I’m really looking forward to being at a week-long Bible retreat next week. There will be classes, and I look forward to hearing scriptural insights from the presenters. Importantly, there will also be time to interact with fellow believers, sharing ideas, sharing meals, sharing time. Sharing our faith, our hope and our love.

From time to time, I’ll be talking with someone and they’ll express that they don’t really like getting into Bible prophecy. I think what they mean is that they don’t enjoy trying to interpret the minute details, especially trying to figure out in advance what will happen in the “last days” – the time just before and after the return of Christ.

Jesus is our High Priest. A major part of the book of Hebrews is devoted to discussing his priesthood. It’s referred to elsewhere too, not always using the term “priest” but meaning the same thing. For example, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)

How could anyone dare talk to God this way: “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?” (Psalm 44:23) What? How dare this writer? This is reminiscent of Elijah’s taunt of the prophets of Baal, at the contest on Mount Carmel:

It’s a wonderful thing to have a life partner in faith. Ecclesiastes puts it this way: Two are better than one… For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Is complaining good or bad? I know that when I meet someone and they ask, “How are you?” I’m tempted to, and sometimes do, start listing my ailments. I feel like a better response would be, “Nothing to complain about.” Because really, I am incredibly blessed.

The sun doesn’t rise, and doesn’t set. It’s the earth spinning, and since we’re stuck to the earth, from our perspective it appears that the sun moves across the sky. As the Beatles song says, “The fool on the hill sees the sun going down, and the eyes in his head see the world spinning around.” This “fool” has the true, accurate perspective.

The story is familiar. Early in his ministry, Jesus called four Galilean fishermen who were business partners: brothers Peter and Andrew, and brothers James and John. Matthew and Mark record that Jesus was walking along the Galilee lakeshore, encountered the men, and told them, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20)

As the end of his ministry approached, Jesus repeatedly warned his followers what to expect in Jerusalem. The Son of Man was to be betrayed, tortured, condemned, killed—and then be raised on the third day. (Mark 8:31, 9:31-32, 10:32-34) They had no clue what he was talking about.

Spring is well underway where I live. Flowers are emerging, trees are starting to have leaves, most of them still small and pale green. It’s been noted before, including by me, that the springtime is a communication from God that He can—and will—bring life out of death.

Something we use every day, which you might not know there’s a fancy word for: heuristics. We mostly use unfancy terms: rules of thumb, educated guesses, hacks, common sense. One writer I came across says, “Heuristics reduce cognitive load, simplify choices, and allow us to act quickly instead of needing to consciously think about all the options.” We use these all day, in the countless small decisions we must make. We would hardly be able to function without them.

Recently I was reminded of a familiar phrase: “Love never fails.” It comes from scripture, as you probably recognize. (Where I saw it was in a non-scriptural context. It’s not real unusual to find scriptural snippets that have entered the language, often used without knowing where they come from.)

My wife and I enjoy hiking in wilderness areas.  We’re day hikers, not backpackers, so we’re limited to kind of nibbling at the edges of the wilderness.  Even so, we are continually in awe of the creation and its Creator when we’re out there.  We love being surrounded by the works of the Almighty, with little evidence of the works of mankind.

There is a whole industry that caters to do-it-yourselfers. Gigantic stores are devoted to supplying the parts, the tools and sometimes the know-how for people to repair and enhance their homes, doing the work themselves. There’s another, parallel industry to do the same for people who want to do their own car repair or upgrades. Let’s not forget the industries that support preparing meals ourselves, doing yardwork ourselves, and so forth.

The Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt was brought about by astounding miracles, culminating in the crossing of the Red Sea. And then…they did not find water for three days (Exodus 15:22-25). We tend to be a little hard on those people for grumbling about this, but have you ever gone three days with only whatever water you happened to be carrying? In three days, any one of us would be desperate.

It seems beyond question that these passages are all about the same thing:

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30-31)

You may have had it pointed out in a Bible class, or read somewhere, or noticed yourself, that there are a number of “fellow-” terms in the New Testament. Fellow-this or fellow-that. Translations vary, so it may be more or less apparent in the version you use.

Not long ago I saw a plaque on someone’s wall which read, “Live every moment with joy and laughter.” O, that it were so simple! We all know there are plenty of moments that aren’t filled with joy.

The word “benediction” comes from Latin, literally meaning “well-speaking”. Usually we will hear the word used as “a prayer asking God for help and protection for someone” (Cambridge Dictionary), or “the short blessing with which public worship is concluded” (Merriam-Webster). Or not even a religious service—it can be at the end of a graduation ceremony, a business lunch, or some other event.

What motivation was behind Judas’s betrayal of the Lord? I expect we’ve all wondered about this, from beginning Bible readers to life-long serious Bible students.