Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, but have brought in little.” —Haggai 1:5-6 Like Herod, some people are “perplexed” (Lk 9:7) regarding some of the events in their lives. They rightly sense that their confusion would be cleared up if they met Jesus (see Lk 9:9). However, like Herod, when they do encounter Christ, they often retreat into selfishness and refuse to meet Christ on His terms. Other people are frustrated. They “have sown much, but have brought in little” and “have eaten, but have not been satisfied” (Hg 1:6). “He who...

“Take nothing for the journey, neither walking staff nor traveling bag; no bread, no money. No one is to have two coats.” —Luke 9:3 Jesus commanded His disciples to “take nothing for the journey.” This does not mean that they had nothing but that they did not control whether or not they would have something. Jesus later “asked them, ‘When I sent you on mission without purse or traveling bag or sandals, were you in need of anything?’ ‘Not a thing,’ they replied” (Lk 22:35). Jesus’ disciples did not live in poverty so much as in trust. When we take...

“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act upon it.” —Luke 8:21 For the Israelites, blood lines were of critical importance. The commandment that “the life is in the blood” ruled both their dietary laws (see Lv 17:11) and their entire culture. Their heritage and family lineage literally defined them as a people and a nation. Now in Jesus, the family is no longer defined by the blood line passed on from father and mother. In Jesus, the family is defined by a new blood line: the Blood of Christ. Faith in Jesus,...

“Prayer of this kind is good, and God our Savior is pleased with it, for He wants all men to be saved.” —1 Timothy 2:3-4 Jesus died on the cross so that all would be saved from sin, death, and damnation. We are saved by His grace, which we must decide to accept by faith (Eph 2:8) and live in love with all our hearts (see Lk 10:27). The decisions to accept God’s saving graces are the most important decisions of our lives. However, these decisions are extremely difficult to make, for we are strongly pressured by the world, the...