And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…” Philippians 1:9-10 Fallen human nature continually produces counterfeit notions of love. Paul prays that…
“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:20-21 People…
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 An unbeliever does not have the Spirit of God, in contrast to the Christian who does have the Spirit….
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 “To seek … His kingdom of God and His righteousness” means to desire God’s righteous rule (His salvation) on this earth. In other words, you desire above all to live under the rule of…
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1 With fatherly concern, the aged apostle John addresses his readers affectionately as children. He uses this Greek word seven times in this…
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 The author of Hebrews is addressing former Jews and is simply telling them that to return to the safety of…
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 “Glory” is the same Greek word that is translated “rejoice” in the previous verse. “Sufferings” refers to physical hardship and distress. Believers can glory (or rejoice) not only in their future…
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7 “Then” is a transition to introduce the conclusion of the discussion begun in 14:1, where Paul deals with quarrels over opinions and here resolves them. Paul began chapter 14 with the command to receive the weak believer….
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul articulates the reality of the blessed Trinity in this benediction to his letter. The gifts associated with the three divine persons who make one God (thus the…
“Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” Joel 2:23 In this verse, by sending badly needed rainfall instead of a locust invasion, the Lord powerfully vindicates those…