June 20 After his greeting in 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul says that he ought to always give thanks for the church at Thessalonica. Behind the word ought is a word that conveys much more than what it seems. The Greek word conveys an obligation. (2 Thessalonians 1:3) He says that it is fitting to thank…
May 24 James is one of the most applicable books in the Bible. James doesn’t use a lot of fluff. He doesn’t talk a lot of theory. He doesn’t talk in platitudes. He gets right to the point and tells people what to do. And we will see that in the next few days of…
March 22 Misreading Mark 10:23–41 can lead to dangerous applications of God’s Word. In this section, Jesus addressed possessions and the Kingdom of God. He told a rich man that in order to enter heaven, he needed to sell all of his possessions and give to the poor. The reason he should do this, the…
March 6 After celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus walked with them to the Garden of Gethsemane, an olive grove just outside of Jerusalem where He often went to pray. (Luke 22:39) It’s interesting that He would choose this place to pray, especially this night. The name Gethsemane means “oil press.” Not surprisingly, Matthew…
February 26 In Matthew 20, we see two instances where people expected preferential treatment in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told a parable in which people were hired to work in a man’s vineyard. He hired five groups of workers in the morning, at nine o’clock, noon, three, and five, promising a day’s wage to…
In today’s Bible reading*, we see two witnesses given authority to prophesy/preach against the people’s sins for a period of time. During their allotted time, they are immortal; no one can harm them. At the end of the allotted time, people martyr the witnesses and leave their bodies on the street until the witnesses are resurrected…
