Read Isaiah 40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1 “Isaiah is great for two reasons,” wrote William Sanford LaSor in his fascinating book Great Personalities of the Old Testament: “He lived in momentous days, in critical days of international upheaval, and he wrote what many consider to...
Read 1 Peter 3:8–12 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9 As Christians, we can live on one of three levels. We can return evil for good, which...
Read Romans 8:18–39 We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 As believers we never need faint in times of suffering because we know that God is at work in the world,...
Read Job 2—3 When Job’s three friends … heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Job 2:11 All three of Job’s friends were old (Job 32:6), but...
Read Romans 1:8–15 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. Romans 1:14 Rome was a proud city, and the gospel came from Jerusalem, the capital city of a little nation Rome had conquered. The Christians in that day were not among the...
Read Romans 8:1–17 Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14 To be unsaved and not have the Spirit is the lowest level of life. But people need not stay on that level. By faith in Christ they can move to the next...
Read Philippians 2:12–18 Even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Philippians 2:17 The world’s philosophy is that joy comes from aggression: Fight everybody to get what you want,...
Read 2 Corinthians 3:1–11 If what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 2 Corinthians 3:11 Paul wrote at a period in history when the ages were overlapping. The new covenant of grace had come in, but the nation of Israel...
Read Colossians 1:21–23 Now [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:22 Paul’s statement to the Colossians seems to cast a shadow on the assurance of our future glory (v. 13). Is it...
Read Philippians 1:25–30 It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him. Philippians 1:29 Satan wants us to think that we are alone in the battle and that our difficulties are unique, but such is not the...