Luke Bible Study, Day 38 Today’s passage: Luke 23:1–43 Focus verse:“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) When the Romans execute Jesus, they crucify two criminals with him, one on either side. While we don’t know what these men did to deserve the death penalty, we can assume […]
Elihu Talks About Justice As we read through the book of Job, we see that Elihu pauses, giving time for Job—or anyone else—to respond. When they don’t, Elihu glances at the three older men and then resumes speaking. “Listen to me, oh wise ones, as I continue. Weigh my words as I speak. May we […]
Delight in the Lord—Even the Parts You Don’t Comprehend Are there parts of God you don’t understand? Does this frustrate you? It shouldn’t. Don’t let what you don’t know weigh you down. We should accept that we can’t fully know our Lord—at least not in this world—that we can’t yet understand God. Yet some people […]
Discover What Scripture Says I’ve read through the Bible many times and can find no same-sex marriages in Scripture. Zero. Beyond that, I see no homosexual relationships either. Though some may try to twist the biblical narrative and take it out of context, they’re wrong to do so. They can’t theorize the existence of same […]
When God Wants to Give You a Second Chance Make Sure You’re Ready to Receive It You’re probably not familiar with Ahithophel in the Bible. His life serves as a lesson in how not to respond to disappointment. Though his name does show up a few times during the reign of King David, Ahithophel is […]
Don’t Hold on to Guilt Over What God Has Already Forgiven From the life of Jacob, we learn a lesson in how to receive God’s mercy. After Jacob dies, Joseph’s brothers come to him. They’re worried he’ll hold a grudge against them for what they did to him when he was a teenager. At that […]
Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly, and Hope in and Wait on God As the prophet Micah gives a series of stinging rebukes against the nations of Israel and Judah, he takes a pause for some personal reflection. As if keeping a journal, he wonders how he should approach God. With reverence, with offerings, with […]
2 John Bible Study, Day 31 Today’s passage: 2 John 1:1–3 Focus verse: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John 1:3) John opens his letter calling himself simply “the elder.” Though he could have used more prestigious labels, such […]
Jesus shared a story (parable) about forgiving others. Jesus’ illustration was prompted by Peter, who asked if forgiving someone seven times was enough; Peter thought seven times was generous. Jesus upped the figure considerably, saying seventy-seven times. We don’t take this amount literally, instead understanding that Jesus really meant we need to forgive others “more […]
The King Confesses His Mistake and Asks God to Take Away the Guilt In 1 Chronicles 21 we read the account of David telling Joab to take a census of the people to determine how many fighting men are in the nation. This was Satan’s doing who tempted David into numbering his military. This could […]