May 28 In James 3, we read about how difficult it is to tame the tongue. It is a small thing, yet is very powerful. James goes on to say that the tongue is like a small rudder that controls really big ships. Then, he says that a small spark can set ablaze a large…
April 9 Context matters. Luke 6:31 (and its parallel in Matthew 7:12) is probably one of the most familiar verses in the New Testament. However, these words have been so twisted, even to the point of “do unto others before they do unto you.” But these words weren’t spoken in a vacuum. Several parts of…
March 28 In Mark 14:27–31, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times. Mark is the only Gospel writer who mentions a rooster crowing twice before Peter’s final denial. (Mark 14:30) All of the disciples present at the Passover feast boasted that they would never deny Jesus. (Mark 14:31) With a little digging through…
January 19 John 15 is the famous passage where Jesus told us that He is the true Vine, and we are the branches. It is a wonderful passage which teaches, as we remain on the vine, God will produce His fruit through us. Jesus—as the true Vine—produces fruit through the branches. The responsibility of a…
In today’s Bible reading*, we see two things that are called, “awe-inspiring”: an awe-inspiring sign in heaven (v. 1) and the awe-inspiring works of God (v. 3). Awe is a word that is foreign to many Believers. We just don’t see things as being “awe-inspiring”. The things of God tend to be, quite frankly, normal. Boring….
With today’s Bible reading, we begin reading 1 John. One thing that strikes me from the very beginning of the letter is that John says that he and the other Apostles aren’t just passing along folk tales. They aren’t just passing along what other people told them. John says, “What was from the beginning, what we have…
