Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) God created man in his own image morally. There are, no doubt, other elements in man’s likeness to God, but a morally right character is primary. It is the basis of shared love and fellowship; it is indispensable to demonstrating...

Matthew 22:37-40 “And he said to him, ”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)...

2 Corinthians 4:6 – 5:11 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. “(2 Corinthians 4:8,9) Before we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, let’s be reminded of what we are – humble clay pots! Not diamond-studded...

Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days,that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) Some people don’t like to think about the end of the journey, but that’s a great mistake. God tells us we’ll gain great wisdom by thinking about the end of life: “Every living man is no more than...

1 John 4:8, 16 “God is love,” (1 John 4:8, 16). This is the basic difference between the biblical concept of love and our concept of love. The Bible defines love by the nature of God. We tend to define love by the nature of man. To say that God is love does not mean...

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)  Friendship, marriage, children- marvelous sources, and biblically approved sources, of joy. Invest life here! But human relationships, fraught with such high potential for joy, often bring sorrow instead. To be...

Luke 1:34 “And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34) Mary, the virgin, so venerated by our Catholic friends, so neglected by us Protestants. But I dearly love Mary. Why? Who is the real Mary? What did she look like? Hair style, clothes? What kind of...

Isaiah 9:2  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” ( Isaiah 9:2) Do you know what I like about Santa Claus and Christmas commercialism? Or about ACLU and our courts crushing creches? What could I like about the downside...

Philippians 2:8 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) In clear and strong language, Paul holds up the Servant as our model. We are to think the way Jesus thought when he relinquished all his rightful prerogatives as...

John 3:16 “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) One Christmas I had a date. My wife, wanted to attend a musical show, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I was apprehensive. The apprehension seemed well-founded when we arrived and...