“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 “Bearing with each other” means that as we each struggle with our own temptations, we understand the struggles of others. “Forgive one another” echoes the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s…
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 “Wide … broad” indicates the vast majority of people in…
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.” Habakkuk 3:19 “The Sovereign Lord” … here the divine name Yahweh is tied to the term Adonai, which means “Lord.” “Strength” is…
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” Psalm 90:2,4 The phrase “mountains … world” is a description using repetition to emphasize…
“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you…
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore” transitions the reader to this summary verse of Paul’s teaching concerning the future glory of those who have died in Christ. Paul then proceeds to tell the Thessalonians about the coming Day of Judgment (Jesus…
“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 The purpose of the temple was to exalt the Lord and to acknowledge the universality…
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 For answers to be received favorably, it will depend not only on the content but also on the manner in which they are offered. Often it is not so much what we say but the way we say it that…
“…so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:28 As people die once, so “Christ died once” – not like the repeated sacrifices of the Levitical system. But…
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and…