Another day with Jesus

                                                   Understanding the power of his perfect love     Welcome to my study. If you look around you, you’ll see my piano and a music stand. My Bible rests on the desk next to my computer. The bookcases are full of novels, Bible commentaries, CDs and music, and a variety of pictures line the walls. You’ve probably decided I’m a Christian, a music lover, and an avid reader. The Bible has played an important role all my life, but the New Testament stories about Jesus have always resonated with me. He is so perfect that I wish I could be as perfect as he is.   So, why do I love Jesus? What characteristics about him  are appealing ?  His most outstanding quality is love. When he walked the roads of the Holy Land, his love governed his actions and guided his relationships.   Jesus loved ...

                                                      Holey-ness or holiness?         The dawn of this new year may inspire resolve: improvement, striving for perfection. A musician practises to perform a perfect melody that rises and falls with ease and grace. The artist stretches a fresh canvas onto his easel, sketching and adjusting his pencil outline and paint until a perfect form emerges.    What are your goals for 2026? Increased fitness and weight loss to create the perfect body shape? Is there a significant project you desperately want to finish to the best of your ability?    Everyone craves perfection; for some it’s a dominating passion, but for others, a distant dream. We’re fashioned in the image of God, intrinsically yearning for His nature. Adam and Eve live...

                   Gifts for a King   Toward the east, a star, the emblem of Israel’s king, had lit up the heavens. Wise men arrived in Jerusalem, searching for the Messiah, the rightful King of the Jews, but the news disturbed King Herod and the city of Jerusalem because this new king’s birth threatened Herod’s reign. Horrified, King Herod secretly summoned the Wise Men to his Jerusalem court and questioned them.   “We saw his star, and we must worship him.”     “Where did you first see the star?”   “It arose in the East.”   In fear and hatred, Herod consulted the priests and law teachers.   “Do you know the Messiah’s birthplace?” “Yes, because nearly seven hundred years ago, Micah prophesied God’s shepherd would arise from Bethlehem.”   Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem to find this young king, pretending he wanted to worship him.  They left ...

                                                        ANGELS                                      God's messengers Did you decorate your Christmas tree with angels , little figurines with wings? Angels are powerful beings who deliver God’s messages. Although they inhabit the spiritual realm, occasionally people see them, as the Bible relates. Imagine these brilliant messengers interrupting your routine! How would you react? I’d be shocked and terrified.   In ancient Israel , a priest selected for special duties would burn incense at the Temple’s Holy Place , perhaps only once in his career. Zechariah would always remember his call to the temple. Washed and dressed in his priestly garments , the white linen robe, the ephod , the breastp...

  Getting ready for the party   Christmas is a month away, a season of hope and happiness when we celebrate the Lord Jesus ’s birth and gather in families. Does love and the anticipation of a happy occasion fuel your preparation, or do you grit your teeth, hoping you’ll survive the chaos?  S pecial occasions need careful preparation. Gifts are purchased for Christmas, a bride shops for the perfect dress, an expectant mother buys a crib for her baby, or a family member prepares a relative’s funeral in their honor and to deal with their grief.  We’re more likely to succeed when we prepare, avoiding disappointment, heartache, and last-minute stress.   When God sent Jesus into the world, he made extensive preparations. Adam and Eve had sinned, destroying the close relationship they’d enjoyed with him, but God is merciful. He did not respond to their disobedience by wiping them off the planet. He planned a momentous event: he would live as a man among men an...

                                                                   Breakfast on the Beach                                           Savory treats, sweetened with love   After his resurrection, Jesus prepared breakfast for his disciples .   One evening, Peter invited Thomas , Nathanael and a couple of Jesus ’ disciples on an overnight fishing expedition . A few days earlier, Thomas had thrust his hand into Jesus’s side, and the truth dawned on him. Jesus had risen from the dead, and this was his Lord and his God.   But Peter had sunk into despair, acutely aware he’d denied his Lord. A fisherman and a man of action, he could not sit motionless under the weight of nagging guilt. There’d been hints ...

   Taste and See   Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.    Psalm 34:8 .     A savory supper with a bitter twist         Before Jesus ’ death, his disciples prepared him a celebratory supper .   Jesus climbed the steps to the upper room. A week earlier, He’d sent Peter and John to find a donkey for His kingly ride into Jerusalem . During the initial period of Unleavened Bread , these disciples encountered a city dweller carrying a water vessel, and they hired his upper chamber. While the nation prepared for Passover , travelers to Jerusalem could hire rooftop chambers, accessed by exterior staircases without disturbing the owner.      Approximately fifteen hundred years earlier, Jehovah had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt . Under God’s instructions, they killed a perfect lamb, roasted it in the fire, along with bitter herbs, and smeare...