Category: Bible Study

“The consummation of all is close at hand.” –1 Peter 4:7 When your world is falling apart: “above all, let your love for one another be constant” (1 Pt 4:8), “put your trust in God” (Mk 11:22), “do not be perturbed” (1 Pt 4:7), “remain calm so that you will be able to pray” (1 Pt 4:7), “when you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance” (Mk 11:25), “put your gifts at the service of one another” (1 Pt 4:10), “do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst” (1...

“Be as eager for milk as newborn babies.” –1 Peter 2:2 Some of you may have missed out on Pentecost this year because, even after forty days of Lent and fifty days of Easter, you did not thirst that much for the Holy Spirit. Jesus continues to cry out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me; let him drink who believes in Me. Scripture has it: ‘From within him rivers of living water shall flow.’ (Here He was referring to the Spirit)” (Jn 7:37-39). To receive the Spirit, we must thirst. Thirst is one of the strongest human desires,...

“By obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a genuine love.” –1 Peter 1:22 Is your love for your spouse, parents, or children genuine? Almost everyone would automatically answer “Yes.” Do you believe that your family members and friends genuinely love you? Early in their lives, most people automatically answer “Yes.” Over the years, however, we usually are forced to conclude that some people’s “love” for us has not been genuine. This makes us wonder if we will be sadly disappointed in other people’s “love” for us. At some point in our lives, we suspect that even we...

“Do not yield to the desires that once shaped you in your ignorance.” –1 Peter 1:14 Satan is trying to make us his slaves by pressuring and manipulating us through our carnal desires. He wants us to live “at the level of the flesh” (Eph 2:3) and to die spiritually (Eph 2:1). Therefore, we must “lay aside” our “former way of life and the old self which deteriorates through illusion and desire” (Eph 4:22). We are to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Rm 13:14). “Those who belong to Christ...

“Then who can be saved?” –Mark 10:26 We should rejoice when we “suffer the distress of many trials” (1 Pt 1:6), if these trials will help us achieve “faith’s goal, [our] salvation” (1 Pt 1:9). We should be quite willing to sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor (Mk 10:21), if this is the way the Lord wants us to work out our salvation (Phil 2:12). We should even be willing to die at a young age “lest wickedness pervert” our minds “or deceit beguile” our souls (Wis 4:11). We have only one goal in life:...