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“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” 1Corinthians 9:25a Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.   I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air.” 1Corinthians 9:26  We must know what Paul had in mind here. We must see the metaphor for what it is, and for what it is not. For this end Expositors make this comment: “The brightest jewel in the incorruptible crown is the joy of having become all God made us to become, of perfectly fulfilling the end of our creation, of being able to find happiness in goodness, in closest fellowship with God, in promoting what Christ lived and died to promote.” I must admit an abject failure at any of this striving for the mastery, although I must concede that it is a deep…

I have often heard it said that the Bible is full of contradictions. But is God’s Word not Sacred? Is it for man to judge God? “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies, probably because generally they are the same people.” Chesterton A laughable observation, it somehow grasps the gist of Bible study. And that gist is that our attempts at reconciling two scripture passages invigorate our brains to think beyond the status quo. Yes, we must get this point — God is beyond us, a mystery surrounds His Words. A mystery, yes, is hidden beneath the pages, between the lines, behind the obvious. This is God’s mystery, but not a mystery forever wanting. God’s mystery is there to be discovered. And when we discover that mystery we discover God himself. This is the point of our inquiry. Deuteronomy 29:29 teaches the thought…

Proverbs 29:18 teaches, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. “ The Law” (torah) is not merely the written Mosaic Law, but the announcement of God’s will by the mouth of his representatives. Many times God’s people neglected Him. First, we note the licence of Eli’s time, when there was no open vision. (1Samuel 3:1-21.) “no vision that broke forth” — no publicly recognized prophet whom the people could consult, and from whom they might learn the will of God.” J.F.B. Now, where there is no preaching, men perish in their sins; the word being the ordinary means of grace, ( Acts 20:32) of regeneration (Titus 3:5), conversion (John 3:3), faith (Roman’s 10:17), and salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10); without which, men know nothing of Christ, of peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life by Him: and where there is preaching, yet it not being…

A life makes little sense without hope. The Bible refers to it as the anchor of our soul. Hope that is seen, it’s not really hope. So says Romans 8:24. No, hope that is not seen we must wait for, it requires patience. Patience is a tremendous virtue because it teaches us how to abide underneath the covering of another. In our case that covering is God and his Word. In this abiding, we can even bear fruit. In this abiding , we can have our prayers answered. It is an abiding in love as we are told in John chapter 15. So what does hope do for us believers? Hope tells you , that “you can do it.” You can do it because Christ is in you, the hope of glory. What a miraculous thing. The miracle of the indwelling Christ, united you to all that He is and…

Jesus washes a person’s foot, He washes their feet. What? Dirty feet, what does it mean? It means feet uncovered without shoes, feet touching dirt or debris. It alludes to the person’s earthly travels, both saved and unsaved men and women. It seems that we cannot help touch dirt, and accumulate it throughout our day. God gave to Moses the law in order to bring to his attention the reality of dirty feet. That law was like a mirror of constant reminder that the feet were indeed dirty. But some men, like Paul, found a way to keep that mirror without having to relate to it. Paul said, “I was alive without the law once.” In Romans 7:9 . He was referring to a time when the law was not relevant to his life, though he owned it. The Jews were committed the oracles of the law in Romans 3/2.…

Boats enable a person to float atop the water. Some sub-marine type boats give a person underwater access. A person with diving gear can spend several hours under water, breathing as if on land. As far as I know, however, none have acquired gills. None can adapt to an under water environment in the complete sense of making it home. A biological transformation would have to take place. In a similar manner, the Kingdom of God presents a challenge. Not a water-world but a Spirit world, God’s domain is not accessed by flesh and blood. Again, a transformation must occur, a new-birth. Yes indeed, a new nature only can experience fully the domain of spirits, both darkness and light. A simple analogy, yes, but the above explains many of our relationship issues as well as our discerning. Paul admitted in 1Corinthians 13, that “For now we see through a glass,…

Ezekiel44:23  And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. So, that the juridical authority of the priests was purely of a moral kind, can be maintained only by rejecting 2Chronicles_17:7-9 and 2Chronicles_19:5-11 as unhistorical. Pulpit Commentary  Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, … to teach in the cities of Judah.  And with them he sent Levites,  And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. 2Chronicles 17:7-9 names omitted. The meaning is—he sent orders to his princes to see to it that Judah was taught by the Levites. “And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,  And said…

Twice in Psalm 42 the Psalmist cries out, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” V. 5 and 11. Strange thought and strange wording, a man speaks to his own soul, but from where? It must be that the Word of God has brought about the separation of soul from spirit as spoken in Hebrews 4:12 There the Word is “quick” and powerful and pierces to the “dividing asunder” of soul and spirit… Nevertheless, the psalmist is observing the self-bending down of his own soul — it seems to have a mind of its own. Paul appears to speak from this same kind of separation in his letter to the Romans.:   “Now if I do that I would not, it is no…

The sweet psalmist prayed to God, ” Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. ” from Psalm 51 a psalm of David. Never can a man do either of David’s requests but both are, nevertheless, required for fellowship with God and the God-graced life from above. For God to be the initiator and source of our life should be no surprise. He is the beginning and ending of all things. A powerful relief for us, the faithful God meets our broken hearts as we draw nigh to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is Faithful…” Thank you Lord, you are always there! ” …and just.” Thank you Lord, that you are operating justly in all of your actions towards us. “to forgive us our sins.” Forgiveness means remission, the taking away of all of my wrong attitudes, my wrong thinking, my rebellions,…