“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13 ESV). What is this joy that resides in Christ? Isn’t it the continual, irrepressible joy that He shares in fellowship with the Father? As Jesus prayed in anticipation for
‘Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”‘ (2 Samuel 12:7 ESV). The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke King David for his sin with Bathsheba. Certainly, the focus of the story is on David’s sin and repentance, and God’s faithfulness and forgiveness. Yet, the prophet Nathan’s role in this story is worthy of
“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1 ESV). In the Spring, when kings go to war, David stayed home. Yet, he
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27 ESV). The peace that Jesus gives is true and real peace. It is not only a true cessation of hostility between
“…I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes…” (2 Samuel 6:21-22 ESV). When David came leaping and dancing as he led the procession that brought the Ark into Jerusalem, his wife, Michal despised him for it. She spoke sarcastically to
“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Psalms 119:15-16 ESV). Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem based on the Hebrew alphabet. It is a meditation on the majesty and wonder of God’s Word. Consider the psalmist’s declaration
‘Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21 ESV). Certain Greeks came to Jerusalem during the feast and they asked to see Jesus. No mention of whether
“Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4 ESV). In the time when David was on the run from King Saul, he allied himself with King Achish of the Philistines. Yet, on the eve before they went into
“Jesus wept” (John 11:35 ESV). The shortest verse in the Bible is one of the most revealing. Did Jesus cry in grief because Lazarus had died? No, it doesn’t seem so. For He had already told His disciples that He was going to “awaken” Lazarus (John 11:11). So why did He cry? Perhaps it was
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29 ESV). Those who confess Jesus as Lord and