Tagged: memory verse

“Does the Lord so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord?” —1 Samuel 15:22 Saul greatly displeased the Lord because of his disobedience. The first sin was disobedience. Sin is always disobedience. Human nature became fallen and wounded because of the disobedience of Adam (see Rm 5:19). We are saved by Jesus’ obedience even to death on the cross (Phil 2:8). Obedience and disobedience are of the utmost importance. Therefore, it is important for us to know why we disobey. This can help us accept God’s grace to obey. Samuel implied that Saul...

You “have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy people.” —1 Corinthians 1:2 We are “called to be holy.” God the Father wants His children to be, act, work, think, talk, love, and live as He does. This is the meaning of holiness: to be like God “in every aspect” of our conduct (1 Pt 1:15). Holiness is a gift from the all-holy God. Only by His grace can we become holy. Holiness comes through the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit Who makes us holy. However, we must choose to accept the Spirit’s gift of...

“As He moved on, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus at his tax collector’s post, and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Levi got up and became His follower.” —Mark 2:14 Levi, also called Matthew, was one of the apostles, an evangelist who compiled the first book of the New Testament, a missionary, and a martyr. Matthew was also a great sinner. Jesus implied that Matthew was spiritually sick (Mk 2:17). Even after Jesus had transformed Matthew’s life, Matthew abandoned Jesus on the cross. Yet Matthew repented, received the Holy Spirit at the first Christian Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and became...

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’ ” —Mark 2:5 The purpose of living is to develop a deep relationship with Jesus so that we will totally give our lives to Him. To love Jesus, we must know Him. For example, it is good to know what is foremost on Jesus’ mind. When He saw a paralyzed man being lowered on a stretcher through a hole in the roof, Jesus said: “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5). Jesus is preoccupied with the forgiveness of our sins. He even...

“After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield. When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines’ ” —1 Samuel 4:2-3 When we suffer tragedy, it is good to ask God: “Why?” Then we must wait on ourselves to receive the Lord’s revelation. The defeated Israelites asked the right question but didn’t wait. They assumed that they wouldn’t get an answer, so they proceeded to fight another battle in which “Israel lost thirty...