Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives. The word ‘discipline’ has a harsh ring to it, but the writer of the Proverbs is clear that it is absolutely essential for every parent to know how t...
Proverbs 18:4 Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook. If you look at the history of many communities, you will find that settlements originally grew up in close proximity to a river, brook or spring. The...
Proverbs 17:5 Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished. Every society has poor people and Jesus affirmed that that would always be the case. But that doesn’t mean that we should be...
Proverbs 17:4 Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander. The book of Proverbs was written more than 2,500 years ago, but the issues that it tackles are so up to date that you could easily imagine it was written yest...
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. It has been estimated that as many as 20 per cent of the paintings held by Britain’s major museums may...
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. On the face it, we are looking at three impossible commands here. Being continually joyful...
1 Thessalonians 5:14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. Although the leaders of the church in Thessalonica had a particula...
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 Dear brothers and sisters, honour those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. Leaders were a...
1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 You are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. When I was in my teens, I did a fascinating six-week c...
1 Thessalonians 4:15,18 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died…So encourage each other with these words. The Thessalonian church lived with the expectat...
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depe...
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honour— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Life in...
1 Thessalonians 3:7-8 We have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. Paul...
1 Thessalonians 2:4-5 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well...
1 Thessalonians 2:1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. The church in Thessalonica certainly knew that Paul’s visit to their city had not been a failure. But on the face of it, it hadn’t gone v...
