In Numbers 6:24-26, Jesus commands the priest to pronounce these benefits on His people: Verse 24 The LORD bless you and keep you. Verse 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. Verse 26 The LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. I am interpreting these Scriptures in a Christ-centered way, …
Jesus’ Blessing (Part 1)
The Old Testament (”OT”) Book of Numbers is about God (Father, Son, and Spirit) showing His faithfulness to faithless Israel during forty years in the wilderness. Numbers was breathed out by the Spirit through Moses about 1400 BC, but Moses was really writing about Christ in advance of Jesus’ incarnation.1 The New Testament Book of Hebrews describes how Jesus’ high …
The Lord is Kind (Part 3)
You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness. Therefore you did not desert your people, even when they made an image of a calf….Show me the wonders of your great loving-kindness you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. (Nehemiah 9:17-18; Psalm 17:7) God (Father, …
The Lord is Kind (Part 2)
How priceless is your loving-kindness, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings….Answer me, O LORD, for Your loving-kindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me. (Psalm 36:7; 69:16) Let’s never forget that God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is love, kindness, and goodness in Himself and in His dealings with human …
The Lord is Kind (Part 1)
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness endures forever. (Psalm 136:1) God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is love, kindness, and goodness in Himself and in His dealings with human beings. Evangelist John Blanchard remind us: The Lord loved us when there was nothing good to be seen in us and nothing good to be said …
Why Is Love the Greatest?
Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) One of you asked: Why does Paul say that Christian love is the greatest? Here’s my partial answer: 1. Christ-like love is greatest because it gives evidence of our salvation. 1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love …
I Love to Tell The Story (Part 2)
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel …
I Love to Tell The Story (Part 1)
Here is Jesus’ Great Commission to His followers after His sinless life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection from the grave for us: All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and …
Whiter Than Snow
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18) Winter snow reminds me of Jesus’ precious gospel, announced 700 years ahead of His first coming by Isaiah, Christ’s prophet, in the Scripture above. Isaiah …
Looking Back, Up, and Forward to Christ
Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: God’s Son appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16) Many people feel lonelier at Christmas time and most counselors’ caseloads get heavier. No …