Tag Archives: Treasure

Love, Praise, Forgiveness Our praise for God is often directly connected to accepting and confessing our brokenness. Our capacity to love Him is tied to the realization of how much He has forgiven us. The woman in Luke 7 who … Continue reading →

Borrowed Imagery In the Old Testament, Yahweh regularly explains Himself by using imagery familiar to the time. Sometimes Yahweh even uses images associated with other gods to emphasize that He—and not the gods of other nations—has authority over the earth. … Continue reading →

Distortion If attending church and small group or even reading the Bible and praying become activities that we do out of obligation, then we have a bigger problem than we might realize. If our hearts are disengaged, our religious motions … Continue reading →

Raise the Signal The Bible echoes with great battle cries: “Raise a signal on a bare hill, lift up your voice to them; wave the hand. . . . A sound of the roar of the kingdoms, of nations gathering! … Continue reading →

Feeling Entitled Familiarity breeds contempt, so the saying goes. But the line from Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Lion” wasn’t meant to imply that we often take those closest to us for granted. Rather, the fox fails to properly … Continue reading →

Patterns and Prophecies Luke sees the events surrounding Jesus’ life through the lens of Isaiah. For Luke, Jesus’ life is Isaiah’s prophecy made tangible and complete. Jesus is the anticipated Messiah, prophet, and savior. Even John the Baptist’s role in … Continue reading →

In Grief It’s difficult to know how to respond to people suffering grief. Those brave enough to speak often attempt to rationalize another’s grief with ill-timed theological truths. Those who feel inadequate or awkward about reaching out to grieving people … Continue reading →

The Art of Discipline Jesus didn’t die for us so that we could continue to sin—He sacrificed Himself so that we could have sinless lives. God is patient, but His patience does not last forever. We wouldn’t test His patience … Continue reading →

Small Players A priest should know better. A man representing the spiritual state of God’s people shouldn’t be so quick to question God’s promises. But for Zechariah, obedience became complicated. When the angel Gabriel told him he’d have a son, … Continue reading →

Connecting the Stories The connections between the Testaments aren’t readily apparent, but a closer reading—empowered by the Spirit—can reveal them. Such is the case with the connections among Isaiah, Luke, and Job. The authors of each of these books begin … Continue reading →

Cosmic, Creation, Chaos Psalm 148 is cosmic in scope and comforting in message. It’s a depiction of how Yahweh brought order to chaos in the very beginning. Yahweh put the heavens, heights, angels, hosts (His armies), sun, moon, stars, and … Continue reading →

Destructive People Some destructive people don’t realize the carnage they leave in their wake. Others intentionally cause rifts and pain, driven by selfish motives. Jude’s letter, which contains succinct prose, startling imagery, and a swift warning, is unlike anything we … Continue reading →

When It’s Really Urgent The urgency of God’s work is easily lost on us. But to the early church, Jesus’ return seemed imminent. We get a sense of this urgency in Peter’s second letter, where he writes that every moment … Continue reading →

I Will Laud Your Deeds I grew up in a family of stoics. Through example, my siblings and I were taught to keep our emotions to ourselves. Displays of excessive affection or sorrow were regarded with some suspicion, and this … Continue reading →

The Tricks We Play on Ourselves A great deal of leadership is based on consistency. King David is a prime example: He struggled most when he was inconsistent. David’s son, Absalom, committed horrific acts against David and others (2 Samuel … Continue reading →

Courtroom Drama, Daytime TV, and Good Deity I remember old television courtroom episodes where people beg for forgiveness from a cynical judge when they should seek forgiveness from the person they’ve wronged. Usually these shows take the irony to the … Continue reading →

The Difficult Issue of the Heretics Distinguishing between correct and false teaching has plagued nearly every church. We ask questions such as, “Are we venturing too far in that direction?” “Is this just my personal theological issue, or is this actually … Continue reading →

Slaves to God, Equipped for Righteousness I used to think that I was powerless when it came to sin. Christ had saved me from my sinful state, but I was still wretched and helpless. Even though I knew I was … Continue reading →

Finding God in Sheol We’ve all felt distant from God. Sometimes it’s sin that makes us feel separated from Him; other times it could be a lack of prayer. Either way, when we feel apart from God, God has not … Continue reading →

Showing Kindness to a Stranger When I was a teenager, I became serious about showing unsolicited kindness while working through a 30-day intensive devotional. The devotional required me to record an act of kindness each day. My efforts included things … Continue reading →