Titus 1:1 Paul was born into a strongly Jewish family and also had the privilege of being a Roman citizen. It is quite likely that his family were wealthy and that he would have been waited on by slaves from birth. He certainly wasn’t a slave him...
Proverbs 2:1-2 I wonder what you treasure most of all. Perhaps it’s your car, some jewellery or something precious that a friend gave you. Perhaps you would point to your relationship with your family or a special friend. Whatever it is, you will...
Proverbs 1:20-22 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman who tries to share her wise thoughts in the middle of a busy town. She finds that her offer isn’t what people want to hear. They insist on going their own way and she warns them of the terrible impl...
Proverbs 1:8-9 The writer of Proverbs spent a lot of energy focusing on the family. He knew that a strong family was the most crucial building block for the whole of society. Today, nothing has changed. Society pays a terrible price when families...
Proverbs 1:7 These words are often described as the motto of the wisdom books of the Bible, because we not only find it repeated in the book of Proverbs (9:10 and 15:33) but also in Psalm 111:10 and Job 28:28. The person who seeks true knowledge...
Proverbs 1:1-3 In every bookshop and railway station bookstall you’ll find books with catchy titles such as How to Stay Happy and Healthy, How to Live a Long Life, or How to Thrive in Retirement. In the book of Proverbs, we meet an ancient versio...
Psalm 146:3-5 I haven’t done it myself, but I am told that if you were to count up all the verses in the entire Bible, Psalm 146:3 is the exact midpoint. It certainly declares a critically important truth. It isn’t claiming that powerful and infl...
Psalm 145:13-14 I am often asked to write a reference for people, and I consider it a privilege to do so. I love it when I am able to describe someone as being totally reliable. Few things are more important than reliability. A person might b...
Psalm 145:4 In this psalm, David makes it clear that absolutely everyone and everything need to join together in praising God. We tend to think of worship as being something which people do when they go to church. David, however, saw it on a much...
Psalm 144:3-4 Before I became a Christian, it seemed incredible to me that God, the creator of the universe, could be interested in human beings. And I certainly couldn’t grasp that he could have any interest in me. Surely he had far more importa...
2 Thessalonians 3:16 As Paul brought this letter to an end, he wrote the Thessalonians this wonderful benediction. I love these words and, when I have sent a card to someone over the years, I have very often quoted this verse. What greater blessin...
2 Thessalonians 3:11-13 There were people in the church in Thessalonica who thought of themselves as being so spiritual that they should spend their days waiting for the return of Jesus and not going to work. Paul couldn’t have been clearer in hi...
2 Thessalonians 3:1 As Paul brings this letter to the Thessalonians to a close, we see his heart. He asks them to pray for him. He doesn’t give any details about specific personal needs, but he asks that the Lord’s message would spread rapidly. A...
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Whether we are conscious of it or not, our thoughts about the future will have a huge impact on the way we live today. That’s probably most easily seen when we are worried about something. Perhaps a visit to the dentist,...
2 Thessalonians 1:11 It is often rightly pointed out that the Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. Keeping something up isn’t too difficult if you are doing it for just a short while. But keeping going as a Christian for years on end is...
