Category: Bible Study

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck from your eye,’ yet fail yourself to see the plank lodged in your own?” –Luke 6:42 Jesus says we might have a plank lodged in our eye. If so, He’s doing us a big favor to tip us off. We need to remove this plank or we’ll blindly fall into the ditches of apathy, sin, hatred, unforgiveness, compulsive behavior, a selfish lifestyle, broken relationships, missed opportunities, or other such pitfalls (Lk 6:39). If we aren’t sure what our plank is, we must ask the Lord to identify...

“Because you are God’s chosen ones…” –Colossians 3:12 Because we are chosen by God, we are holy and beloved (Col 3:12). Because we are holy and beloved, we can cover ourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, and forgiveness (Col 3:12-13). Then, by God’s grace, we can cover this covering of virtue with the covering of love (Col 3:14). “Above all, let your love for one another be constant, for love covers a multitude of sins” and a multitude of virtues (1 Pt 4:8). Covered in virtue and love, obviously “peace must reign in your hearts” (Col 3:15). Under these...

“Blest are you poor; the reign of God is yours.” –Luke 6:20 Jesus tells us, His disciples, that we will be happy if we choose to be poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted. Many people have tried to spiritualize these beatitudes but Jesus’ lifestyle and other passages in the Scriptures contradict that interpretation. Jesus actually meant we should choose material poverty, redemptive suffering, and persecution. We have devoted almost our whole lives to developing our lifestyle. If we chose a simple lifestyle of material poverty, it would be like throwing our lives away. Nonetheless, Jesus said: “Whoever would save his life...

“The Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne.” –Micah 5:2 Micah prophesied that the Lord would give His people up until the mother of the Messiah had given birth to Him. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be called ” ‘Emmanuel,’ a name which means ‘God is with us’ ” (Mt 1:23; Is 7:14). After Mary had given birth to her Son, Who was both the Messiah and the Son of God, we would never have to feel that the Lord had given us up. Now we can know that...