Quite a few years ago a gentleman come up to me after a 12 Step meeting asking if we could talk. He was totally broken and desperately looking for a way out of the destruction his disease had caused. “How did you do it?” he asked me. “Because I keep trying, trying, and trying but […]
Tag Archives: hope
The Cross wasn’t always the predominant sign of Christianity. For centuries the cross was a pagan symbol of pain and torture. Rome used the cross to strike fear into the hearts of the world and discourage any troublemakers or rabble-rousers, (like Jesus). The cross did not start becoming a positive, publically accepted, symbol of Christianity […]
Speaking of the coming of Messiah, Isaiah 52:15 says, “so shall he sprinkle many nations” it is an allusion to Leviticus 4:6 when God told the priest, interceding for all the people, to “dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the veil […]
“If you search for good, you will find it; but if you search for evil, it will find you!” Proverbs 11:27 We always find what we’re looking for. If we’re looking for someone to offend us, we’ll find it. If we’re looking for someone to fail us, we won’t have to wait long. If we’re […]
Words are doubled in scripture to stress importance. When Jesus said “truly, truly” before a statement, He was stressing it. He was saying, “pay close attention this is important” When Pilate appeals to the bloodthirsty mob to release Jesus, Luke records “they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” “The double cry reflected intensity,” (1). Jesus emphasized […]
Psalm 121 1. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2. My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor […]
Jesus spent 3.5 years doing things for others. He healed, preached, taught, even fed people. The crowds were always great because the need was great. But at Gethsemane everything changed. Overnight Jesus went from doing things for others, to having things done to Him. Betrayed, kissed, arrested, passed around, beaten, humiliated, and finally killed. And […]
Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Neighbor is an old English word that literally means “the boor who is neigh thee.” Basically “the boor who is near you.” Our modern definition of boor is: “an unrefined, ill-mannered person” Sometimes a neighbor can […]
John 13:8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” We have this fallen inclination, like Peter, to try and clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus to clean us. We think: “I better stop doing that, and start doing this.” Which […]
Jesus asked for me to wait with Him, but I fell asleep instead. All the life He would give for my sin, and all I could think about was going to bed. I’m sure the wind and sea stayed up, The fox and the owl kept lookout, But I was sleeping when He took the […]
Richie Halversen 