Tagged: memory verse

“Someone asked Him, ‘Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?’ ” —Luke 13:23 The above question to Jesus is slanted by the use of the word “few.” Today the question would be re-slanted: “Lord, isn’t almost everyone going to heaven?” Jesus answered the original question not by saying that only a few people will be saved, but He certainly gives us no reason to presume that almost everyone will be saved. Jesus “replied, ‘Try to come in through the narrow door. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and be unable’ ” (Lk 13:24). This...

“Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.” —Romans 8:25 A lengthy waiting period can either make or break our hope. We can react by growing bitter and losing hope. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prv 13:12). For example, a man had been sick for thirty-eight years (Jn 5:5ff). Although he daily placed himself in a position of hope by the side of healing waters, he didn’t expect to be healed. When Jesus came to him, he had excuses instead of expectations (Jn 5:7). He built his life around going through the motions of hope,...

“The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.” —Sirach 35:17 Clouds can be a sign of God’s presence or, figuratively speaking, a barrier preventing us from “getting through” to God. Clouds present no problem to the prayer of the lowly, for their prayer pierces the clouds. We can surmise that the prayer of many people is not “getting through” to God, for many people pray infrequently. If they were “getting through,” they probably would be encouraged to pray always (see Lk 18:1). Who wants to keep calling a phone number when you seldom “get through”? Many of us must not...