Posts by mpheriot
John 7:5 Extraordinarily Ordinary
For even his own brothers did not believe in him. John 7:5 NIV Imagine those closest to Jesus — his mom, dad, and brothers. Although they initially did not choose to follow him like the disciples, they had a unique front-row seat to observe the ordinariness of Israel’s messiah. Jesus’ public ministry to Israel began…
Read MoreI am your inheritance
Taken from a personal journal entry dated October 23, 2018 Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. Numbers 18:20 NKJV What does it mean to have God as…
Read MoreOnly One Thing | My Attention Matters
I often marvel at the ability of God to know and love the sheer number of people on earth. How can He love everyone when I can barely do it with the few in my life? He commanded Adam and Noah to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth — with the intention of loving…
Read MoreJohn 6:70-71 So close, but so far
Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. John 6:70-71 NASB If all the dramatic lessons in John 6 weren’t enough — from the…
Read MoreJohn 6:66 Not the anti-Christ, just men stumbling
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. John 6:66 NASB Isn’t it a crazy coincidence that when flesh is stumbled by the Messiah that the verse number aligns with the number of man? If you’re not freaked out about the verse notation in John 6:66,…
Read MoreJohn 6:61-62 What Jesus didn’t tell us
But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” John 6:61-62 NASB In other words, if you are stumbled over my words, my parents, this teaching, the contradictions you see, then…
Read MoreJohn 6:61 The bouncer at the kingdom door
But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? John 6:61 NASB There are significant obstacles to believing the gospel. Today, there are so many conflicting belief systems in the church. Many see people professing faith with a political activism from that treats people without dignity…
Read MoreJohn 6:53-56 Filtering faith through a kingdom strainer
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My…
Read MoreLessons from the dust | When friends with good intentions visit
On Sunday, my wife and I met at our good friends’ house and commemorated the year mark of the wife’s ongoing struggle with cancer. While listening to her, she said with no uncertainty that it was just recently that she had become self-aware, humbled, and resolved lifelong issues that have come to the surface from…
Read MoreJohn 6 Interlude | Part 2: The afterlife
Our life after death I’m aware that my time in my body offers me a unique ability to transact in my world. Now. And I fully desire to engage every day with all of my heart. Yet, one thing that frightens me about death is that I will be forcefully disengaged with life as I…
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