Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“God has not destined us for wrath but for acquiring salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” –1 Thessalonians 5:9 God is perfectly just. Therefore, the unjust must be punished. We all have sinned and been unjust. Therefore, we all deserve God’s punishment and wrath (see Eph 2:3). Yet we can “flee from the wrath to come” (Mt 3:7) by being baptized into Jesus’ justifying death and by living our Baptisms. Thus, we accept that Jesus on Calvary took our punishment on Himself. “Now that we have been justified by His blood, it is all the more certain that we shall...

“Act on this word. If all you do is listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves.” –James 1:22 Some of you have been reading this booklet, One Bread, One Body, for years. You have read hundreds and thousands of Scripture passages. You are greatly blessed. The Lord is not expecting us to remember all these Bible verses or to know how to interpret them all. He does expect us to live them all by His grace. Knowing God’s Word demands doing His Word. On Judgment Day, the Lord will not ask us what we know of His Word, but how...

“Act on this word. If all you do is listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves.” –James 1:22 Some of you have been reading this booklet, One Bread, One Body, for years. You have read hundreds and thousands of Scripture passages. You are greatly blessed. The Lord is not expecting us to remember all these Bible verses or to know how to interpret them all. He does expect us to live them all by His grace. Knowing God’s Word demands doing His Word. On Judgment Day, the Lord will not ask us what we know of His Word, but how...

“To one he disbursed five thousand silver pieces, to a second two thousand, and to a third a thousand.” –Matthew 25:15 Parables are often misinterpreted. It’s easy to miss the punch line by getting bogged down in details. For example, the parable about the corrupt judge and persistent widow can be misunderstood so that we think God is unwilling to show His love for us. However, the parable intends to show just the opposite. The Lord will not delay long but will give us swift justice (Lk 18:7-8). Likewise, the parable of the talents is not about investments, interest, or...

“It is God’s will that you grow in holiness.” –1 Thessalonians 4:3 The Lord told Paul to tell the Thessalonian Christians to grow in holiness (see 1 Thes 4:3) and to please God by their conduct even more than before (1 Thes 4:1). The Lord expects and delights to see His children grow holy in every aspect of their conduct (1 Pt 1:15). In fact, the Lord probably wants us to have a growth spurt in the last part of this year. Little children and teenagers commonly grow several inches in a short time. Likewise, we who are God’s children...