Posts from July 2024

What is “hope?” Some describe it as a goal, others simply as a desire; still others might consider it an illusion. In 1 Corinthians 15:19-20, the apostle Paul plainly implies that Christians HAVE it because we are “in Christ.” For Christians, hope should be a treasured possession! An Arabian proverb says, “He who has hope, has everything,” and a Russian one declares that, “In the kingdom of hope, there is no winter.” Not all “hopes” are equal: Some are unrealistic,…

Exodus 20:7 reads, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” I suspect that we do not have a broad enough concept of what this verse means. We apply it in terms of cussing and profanity, or using the “G” word. This commandment goes far beyond profanity. This commandment protected the holiness of God. The word “take” means to take upon…

We usually associate the word “beatitude” with the nine “Blessed are those who…” statements in Matthew 5. Some bible students will also know that four of these are repeated in what is sometimes called the “sermon on the plain” (Luke 6), and a few more might recognize that there are also seven more beatitudes in the book of Revelation. There are also nearly 25 more “beatitudes” in the old testament, mainly among the Psalms (about 18, plus one each in…