Warming Trend
Genesis 6:14 “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.” Observation: Moments earlier God had revealed His heart’s anguish by saying, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was...
The Antidote
Genesis 3:16b “Your desire will be for your husband and he shall rule over you.” Observation: Eve comes now before her Creator to receive sentence for her sin. He has already told her that pain in childbearing would be greatly increased; now He addresses the pride and...
Babe in the Woods
Genesis 3:3b “…you must not touch it, or you will die.” Observation: The setting is Eden’s garden, the place God had made for intimate fellowship between Him and His highest creation. The words are Eve’s, her first recorded in Scripture. Satan has just challenged Eve...
Bludgeoned by Old Tapes
Acts 11:9 “…Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Observation: Peter found himself called on the carpet in Jerusalem defending his recent visit in a gentile home: “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (v. 3) His defense,...
Grinning
Psalm 17:15b “…when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.” Observation: The whole of Psalm 17 has the immediate context of a soliloquy David presents to the Lord. Saul is in hard pursuit, yet David affirms his trust in God at every turn. He is...
Boiler Room
Luke 24:53 “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.” Observation: This last verse of Luke’s Gospel depicts men who have been profoundly changed from their former condition. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, they had been abjectly saddened. Then word came...
Seamstresses
Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was over…” Observation: The sentence goes on to say that very early the morning after Sabbath’s end, three women who loved Jesus set out for His tomb to anoint His body. Christ had been crucified the day before Sabbath, His body quickly...
Blue Laws
Luke 23:56b “But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” Observation: Jesus had been crucified, after which Joseph of Arimathea had removed the body from the Cross, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a garden tomb. John expands the story to tell...
Heavenly Waiter
Luke 22:19, 20 “This (bread) is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” “…He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” Observation: Jesus and the disciples have just shared their last Passover. Also...
Jackpot!
Matthew 26:14 “Then one of the twelve…the one called Judas Iscariot…went to the chief priests and asked “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” Observation: It was two days before Passover, and the chief priests and elders assembled in Caiaphas’...
