Luke 17

The events of Luke 17 occur as Christ was traveling to Jerusalem where he would be crucified.  He taught four timeless lessons :  (Luke 17:1-4) “Be forgiving”.  The lesson of Christ began with “Be on your guard” (v3).  More accurately, “Take heed to  yourselves.”  We only get forgiveness when we forgive. The second lesson (vs 5-10) “Be humble,” begins with “mustard-seed faith” and ends with obedience as a minimum requirement.  If our faith is no greater than a mustard seed

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Psalm 43

“Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation,” (v1).  Most of us can identify with the writer. Perhaps we have felt misunderstood, or worse, are up against a real ungodly enemy, i.e., unmerciful entity.  We know the writer has “been there.”  But he also gives us a path to deliverance.

“Send out your light and your truth, let them lead me” (v3).  The best weapon against evil is not more evil, but the entrance of light.  John 1:5 says, “The light shines i

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I Samuel 4-5

“Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies” (4:3). Defeated by the Philistines, the Israelites thought that bringing the ark into battle would help them win. Seeing the ark, the Israelite soldiers gave a “mighty shout”, and the Philistines were terrified. However, Israel lost the battle and the ark (ch 5). God’s power was not a magical tool to be used for human victory, when their

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I Samuel 3

“And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” (v1). God’s people were in a time of spiritual apathy and lawlessness, but God was still at work. Wicked priests were leading people astray, yet through Hannah’s family, God was raising up the boy Samuel to be different. God would not abandon his good purposes for Israel. When “the Lord called Samuel”, the boy, thinking it was Eli, responded obediently, “Here I am!” (v4). And when Samuel later

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I Samuel 2:11-36

“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord” (v12). In this era, the priests (Eli’s sons) who supposedly represented God were “worthless”. When families came to worship, the priests stole the best part of their sacrifices, instead of accepting their designated portions (v14). They also slept with the women who served at the tabernacle (v22). God reminded Eli that the priestly role was a privilege, not a right, and he was revoking it for Eli’s family

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I Samuel 1-I Samuel 2:10

“I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord ... my great anxiety and vexation” (1:15-16). Hannah’s family represented righteousness in a chaotic era in Israel, yet she was childless (1:3-5). Her husband loved her, but he had many children with another wife, who mistreated Hannah (1:4-10). Desperate, Hannah prayed for a child and promised to dedicate him to God. Years later, she brought Samuel to serve the Lord at Shiloh. Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving proclaimed God’

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Luke 16:14-31

“For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (v15). Jesus reveals the heart priorities of the religious leaders. The Law and the prophets, and now the gospel (v17), are the standard by which every heart (v15) is measured. With the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus shows how sin inverts our values. What God requires (compassion for the poor and hurting, like Lazarus at the gate, v20) was clear in the Old Testament, and now it is revealed in

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Luke 16:1-13

“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (v8). The dishonest manager was “shrewd” enough to think about his future. Jesus is not telling us to emulate dishonesty, but to be as “shrewd” as the manager about the stewardship of our lives. The manager invests in his future (eternal dwellings, v9) by his present actions. We invest in our future by our current faithfulness “in the very little” (10), so that we will be given “true riches” (v11). 

As Jesus’ f

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Psalm 42

“Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (v5). The psalmist’s cry reassures us that even those who love the Lord may be downcast and disturbed. The psalmist felt separated from the easy, joyful worship of past years (v4), and he desperately wanted to return to intimacy with the Lord (v1-2). He felt abandoned by God, in “mourning” and taunted by his enemies (v9-10). But he “remembered” God; he knew the Lord was present even amid the “breakers

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Ruth 4:13-22

“Then the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer ...!'” (v14). The same women who had seen Naomi return to Bethlehem without sons and husband (1:19) now witnessed what the Lord had done for her. Naomi had thought she was “empty” (1:21), but she had Ruth, who “loves you” and is better than “seven sons” (4:15), and now a grandson. Behind Ruth’s faithful love and Boaz’s kindness was “the Lord,” who was at work among his peo

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Ruth 4:1-12

“I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance” (v6). In Israel, land parcels belonged to tribes and clans more than individuals. If land was lost due to poverty, a “redeemer” (close relative) was supposed to buy it back. Marrying the owner’s widow, in these cases, was meant to “raise up” children for the deceased, so his family line wouldn’t die out (v10). Naomi’s close relative didn’t want to do this. Boaz, next in line, bought the field and married Rut

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Ruth 3

“My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?” (v1). In Judges, anger, lust, and revenge provoked terrible consequences, but in Bethlehem, love and faithfulness drove wise decisions. Naomi was too old to glean in the fields, but she used her initiative to make sure Ruth’s future was secure. Ruth, for her part, obeyed her mother-in-law and visited Boaz (v6). Afterward, Naomi was confident that Boaz would not “rest but will settle the matter tod

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Ruth 2

“Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor” (v2). In contrast to the individualism and violence of Judges, in Bethlehem we find Ruth sacrificially taking care of Naomi and Boaz taking care of Ruth. Risking her life, Ruth the foreigner gleaned for leftovers in the fields of Boaz (Deut). Boaz, “a worthy man” (v1), not only permitted her as the Law instructed (Deut 24:19-21) but protected her from sexual harassment (v

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Luke 15:11-32

In response to criticism of Christ for his compassion, Jesus continues his parables.  “A certain man had two sons…”, v11ff. The younger asked for his inheritance even while his father was living. His father gave it to him; he wasted it all and found himself desperately  impoverished, feeding pigs, jealous of the pigs. Finally, broken, humiliated, repentant, without excuse, he went home. His father took him in, embraced him, restored him to sonship. The older brother was fu

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Luke 15:1–10

What the Pharisees and scribes meant as slanderous gives us one of the most compassionate pictures of Christ: “This man receives sinners and eats with them” v3. In response, Jesus told a parable, not just to reveal the heart of God, but to force them to examine themselves. He began, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one, … does not go after the one lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing,” and bring

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