Read the Bible
Read: Psalm 119:97-106 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (v. 105) There is a children’s song that includes the lyrics “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” A later verse states “Don’t read your Bible, forget to pray, and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.” […]
Live by Faith
Read: John 15:1-17 Abide in me, and I in you. (v. 4) My wife and I grow plants in our home, yard, and garden. Each plant requires water, light, and fertile soil. When roots and plants have these elements, they are more likely to produce green leaves, flowers, or enjoyable food. In John 15, Jesus […]
A New Year
Read: Lamentations 3:19-27 His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. (vv. 22-23) The start of a new year is often a time for reflection, evaluation, and goal setting. Just as God’s mercies are “new every morning” (v. 23), so God’s grace and faithfulness extends into each new year. Many people […]
How Long?
Read: Revelation 6:9-11 How long before you will judge and avenge our blood? (v. 10) Walking through the old market district of a city in eastern Turkey, my guide mentioned that all the shops and businesses around us had once been owned by Armenians. A century ago the majority of people in that region were […]
Jesus’s Other Sheep
Read: John 10:14-30 My sheep hear my voice . . . and they follow me. (v. 27) Who are the “other sheep” to whom Jesus refers (v. 16)? They are all those people, in every time and place, from every tribe and language and race, who belong to him and who will be brought eventually […]
Faith Comes by Hearing
Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Faith comes from hearing . . . the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:17) So here is how the gospel works. As Christians share the gospel, some people hear it and believe. They receive it not merely as human information but as the very Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). And this […]
Blessed Are the Persecuted
Read: Luke 6:20-23 Blessed are you when people hate you . . . and revile you . . . on account of the Son of Man! (v. 22) “Blessing” and “persecution” don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence. But Jesus puts them there. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you […]
The Blood of the Martyrs
Read: Revelation 12:7-17 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (v. 11) At Namugongo, just outside of Kampala, stands a memorial to the Ugandan martyrs. There, on June 3, 1886, the king of Buganda put to […]
Faithful Witness
Read: Acts 7:54-60; Revelation 2:12-13 Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you. (Rev. 2:13) There is often a high cost for being “not ashamed of the gospel.” On a visit to a small Bible college in a rural district of India, I heard the story of Navin Doman. The students at the college […]