Year: 2012

Bible

Watering Animals is a Prelude to Marriage

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 4, 2012

In the Bible there’s the story of Jacob, who rolls away the stone from the well to water Rachel’s sheep. They get married.

Then there’s Moses. He rescues some shepherd girls when they are being harassed and provides water for their flocks. He marries one of them.

It’s just not a guy thing, either. Rebekah provides water for a stranger and his camels, showing herself to be the one for Isaac, son of the stranger’s master. They get married.

Sometimes performing simple acts of service result in some most amazing things.

[Genesis 29:10, Exodus 2:16-21, and Genesis 24:15-20]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Tags Issac, Jacob, Moses, Rachel, Rebekah

Bible

A Love Story: Life Sustaining Water

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 2, 2012

In a love story, culturally distant and a bit strange to us, Jacob is enamored by the fetching Rachel. In an act of service, to garner her attention, he rolls away a stone from the mouth of a well to provide life-sustaining water for her sheep. It works and she becomes his bride.

In another love story, also culturally distant and a bit strange, Jesus, in an act of service sacrifices himself for those he loves. Three days later Jesus is resurrected and an angel rolls away the stone that sealed his tomb, effectively providing living water for his sheep; that would be us. It works and symbolically we become his bride.

The water is provided as an act of love. We drink the water to accept the love.

[Genesis 29:10, Matthew 28:2, and Mark 16:1-6]

Tags bride, Jacob, Jesus, Rachel

Bible

How Do You Earn Eternal Life?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 27, 2012

In the Bible it was common for Jesus to invite people to follow him. That’s simple enough; anyone can do that.

But sometimes Jesus would give a different instruction. For example, he told one very wealthy man to give away all his money and possessions, not ten percent, not half, not even 90 percent, but all. That’s not so simple or so easy.

Some people assume this means the man was putting his trust in his money and as long as he trusted money, he could never fully trust Jesus.

I get that and agree with that: anything that’s more important to us than Jesus, keeps us from Jesus.

But I wonder if there’s not a different explanation. The man was trying to earn eternal life. We know we can’t earn our salvation; that’s impossible. So to make his point, Jesus gave him a seemingly impossible task: give away everything.

Eternal life is a gift. We can’t earn it. All we need to do is receive it.

[Luke 18:18-29 and Romans 6:23]

Tags eternity, Jesus

Bible

Is It Fair to Get What We Don’t Earn?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 25, 2012

In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon does a lot of whining.

(Don’t get bogged down by his negativity, for he eventually provides some reliable insight in the book’s concluding verses.)

Overall I find it easy to dismiss Solomon’s complaining, but one of his laments does make sense to me. He grumbles about leaving an inheritance to someone who didn’t earn it and doesn’t deserve it.

That’s not fair! And we all want what’s fair, don’t we?

Perhaps not.

Through Jesus, we receive something we didn’t earn and don’t deserve: eternal life.

That’s not fair either, but I’m not complaining.

[Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Ecclesiastes 2:21, and Romans 6:23]

Tags eternity, Solomon

Bible

Three Things About Temptation

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 20, 2012

In Three Things About Sin, the prescription for sin is to deal with the temptation before it gives way to sin. It’s like getting a vaccine; preparing now to avoid a bigger problem later.

The Bible teaches us three things about temptation; they’re in the form of promises that we can claim and rely on.

1) Our temptations are not unique to us: Others have struggled with the same issues in the past.

2) God will limit temptation to what we can handle: God doesn’t tempt us and he does limit the enemy’s power to do so.

3) God will provide a way out: We can ask God to enable us to see the way out, give us the will to take it, and the strength to persevere.

And then we can withstand the temptation — just as he promised.

[1 Corinthians 10:13]

Tags sin, temptation

Bible

Three Things About Sin

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 18, 2012

The book of Genesis in the Bible gives a concise three-point teaching about sin. This was written about Cain, but equally applies to us.

1) Sin is crouching at our door: The word “crouch” reminds me of a cat getting ready to pounce on its prey. The situation is ominous.

2) Sin desires to have us: Once the cat leaps for its quarry, there’s little doubt over the outcome. Sin is crouching for us; it is getting ready to leap and destroy us. There’s little we can do — or is there?

3) We must master it: Sin is much easier to master beforehand rather than in the midst of it. When it is crouching, the potential for sin is there, but it’s not actual sin; it’s temptation. We know what to do with temptation and the devil who promotes it; we are to resist.

[Genesis 4:7 and James 4:7]

Tags Genesis, sin, temptation

Bible

What Sycamore Tree Do You Need to Climb?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 13, 2012

There was a man in Jericho who was boss of the people who collected taxes; he was quite rich. He wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, but couldn’t because he was a short rascal and the taller people blocked his view.

Ever resourceful, he ran ahead of the throng and climbed a tree; it was a sycamore. From his perch he watched Jesus walk towards him. The view was great and he finally achieved his objective; he got to see Jesus.

When Jesus reached the tree he glanced up and said, “Hey, dude, can I hang out at your place?

Not only did Shorty, as known as Zacchaeus, get to see Jesus, but he would soon have some one-on-one time. That was quite a reward for his diligence (Luke 19:1-10).

Although we don’t need to literally climb a sycamore tree to see Jesus, I wonder if it can be a metaphor for us to do whatever we need to do to see him. Maybe we need to slow down, not work so much, or watch less TV.

Perhaps a relationship is in our way or the desire to accumulate money, power, and prestige. Or could it simply be that we’re in our own way, stubborn, closed-mind, or procrastinating.

Perhaps each of us has our own “sycamore tree” that we need to climb to see Jesus.

What would you add to the list?

Tags daily bread, God, Jesus, manna

Bible

Why Do We Ask For Our Daily Bread?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 11, 2012

Jesus taught his disciples to ask God for their daily bread, that is, the food they needed for the day.

Just as God provided manna for the Israelites in the desert, the implication is God will meet our needs each day.

We are not to ask for enough for the week, the month, or the whole year, but for only one day, today. Tomorrow we will need to ask again.

The instruction to ask daily isn’t because God is only powerful enough to supply our need for one day, but because God doesn’t want us to take him for granted. And if we seek him each day, that’s not likely to happen.

Plus, I think he enjoys hearing from us each morning.

[Exodus 16:14-32 and Matthew 6:11]

Tags daily bread, God, Jesus, manna

Bible

What is Manna?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 6, 2012

When the nation of Israel was in the desert, God provided food for them each day. The Israelites called it manna and it miraculously appeared every morning.

The manna would provide them with the sustenance they needed for that day. If they tried to gather extra and stockpile it, it would turn bad (except for the Sabbath). God gave them what they needed for that day but no more; it was essentially their daily bread.

Later on, Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for God to give them their “daily bread.” The disciples surely connected that with Moses and the manna in the desert, and as a result they were assured God would faithfully provide for them each day.

This is just one of many amazing ways the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are connected.

Manna is the daily bread that God faithfully provides.

[Exodus 16:14-32 and Matthew 6:11]

Tags daily bread, Jesus, manna, prayer

Bible

What Does Jesus Want Us to Forgive?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 4, 2012

In my post Be Careful What You Pray I mention a line in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Different groups have different wording for this line. There are three I’ve run into:

1. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The word debt, conjures up thoughts of loans and money. That limits what Jesus meant and isn’t helpful.

2. “Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The word trespass evokes walking uninvited on someone’s property. That’s not helpful either. (However, the dictionary gives a broader understanding of both these words.)

3. “Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” To me, sin is the word that conveys the full impact of this phrase, but I understand some people are put off by that word.

I recently heard a fourth version, which I like for its clarity:

4. “Forgive us for the wrongs we have done, as we have forgiven those who have wronged us.”

That connects with me. I hope one of these four versions connects with you. Now we just need to pray it — and do it.

[Matthew 6:12]

Tags debt, forgive, Lord’s Prayer