The Almighty really, really hates lies. We could cite dozens of places He says so. Here’s just one: “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD.” (Proverbs 12:22) But let’s not spend time on the negative—let’s concentrate on the positive, speaking the truth.

In our vocabulary there are “Bible words”, words we use in conversations about the Bible, but we don’t use much (or at all) otherwise. One of these is “covet”. We all recognize that “covetousness” is wrong.

You’re reading along in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. You know this is written to a mostly Gentile church. You know that Judaizers (Jewish believers who insist Gentile believers must keep the Law of Moses) have been troubling the church, and Paul has written this letter to straighten them out. He doesn’t mince words. Later in the letter, in his exasperation he will write, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (chapter 5:12)

Bear with me for a bit of history review. Isaiah the prophet was active for a very long time, spanning the reigns of four kings of Judah (Isaiah 1:1). Toward the end he was witness to the collapse of the northern kingdom of Israel, and its eradication by the Assyrian Empire—events he himself had foretold earlier. The Assyrians invaded the southern kingdom of Judah too, but could not take Jerusalem. They ended up going back home after their army was devastated by a plague sent by the Lord (2 Kings 19:31-36, repeated in Isaiah 37:32-37).

How often have you come across a sentence like this in the Bible And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47)

Paul wrote his first letter to the church in Corinth, Greece, in an attempt to correct some very serious problems. There were doctrinal problems, behavior problems, and especially problems in how they conducted their worship and fellowship, the “breaking of bread”. From the way he addressed them, it appears that the church—at least many in the church—didn’t even perceive them as problems.

“It’s impossible!” Ever read something in the Bible that makes you say that? I’m not talking about something miraculous—which by definition is God’s power doing something that ordinarily would be impossible. I’m talking about it presenting a requirement or expectation that we can’t possibly meet. A prime example: Jesus commands, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Impossible!

You may have heard someone described as being “in a funk”. I think originally a “funk” was a bad smell, especially a musty or moldy smell. Now, it’s used most often to mean, “A dejected, sad, or unmotivated mood.”

I’ve just returned from a week-long Bible School, a retreat with classes and activities for all ages, focused on the Bible. This posting is the result of a point emphasized in one of the classes. (Thank you, brother!) His point was this: When we read of “eternal life” in the Bible, the term is not (at least not always) equal to “everlasting life” or “immortality”.

We need to focus primarily on who God is. However in several places, God inspires writers of the Bible to mention what He is not.  If we think about it, this is bound to be helpful.  We want to understand our God, and that has to include knowing the boundary between what is and what is not true of Him.

The night before last we had a storm. Thunder & lightening, fierce winds, pounding rain. Tornado warnings. Some tornadoes touched down and destroyed homes, though not in our immediate area. Many power outages, some of which continue. Flooding in some areas.

I was surprised to find that, in the 6+ years I’ve been posting these reflections, apparently I’ve never done one titled “Hope”. I haven’t ignored hope of course—it has been talked about in many postings. But still.

An extended focus on the ways we are prone to fail, spiritually, might seem overly discouraging. Yet that’s what the writer to the Hebrews gives us. We may not really think of Hebrews in this way, because there’s so much positive as well. But woven in among the positives, there’s just such an extensive look at spiritual failures.

The church in Corinth had problems. Doctrinal, moral, factional, social, attitudinal, spiritual. The apostle Paul had established this church, staying there for a year and a half during his second preaching tour around the Mediterranean. During his third tour, hearing about their problems, he feels compelled to write letters to this church—two letters preserved for us in the New Testament and apparently at least one other.

Blinded by jealousy, King Saul tries repeatedly to murder David. Even though David faithfully serves Saul, having remarkable military success against Israel’s enemies. And even though David is Saul’s own son-in-law. What is he jealous of?

Many languages have a rich variety of words for some concept or thing. We’re told the peoples native to the Arctic have numerous words for snow. In New Testament Greek , you’ve probably heard that there are multiple words for love. And so on.

Rahab the Canaanite believed in the God of Israel, and was welcomed into Israel. Ruth the Moabite the same. These two were early examples of a principle that was clear in the Law of Moses, and was then made very clear in the New Testament. The nationality we’re born into does not matter. What matters is faith in the God of Israel, extended in the New Testament to include His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

We may think of Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles—which he certainly was. But he was also the “thankful apostle”.  Of the 69 times in the New Testament where thankfulness is mentioned, 49 of them are in Paul’s letters. The only two times being thankful is mentioned in Acts, both are Paul. (The numbers in different translations vary, but only very slightly.)