YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE?

Read Job 15 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him. Job 15:20 In his first speech, Eliphaz had described the blessings of the godly (Job 5:17–26), but now he describes the sufferings of the ungodly. The problem with Eliphaz’s...

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SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Read 1 John 2:7–8 I am not writing you a new command but an old one.… Yet I am writing you a new command. 1 John 2:7–8 The Christian life—the life that is real—is a beautiful blending of “something old, something new.” The Holy Spirit never grows old! And He...

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THE GRAPES OF RESISTANCE

Read Isaiah 26—27 Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. Isaiah 27:2–4 In the day of the Lord, God will use suffering to purge His...

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Read Isaiah 34—35 A highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way. Isaiah 35:8 Isaiah 35:8 expresses one of Isaiah’s favorite themes: the highway (11:16; 19:23; 40:3; 62:10). During...

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JOYFUL OBEDIENCE

Read 1 John 5:1–3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 Everything in creation—except man—obeys the will of God. “Lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds … do his bidding” (Ps. 148:8). In the book of Jonah, we...

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WINNING THE SAVED

Read James 5:13–20 Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. James 5:20 What are we to do when we see a fellow believer wandering from the truth? We should pray for him, to...

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SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Read Isaiah 52 So will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. Isaiah 52:15 The people who were astonished by the Servant’s humiliation and exaltation will shut their mouths in guilt when they hear His proclamation. Paul interprets this proclamation as the preaching of...

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THE SILENT LAMB

Read Isaiah 53 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 In this passage, the Servant is compared to...

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LIVING IN CIRCLES

Read Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:17 When Adam and Eve sinned, they did get an experiential knowledge of good and evil, but since they were...

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MONEY MANAGEMENT

Read Ecclesiastes 2:12–23 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Ecclesiastes 2:18–19 Solomon was born wealthy, and great wealth came...

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