Read Ecclesiastes 5:8–20 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. Ecclesiastes 5:10 The late Joe Louis, world heavyweight boxing champion, used to say, “I don’t like money, actually, but it quiets my nerves.” But Solomon said that possessing wealth is no...
Read Ecclesiastes 1:9–11 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. Ecclesiastes 1:10 A young man approached me at a conference and asked if he could share some new ideas for youth ministry....
Read Isaiah 57—59 Justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Isaiah 59:9 There was a great deal of injustice in the land, with the rich exploiting the poor and the...
Read 1 Corinthians 8 We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 1 Corinthians 8:1 It has well been said, “Knowledge without love is brutality, but love without knowledge is hypocrisy.” Paul’s great concern was that the strong saints help the weaker saints to...
Read Ecclesiastes 1:3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:3 The society that Solomon investigated a millennium before the birth of Christ was not too different from our world today. Solomon saw injustice to the poor, crooked politics, incompetent leaders,...
Read Colossians 3:16–17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 Psalms were the songs taken from the Old Testament. For...
Read Isaiah 49 I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 49:6 “It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus,” wrote Robert Murray McCheyne. “A holy minister [servant] is...
Read Romans 12:1–6 Offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Romans 12:1 The mind controls the body, and the will controls the mind. Many people think they can control themselves and their lives by sheer “willpower,” but usually they fail. (This was Paul’s experience as recorded in 7:15–25.) It is only...
Read Galatians 6:1–10 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 The story has often been told about the message the founder of the Salvation Army sent to their international convention. General William Booth was unable to attend because of ill...
Read Isaiah 1:1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw. Isaiah 1:1 Salvation (deliverance) is the key theme in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah wrote concerning five acts of deliverance God would perform: (1) the deliverance of Judah from Assyrian invasion (Isa. 36—37); (2) the...