Will God give us the desires of our heart? David seems to pray for that to happen in Psalm 20Open in Logos Bible Software (if available). But is God like a genie or something? Can we rub His tummy or say some magic words and get whatever we wish for?
We move on to the seventh and final letter in Revelation. The end of the road, as far as the delivery of the Revelation given to John along the path of these seven churches. This time the letter is to the lukewarm church in Laodicea. Jesus has no good things to say to this church. Therefore, the examination will obviously be about what’s going wrong here. What did they do, or not do? How might they have achieved such good news from Jesus? And what can we learn for us today, both for our churches and for us as individuals?
Do entitled Christians make you want to avoid church? You know, for instance, people who say, I’m Christian so I can do whatever I want. I’ve been saved. I’m forgiven. Everything’s good, no matter what I do.
Stop and smell the roses. Then love their creator. We usually hear “stop and smell the roses”. But there’s so much more to life than “just” doing that. So much we miss out on if that’s “all” we do.
Do complaining Christians make you want to avoid church? It might. Sometimes, maybe it even should. However, having said that, it depends on who’s complaining, why, and to whom? Believe it or not, Biblically speaking, some complaining can be good. But some complaints can be very destructive. Oh, by the way, don’t leave the church in general. Leave that church – and find another.
God saves us from our enemies, but who are they? In Psalm 18 David goes into great detail about his enemies. Old Testament enemies. But who’s the real enemy today?
After a few years of waiting, the wait is over. It's time to begin radiation treatment. This means it's time to update this series - Don't waste your cancer. Of course, like everyone else, I hoped surgery would remove all the cancer. But it didn't. And so, it's time for the next steps.
Do New Testament prayers differ from the Old Testament? But wait – the title says “how” – not “do”! So there must be differences. Aren’t we still praying to God? Well, yes. But there are differences between the Old and the New Covenants. Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to see differences in the way we pray today.
Did David know about resurrection and eternal life? Even in Jesus’ time, the Jewish leaders disagreed over whether resurrection was a thing. The Pharisees believed in resurrection. The Sadducees did not. Who knows where this split came from? But did David really know? It seems he did.
Is anyone good enough for God? That’s a question lots of us probably ask. Often, we probably think we’re not good enough. Depending on what we read in the Bible, that conclusion is easy to confirm. And yet, it’s wrong. Very wrong.
God and me - this life and the next 