'grace' Tagged Posts

Psalm 43…“Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me! vs. 1 It almost sounds as though the psalmist were running for election and had discovered that his opponents were unleashing a barrage of well-funded attack ads at the last minute, ads that were both deceitful and unjust. Of course there were no elections during the time of the psalmist but his words are a reminder that ungodly…

Micah 5:10-12…“Its rulers give judgement for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the Lord and say, ‘Surely the Lord is with us! No harm shall come upon us.’” vs. 11 One of the reasons the people didn’t pay attention to Micah was because Judah was experiencing an economic boom. The king was making good money from the bribes of contractors, the temple was busy and priests were doing…

Micah 3:5-10…“But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.” vs. 10 When God called prophets to bring a word of judgment to the rulers of Israel and Judah they seldom found a sympathetic ear at the court. Instead they were uniformly opposed and even persecuted. The prophets who served as the king’s advisors were totally in lockstep…

Matthew 22:18-22..“They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” vs. 21 Just when the Pharisees thought their “gotcha” was going to work, Jesus turned the tables on them again. His response to their question was brilliant, and they could do nothing but creep away shaking their heads. Later, as they reconvened they may have wondered what his enigmatic statement meant.…

Matthew 22:15-17..“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” vs. 17 The Pharisees and the Herodians were likely quite pleased with themselves. Ever since Jesus had started teaching on the Temple Mount his parables had honed in on them and left them on the defensive, and they were tired of it. As they schemed together they came up with a “gotcha” question. These are the seemingly innocuous questions that are asked…

1 Thessalonians 1:6-10..“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” vss. 6-7 During his ministry in Macedonia Paul and his companions knew that they were being watched carefully, not only by their opponents but by those who had come to believe in their message. At this time…

1 Thessalonians 1:1-5..“We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” vss. 2-3 So far as we know this is the first line of Paul’s first letter to any of the congregations that he had ever visited. It’s touching that the first thing he says is that he is…

Philippians 4:7-9… Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” vs. 8 As the election season stumbles into its final week in the midst of a remarkable run of slanderous, misleading, and lying campaign commercials and mailings, the anonymous billionaire influencers are getting ready to double and triple their contributions. That…