Category: Memory Verse

NEAR-MISS?

“It is something very near to you.” —Deuteronomy 30:14 The priest and Levite both “saw” the wounded victim, but didn’t want to get near him (Lk 10:31, 32). The Samaritan, though, had no hesitation about getting near the hurting man. The Samaritan “approached him” (Lk 10:34) and “treated him with compassion” (Lk 10:37). Love has to get near and get involved. Love by its very nature can’t keep its distance. Jesus, Who is Love, could have remained in heaven in eternal bliss with His Father. However, His love impelled Him (see 2 Cor 5:14) to seek us out (Lk 19:10),...

WAITING FOR 600 YEARS

“Since I am about to be taken to my kindred, bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field…Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah.” —Genesis 49:29-31 Abraham waited about fifty years to enter the promised land. He got there “over the dead body” of his wife, as he bought a field in the promised land for her burial (see Gn 23:4ff). He was buried there too. At his death, he...

A SURE THING AND AN UNSURE THING

“You will be hated by all on account of Me. But whoever holds out till the end will escape death.” —Matthew 10:22 “Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus can expect to be persecuted” (2 Tm 3:12). The Lord has clearly revealed that we will be persecuted if we are trying to live the Christian life (see Mt 5:11). For us, being persecuted is not a possibility but a certainty. The Lord has sent us as sheep among wolves (Mt 10:16), and, no matter how clever and innocent we may be, we will be persecuted. We...

THE THIRD FAMINE

“In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.” —Genesis 41:57 In Joseph’s time, there was a worldwide physical famine. Amos prophesied a spiritual famine: “Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send famine upon the land: not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord” (Am 8:11). Today we have worse famines. While hundreds of millions starve to death physically, Chinese Communists and Muslim-dominated countries deny well over two billion people free access to the spiritual...

THE MARK OF A CHRISTIAN

“The Pharisees were saying, ‘He casts out demons through the prince of demons.’ Jesus continued His tour of all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues, He proclaimed the good news of God’s reign, and He cured every sickness and disease.” —Matthew 9:34-35 The Lord commands us to avoid evil and to do good. A further stage of holiness is to do good and not be appreciated. Next, we can do good secretly to make sure we are not appreciated (see Mt 6:3-4). The next level is to do good, knowing that we will not only be unappreciated...