Saturday, March 9th We continue on with the third and final temptation. Luke 4:9-13 Then the devil took (Jesus) to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning […]
Friday, March 8th Luke 4:5-8 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I […]
Thursday, March 7 Yesterday, I talked about the significance of Jesus feeling famished – that he didn’t try to distract himself from his desire for food. Jesus has gone out into the wilderness to face specific desires that arise within him which if he were to seek to satisfy would take him away from the […]
Ash Wednesday, March 6th Every year on the first Sunday in Lent we hear the story of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness tempted by the devil. The forty days of Lent are modeled on those forty days, as well as, on the forty years that the Hebrew people spent wandering in the […]
Tuesday, March 5th In the Old Testament there are 150 psalms that were written nearly three thousand years ago and have been used ever since to bring before God the range of emotions we are capable of feeling in life. Jesus himself would have used the psalms, as a part of the spiritual disciplines of […]
Monday, March 4th Today I begin commentating on passages of scripture assigned for the coming Sunday in Lent – in the cast the first Sunday in Lent. As Christians, who follow a Jewish Rabbi, our roots are in Judaism. Today’s reading comes from the book of Deuteronomy, the last book of what Jews call Torah. […]
Sunday, March 3rd – 13th Email Today is the day Christians refer to as the “Sabbath” – the day of rest. In Genesis 1 after God creates human beings on the 6th day “in the image of God” and calling us and all of creation “very good”, on the seventh day God rested. Later in […]
March 2nd — 12th Email One intention that would be worthwhile for all of us is to become a better listener. Listening is one of the most basic forms of love. Oftentimes when we are talking with someone our mind is elsewhere – perhaps on our “To Do” list. Sometimes in the course of a […]
March 1st — 11th Email Hard-heartedness is another form of bondage. Carrying around a steady stream of resentment and anger is a spiritual prison cell. That is part of the reason that Jesus commanded us as his followers to practice forgiveness – that we might step forth from the prison cell. It is a worthy […]
February 28th — 10th Email Some of us can be imprisoned by feelings of guilt that lurk at the edge of our consciousness. Once again, the key here is to bring what hides out on the edge of our mind into full consciousness. As we do we ask, “Is the guilt I’m feeling legitimate?” Sometimes […]