We know this one by heart: "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17)  The principle James states rings absolutely true.  There is nothing hard to grasp about the principle.  Except, what actually is the “right thing”?

I’m pretty sure we would have figured it out anyway, but the writer to the Hebrews leaves us in no doubt whatever:  the tabernacle and temple detailed in the Old Testament are symbolic.

But there was one, and only one, disciple who was literally, physically crucified with Jesus.  He is usually called “the thief on the cross”.

God has frequently assured mankind, and in particular His faithful followers, that His Kingdom will come (whether we are ready for it or not) and His will will be done throughout the earth.  So why the instruction to ask for it?

Shouldn’t my faith be able to handle this? Why am I so upset? The psalmist does not deny the reality or the validity of his pain and distress, what he does is remind himself to keep his eye on the eternal. 

God has been looking for repentance. It is worth some introspection, to see if repentance is still needed in our own lives.

Most are familiar with the account of Jacob being blessed by Isaac. Rebekah, commanding the obedience of her younger son in spite of his protests, engineered a reminder to Isaac of which son was to be blessed. 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” (Rev 21:1)

Uproar.  That’s the only word for it.  Precisely the thing that the Council must not allow to happen.  Who could predict how Pilate would react? 

In the comfort of our hindsight, we can tend to be kind of harsh in our assessment of Israel’s behavior following the Exodus from Egypt. 

Nothing ever goes smoothly, it seems. Or if something does it’s almost a shock. Our culture has a name for it:  Murphy’s Law. No point in going into all the ways it shows up in daily living.  But it might be worth thinking about it in a spiritual context.

You can count yourself blessed if you’ve never been asked by a health care professional to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10.  Many are all too familiar with the question.