Read Isaiah 7—8 The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 These were perilous days for the nation of Judah. Assyria was growing stronger and threatening the smaller nations. Syria...
Read 1 John 5:6–15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14 What breathing is to a physical person, prayer is to a spiritual person. If our heart is fixed on Christ and we...
Read Hebrews 4 Since the promise of entering [God’s] rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. Hebrews 4:1 There are spiritual lessons in the geography of Israel’s experiences. The nation’s bondage in Egypt is an illustration of sinners’...
Read Isaiah 36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Isaiah 36:1 Except for David and Solomon, no king of Judah is given more attention or commendation in Scripture than Hezekiah. He restored the temple...
Read 2 Corinthians 5:1–10 We are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:6 The people of God can be found in one of two places: either in heaven or on earth (Eph. 3:15)....
Read Hebrews 3:12–19 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily … so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:12–13 The heart of every problem is a problem...
Read Job 31—32:1 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Job 32:1 Job was silent. He had ended his defense and given oath that he was not guilty of the sins he had been accused of by his friends. Job had challenged...
Read Ecclesiastes 9:5–10 The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Ecclesiastes 9:5 What Solomon wrote about the dead can be reversed and applied to the living. The dead do not know what...
Read 2 Corinthians 12:9–21 I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.… For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 God does not give us His grace simply to help us endure our sufferings. God’s grace...
Read James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4 As we read the epistle of James, we discover that the Jewish Christians were having some problems in their personal lives and in their church fellowship. For one thing,...