Read Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Ecclesiastes 5:1 Solomon had visited the courtroom, the marketplace, the highway, and the palace. Now he...
Read 2 Corinthians 1:8–24 In our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:9 In Greek language, there are ten basic words for suffering, and Paul used five of them in...
Read Colossians 1:6–8 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. Colossians 1:6 The Word of God is seed (Luke 8:11). This means the Word...
Read 1 Peter 1:1–2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world … Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1 Peter 1:1–2 The three themes of suffering, grace, and glory in 1 Peter unite to form an encouraging message for believers experiencing times of...
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 Sometimes God permits our vessels to be jarred so that some of the treasure will spill out and enrich others. Suffering reveals...
Read Colossians 3:3–4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:4 Christ not only died for us (substitution), but we died with Him (identification). Christ not only died for sin, bearing its penalty; He also died unto sin, breaking its...
Read Philippians 1:1–5 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3–5 Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is a missionary thank-you...
Read Romans 12:17—13:14 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 Returning evil for evil, or good for good, is the way most people live. But we Christians must return good for evil. This response requires love, because our first inclination is to fight back....
Read 1 Corinthians 10 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1Corinthians 10:24 Paul probably appeared inconsistent to those who did not understand his principles of Christian living. At times, he would eat what the Gentiles were eating. At other times, he would eat only “kosher”...
Read 1 John 5:4–5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5 A Civil War veteran used to wander from place to place, begging a bed and bite to eat and always talking about his friend “Mr....