“For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder” (2 Corinthians 12:20 ESV). Paul loved the Corinthians like a father loves his children. He longed
Chapter: 12
DON’T BE LIKE JOB’S FRIENDS
“I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.” (Job 12:4 ESV). As Job maintained his righteousness, his friends continued to disagree with him. Job, who had lost his children, most of his possessions and whose body was covered in
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH KING JOASH?
“Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?” (2 Kings 12:19 ESV). Joash began his reign with great promise. Rescued from death as a child and raised under the godly guidance of the high priest
THE KING WHO DIDN’T GIVE GOD THE GLORY
“Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last” (Acts 12:23 ESV). There are many Herods in the Bible. This Herod is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, who sent soldiers to Bethlehem to try
LIFT UP JESUS AND HE WILL DRAW THEM
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 ESV). These words of Jesus come after a striking moment in John’s Gospel. Some Greeks had come to the feast and expressed a desire to see Jesus. Rather than responding directly to their request, Jesus declared that
GROWING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS
“His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.” (John 12:16 ESV). John reflects on the moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah by riding on a young donkey. At
JESUS WATCHES OUR GIVING
“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box” (Mark 12:41 ESV). Jesus sat near the Temple collection box so that He might watch who was giving and how much they were giving. He did this to teach a lesson to His disciples. As they witnessed the
THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 ESV). A Jewish scribe came to Jesus
HAVE YOU NOT READ THE SCRIPTURES?
“Have you not read this Scripture…?” (Mark 12:10 ESV). Jesus questioned whether the religious leaders and teachers had read a particular Scripture from Psalm 118 concerning the stone the builders rejected. Even as they rejected Jesus, His question pointed them to the biblical prophecy which predicted their rejection. Shouldn’t biblical evidence have changed their view
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF PASSOVER?
“The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13 ESV). The Lord instructed Moses to have each household choose a male