Bible Commentary & Daily Devotional

 James 1 - Grow in Wisdom Oh, the secret of life.  It is so elusive.  And yet we have it, right here in this chapter.  We are told the reality of this life - it’s a consistent message throughout Scripture.  It is a matter of our minds and hearts.  It’s a matter of repentance of sin and allegiance to God. In the Bible, we hear of ancient Israel’s leaders who set up idols in their hearts (love of power and money - polluted hearts). They embraced things of the world and cemented their patterns of sin.  God was clear that He did not cause their bad behavior, but He certainly had good cause to condemn it (Ezekiel 14). There is nothing new under the sun.  We too share the human condition.  This chapter is about loyalty to God, growing our faith and endurance, and trusting in God.  It is the Christian growth mindset.  Our faith will be tested.  When it is tested our endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow!           Thank God that we do not have a fixed amount of wisdom.  God is

 Hebrews 13 - You are Equipped to Do God’s Will Sorry, I can’t help myself, one more on Hebrews then we’ll move on to James.  Thanks for bearing with me. We need good teaching.  Each of us.  We often forget how much our leaders of character, like Churchhill, read and learned from others.  Despite difficulty in learning (he flunked the Sandhurst entrance test two times - thank God for second and third chances - that would become a characteristic of Winston's perseverant life!) Churchill was a voracious reader, knew the Bible by heart, and soaked up the example of good leadership via experience in the House as a young MP and then off and on for the rest of his life, in the Cabinet.  And he learned from his mistakes (i.e. think of how he went to fight in the trenches during the Great War after the debacle in Gallipoli).  How many men would willingly go from Cabinet to the front lines?  I suggest you could count them on one hand. More than ever we need God-fearing, battle-tested

  Hebrews 13 - Christian Life and Hope I love Hebrews.  I love its encouragement.  It gives us clear instructions for Christian living.  I love the explanation of what Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd, ratified with His blood: the eternal covenant of God.  It explains God's wrath fulfilled; His gift to His people, given in love. I love the reminder that this world is not our permanent home.  We have an eternal home yet to come.   This letter is serious.  It is a matter of life and death.  It is a matter of the eternal destination of our souls.  Yet it is pastoral and practical.           It is encouraging, motivating, and enlightening.  It makes clear that the old Hebrew system is obsolete - replaced forever with a much better system and promise.  It confirms the Jewish system is no longer in effect - and never will be again.  It was just a shadow of the real thing.  It could not clear a guilty conscience.  It could not make us right before God.  It could not take us from one

  Hebrews 12 - Worship Jesus with Fear and Awe Jesus reigns in heaven indeed.  He is alive, resurrected, and ascended to heaven.  Yet, do we as His people follow Him as commanded in this chapter?  Are we burdened by our sin, the church's greed and gluttony, and the detestable sins committed in our communities? God showed Ezekiel the depth of the depravity of idolatry, disdain for God, and open rebellion.  The so-called leaders were even worshiping the sun with their backs to God right in the Temple.  How is that even possible?  Easy for us to ask of others, but again, what about ourselves.           And God brought justice (Ezekiel 9).  Likewise, we hear a lot of so-called Christian leaders bemoan the state of America and the blasphemy of our political leaders - and rightly so to a large degree.  But culture starts in the hearts of men and women, right in our homes.  Many of our leaders, just like the ancients in Ezekiel, don’t even try to hide their rebellion against God.  The

 Hebrews 12:1 - Good Friday We may feel alone.  But we are not.  Not in God’s Kingdom.  We are surrounded by “a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up” (12:1).  Saved from sin; saved unto eternity with God. Good Friday.  In Calgary, where we raised our kids, we got together with thousands of other Christians on Good Friday for a massive gathering and reverent remembering of what Christ did for us.  Body broken.  Blood shed.  Once for all time.  Then we spent the day with those in our church, picnicking, fellowshipping, sharing in the goodness of God, and remembering His sacrifice.          Good Friday  is a day to be revered by the Christians.  I remember my Muslim neighbour, Manal, asking me one day why Christians don’t make a bigger deal about Easter.  I didn’t have a good answer for her.   Good Friday is when we remember the enormity of the Son of God’s sacrifice for us on th

 Hebrews 11  - A Good Reputation We have freedom.  That’s the reality.  God is so Sovereign that He gives men and women the freedom to choose what they do.  People are proven to be righteous and faithful to God by what they do.  Those who have unfaithful hearts and whose lustful eyes long for the things of this world prove God’s freedom and His justice.  We can have as much faith as we want.  There is no excuse at the end of the day.  We have one life; we choose what to do with it (Ezekiel 6:13). Let’s be honest, life is a struggle.  Our battle against sin is a struggle.  Studying.  Problem solving.  Overcoming hardship, bad government, poor leadership, family relations, health issues, finances, business challenges, parenting, marriage, aging, etc.  Life’s a struggle. And yet we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith in Jesus Christ.  God’s faithful alumni.  Our ancestors and our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God watched over them as they lived and di

 Hebrews 10  - Christian Standards One more quick thought from an old hockey goalie (a sinner saved by Jesus) on Chapter 10 before we move on to the exciting Hall of Faith in Chapter 11. There is this big warning in 10:26-31 that ends with this, “For we know the one who said, ‘I will take revenge.  I will pay them back.’ He also said, ‘The LORD will judge his own people.’  It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:30-31).           It reminds me of God’s message to Israel just before Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC.  God said, “You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations.  You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you.  Therefore, I myself, the Sovereign LORD, am now your enemy.  I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch.  Because of your detestable idols, I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or ever will again” (Ezekiel 5:7-10).  Man, to