Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“You have mercy on all, because You can do all things; and You overlook the sins of men that they may repent.” —Wisdom 11:23 Before we sin, the devil tells us that sin is “no big deal,” life is trivial, and guilt is an unnecessary hang-up. After we sin, the devil changes his tune and then tells us that we should be ashamed of ourselves, that we are monsters and perverts, and that we can’t expect to be forgiven. In contrast, the Lord tells us of His mercy. Paul proclaimed: “You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance:...

“Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed.” —Wisdom 3:5 There is both a quantity and quality of fruit that God expects us to produce in our earthly life (see Mt 21:33ff; Lk 13:6-9; Jn 15:1ff; 15:16). Our fruit of personal holiness and “good works” (Rv 14:13) “must endure” (Jn 15:16). God is much more than “the Man upstairs” Who is our Friend. He is also our Judge, Who “will test the quality of each man’s” good works and holiness (see 1 Cor 3:13). Some of the dead who die in the Lord will not have lived a life as...

“Dearly beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall later be has not yet come to light. We know that when it comes to light we shall be like Him.” —1 John 3:2 God is holy. He “is a consuming Fire” (Heb 12:29), and He wants us to be consumed with the desire to be holy as He is holy (1 Pt 1:16). Nevertheless, even baptized people often have a weak desire for holiness. On this holy day celebrating all the saints, the Lord especially tries to increase our desire for holiness. Today, focus on the saint you know...

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” —Romans 8:31 St. Paul asks: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?” (Rm 8:35) This was no mere rhetorical question for Paul. He had experienced first-hand all of these dangers and more (see 2 Cor 11:23ff). He knew for “certain” that nothing could separate him from the love of God (Rm 8:38, 39). This certain knowledge of God’s personal love for him gave Paul the courage to be more than a conqueror (Rm 8:37)....