Tag: bible
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(38) Job and Multiplying Thoughts, Emotions and Words
In the book of Job in the Bible, after Job is hit with harsh trials, he is initially calm. His early/first response is, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) Even when his wife tells him to curse God and die, he refuses. His…
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(35) Negativity Bias & Miserable Comforters
You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! ~ Job 14:4 “I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you! ~ Job 16:2 It turns out we humans are naturally inclined to think more negatively than positively — a tendency researchers call negativity bias. This…
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(5′) Knowing vs. Teaching | Bezalel & Oholiab
~ In the book of Exodus, we find mentioned, two artists par excellent. These are Bezalel and Oholiab. One place among many that you can read about them is Exodus 35:30-35, 30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of…
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(4′) Two Kings, Two Outcomes
“And Jehoshaphat said … ‘O our God, will you not judge them, for there is no power in us before this great multitude that is coming against us. Now we do not know what we shall do, for our eyes are upon you.’ … Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel … And he…
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(25) Psalm 22 & Self-Deprecation
Psalm 22:6 – “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.”Psalm 139:14 – “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” I thought that I had finally found a Psalm with self-deprecation, viz. Psalm 22:6, but as I analyzed it, I saw that I was…
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(23) Taking From the Lord vs. Receiving From the World ~ Jacob’s All-Nighter (Part 1)
“So Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the Man saw that He could not overpower him, He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the Man. Then the Man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob…
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(22) Filling Out Providence without Passivity or Presumption
“So, I went out at night…” (Nehemiah 2:13a).“After an all-night march from Gilgal, …” (Joshua 10:9a). ~ Nehemiah got some bad news about the city of Jerusalem being in ruins and prayed about it. Then he took up the matter with the king, praying even as he did, and got green signals to head to…
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(2′) Prayer’s Expectant Eyes ~ Part 1
~ I find Psalm 5:3 to be interesting because it is not simply about praying, but it is also about how we are to watch and wait subsequent to praying. “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3, NIV). O Yahweh, in the morning,…
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(1′) The Final Word Is Profit
~ In the above verse, when Isaiah uses the word profit, he is not speaking in a business sense. That is to say, he is not discussing say net profit or ROI. ~ What Isaiah is talking about is something much larger and deeper. He is talking about flourishing and this in many ways such…
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(17) Water Under the Bridge (B)
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll…
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(16) WISDOM, FAST and SLOW
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). ~ We have all probably read James 1:5 or heard it somewhere and assumed that wisdom was a 1-click prayer request away. And yet we have also at…
The Dew and the Rain 