Tag: CONNECT THE TESTAMENTS

  • LIVES OF SPIRITUAL OPULENCE

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 52:1–54:17; Luke 20:41–21:24; Job 12:1–12 The Pharisees upheld a faulty religious system. They were supposed to be the Jews’ spiritual leaders, but they were more interested in making themselves the religious elite. They loved “greetings in the marketplace and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets”…

  • RIDDLE ME THIS

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 50:1–51:23; Luke 20:1–40; Job 11:12–20 Jesus’ enemies regularly attempted to make Him look foolish or to disprove His authority. The absurd questions they concocted to discredit Him are rather amusing. The Sadducees posed one of the most preposterous questions about the resurrection of the dead and its relevance to divorce (Luke 20:27–33):…

  • WHO IS TRUSTWORTHY?

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 48:1–49:26; Luke 19:11–48; Job 11:1–12 We might get sidetracked when reading the Parable of the Ten Minas. Businessmen aren’t sympathetic characters in our modern world. In movies and sometimes in life, they’re often flat, miserly characters who take advantage of naïve individuals and community values. Although there is often an element of…

  • GOD THE INNOVATOR

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 45:14–47:15; Luke 18:9–19:10; Job 10:11–22 Innovators often say they learn more from their failures than their successes. The successes come as a result of repeated failures, whether in business or in life. We must learn from our mistakes if we are to expect a different, brighter future.God expects us to learn from…

  • COMPLAINTS

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 44:1–45:13; Luke 17:11–18:8; Job 10:1–10 Complaining can be automatic. We complain about the weather, our children, our jobs. And we might do it for any number of reasons—even something as trivial as to keep a conversation going. Although we might complain lightly, we still betray something about our hearts. We assume that…

  • TRANSITIONS

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 42:10–43:28; Luke 16:1–17:10; Job 9:25–35 Life is marked by seasons—times of great difficulty and times of great joy. Usually we focus on making the transition from pain to relief as quickly as possible, but in the process, we may forget the significance of the transition itself. A transition is an opportunity to…

  • THE PURSUIT OF FAILURES

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 41:1–42:9; Luke 15:1–32; Job 9:20–24 Often, when we focus too much on our own failures, we don’t reach the point where grace changes us. That’s why the parable of the Prodigal Son is so comforting for people who are caught up and brought down by their failures. In this parable it’s not…

  • THE COST OF COMFORT

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 39:1–40:31; Luke 14:1–35; Job 9:12–19 “ ‘[You all] comfort; comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins’ ” (Isa 40:1–2).…

  • ANXIETY AND THE WILDERNESS

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 35:1–37:13; Luke 12:22–59; Job 8:11–22 Anxiety has a way of ruling over us. Although many of our concerns are legitimate—like having money to pay the rent and buy food—some of them are nonsensical. We envision future catastrophes and spend our days worrying about what might never happen, creating an emotional wilderness for…

  • NO FEAR AND FULL CONFIDENCE

    Connect The TestamentsIsaiah 33:1–17; Luke 11:37–12:21; Job 8:1–10 Jesus didn’t exactly follow social niceties as a dinner guest. Once again while dining with a Pharisee, He exposed the hypocrisy that was rampant among those religious leaders: “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of…