Read 1 Timothy 2:8–15 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 1 Timothy 2:8 The late Peter Deyneka Sr., my good friend and founder of the Slavic Gospel Association, often reminded me, “Much prayer, much power! No prayer, no power!” Prayer was...
Read 1 Timothy 1:3–11 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. 1 Timothy 1:6 It is tragic when professed Christians get off course because they refuse “sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:10). Paul also called it “the doctrine …according to godliness” (1 Tim. 6:3 KJV), “sound words”...
Read Job 21:7–34 Their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. Job 21:16 The saddest thing about the wicked is the way they leave God out of their lives and still prosper (Job 21:13–15). The wicked take credit for their...
Read 1 Timothy 6:11–21 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.1 Timothy 6:11 There are times when running away is a mark of cowardice. “Should such a man as I flee?” asked Nehemiah (Neh. 6:11 KJV). But there are...
Read Galatians 4:1–7 You are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:7 We do not enter God’s family by adoption the way a homeless child would enter a loving family in our own society. The...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...