Read 1 Peter 5:12 I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 1 Peter 5:12 “While there’s life, there’s hope!” That ancient Roman saying is still quoted today, and like most adages, it has an element...
Read Isaiah 45—48 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10 The Jews had become comfortable and complacent in their Babylonian captivity. They had followed the counsel of Jeremiah (Jer. 29:4–7) and had built houses, planted gardens, and...
Read Ecclesiastes 8:1–13 Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. Ecclesiastes 8:12 If there is no God, then we have nobody to blame but ourselves for what happens...
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1–28 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle. 1 Corinthians 15:9 One of the greatest witnesses of the resurrection was Paul himself, for as an unbeliever he was soundly convinced that Jesus was dead. The radical...
Read Philippians 3:4–7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:7 Every Jew could boast of his own blood heritage. Some Jews could boast of their faithfulness. But Paul could boast of those things plus his zeal in persecuting the church...
Read 2 Corinthians 8:10–24 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it. 2 Corinthians 8:11 During my years of ministry, I have endured many offering appeals. I have listened to pathetic tales about unbelievable needs. I have forced...
Read Hebrews 2:3–9 This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. Hebrews 2:3 We have the idea that believers today “under grace” can escape the chastening hand of God that was so evident “under law.” But to whom much is...
Read Galatians 2:1–5 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. Galatians 2:4 Echoes of the Jerusalem Conference are heard repeatedly in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul mentioned the “yoke of...
Read 1 John 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 Every great nation in history has become decadent and has finally been conquered by another nation. Some nineteen world civilizations have slipped into oblivion. There...
Read Philippians 1:6–10 This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Philippians 1:9–10 Paul found joy in his...