Category: Bible (Page 31 of 357)

I write about God a lot, and I work for an organization dedicated to spreading good news about Jesus around the world. I see evidence of the Lord’s activity all around me, but I’ve never actually seen God in the flesh.

None of us have, actually. John wrote, No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. Jesus came in flesh like ours so he could be seen and touched. No so with God the Father.

The prophet Ezekiel experienced a vision of God, who appeared out of a tornado with lightning and brilliance. Surrounded by spectacular creatures, Ezekiel described a figure of a man, consisting of glowing metal and fire, emerging like a rainbow in the clouds, radiant and hopeful.

But Ezekiel did not see God himself. He wrote, This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel viewed only a representation of God’s glory. A facsimile, a glimpse of a shadow. Even so, whatever he saw drove Ezekiel to the ground. His legs gave out. A hint of splendidness overwhelmed him. A trace of the real thing would have obliterated Ezekiel, like standing below a nuclear device detonated overhead.

The magnificence of a shadow points me to the awe-inspiring nature of God. Then, understanding that Jesus dwelt among us so that I might approach this previously unapproachable God, directs me to his goodness and desire that I might come to know him.

John 1 & Ezekiel 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Luis Graterol

We spent time with our almost two-year old granddaughter a few weeks ago. She loves going to the playground where she follows bigger kids around and tries to do what they do. If they go down a slide, she goes down. If they climb back up the slide she wants to climb back up. If one drinks from a puddle she bends over to take a sip. She mimics the older kids.

Paul urged the church members in Corinth to mimic him. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

The word imitate comes from the same root word of mimic. Paul encouraged these young followers of Jesus to copy his ways. So how were they to imitate Paul?

In the preceding verses Paul described his missionary experiences. We are fools for Christ… We are weak, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Not sure I want to mimic that lifestyle. But Paul speaks to humility, to trusting God despite circumstances and how others mistreat us, to continue to pursue the Lord as we go through life.

Paul was one of the big kids on the playground. Not because he was tougher or richer or more intimidating, but because he humbly followed the Lord through every challenge in life. That’s a person worth imitating.

1 Corinthians 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Sigmund

I must have been driving too slow, because I glanced in my rear view mirror and the car behind me sat on my bumper. At the first opportunity the driver flew by with a glance of disapproval, the speed limit a mere suggestion. But I get it, somedays my hurry exceeds my politeness, and I mutter under my breath about slow drivers.

I often think the Lord is too slow. Too slow to meet needs, too slow to ease pain, too slow to stop evil, and too slow to help me understand it all. It’s an age-old question—God, why are you so slow? The Apostle Peter wrote to a church struggling with the same question, helping us peer into the heart of God:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The Lord may seem slow to me, but God works with a different calendar. If a thousand years are like a day, then the American Revolution occurred a few hours ago. Yesterday was the Dark Ages. Who knows what this evening will bring?

The Lord’s slowness feels like a lack of concern, or even inattentiveness. But God, not bound by my time, works on a schedule determined by tides of repentance and perishing. The Lord will indeed return like a thief, with heavens destroyed and the earth laid bare. But on his timetable.

The Lord wants all to turn toward him, so he waits. And the world holds its breath, a new heaven and new earth delayed only by the compassion of God.

2 Peter 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Tahamie Farooqui

Leaves turn yellow out my window, and a handful of flowers linger in my garden. A warm fall descended on Colorado, but with shorter days and cooler nights life sinks to the roots. I love the fall weather, but I miss the blooms. Part of a flowering plant’s beauty lies in its fleeting nature.

James compared the wealthy to a flower: But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Flowers fade as part of their life cycle. Simply going about its business, colors wane and petals fall as the plant prepares for winter. James reminds the wealthy among us to remain humble—riches come only for a season.

Which is good for me to consider, because compared to the rest of the world and past history, I’m one of the wealthy ones. I enjoy the Lord’s gifts in my life, but must remember their temporary nature.

When eternity arrives any wealth I possess will burn away, like a paper plate tossed into a campfire, or like the once vibrant red, gold, purple and white petals of the flowers in my beds, now faded to black.

James 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Hikmet