case of Jesus Christ, God’s only-begotten Son, and his archenemy, Lucifer.
We’ve recently published some books to help people better understand the Bible. They are the structures of the scriptures: the big picture, a middle view, and a detailed look at each verse. This series on Biblical structure helps readers build a scope of God’s Word.
This morning it was 25 below zero with the wind in our little part of Northwest Idaho. Overnight, our hot water pipe froze. When the repairman came, he was doubtful if he could help.
I was recently delivered from the hand of my enemy, the Devil, and I would like to tell you about it.
Communicating is what life is about. Yet how I talk to our two-year-old granddaughter, one of my middle-school students, or my wife is very different. God communicates with us even more personally through His Word. He had people filled with his spirit write it down [II Peter 1:21]. It came in human form as God’s Son, who made known his Father [John 1:14,18].
Jesus is the Son of God. That is what he said of himself in the Gospel of John [5:25; 9:39; 10:36; 11:4; 19:7].
He called himself the Son of Man [Adam] in all four gospels and fulfilled God’s promise to Adam [Genesis 3:15].
Others called him the Son of David, because he was literally a descendant of David and fulfilled God’s promise to David as the Messiah [II Samuel 7:13; I Chronicles 22:10].
This study allows you to go to the New Testament scriptures and see who Jesus really is: based on what he said of himself. It also shows what other people believed about him. I encourage you to look at each scripture, then go to your Bible and see the context of each verse below. It will open your eyes to the greatness of the Father’s love in sending His only Son to show us how to live.
This has been a very interesting Thanksgiving. Yesterday, as I often do on November 22, I thought back to the day JFK was killed, now sixty years ago. It had a huge impact on our family, and the nuns at our school were deeply hurt at the first Catholic president dying in his relative youth. Life is very precious.