SCRIPTURE: Jude 1 OBSERVATION: Jude is very worked up about these dangerous “christians”, loose living big talkers, boastful and smooth… but very dangerous. Jude’s language is poetic and pointed – God will not go easy on those who twist the truth for selfish gain, and mislead others from healthy, holy living. People who use religion as…
reading Jude
For those participating in the SOAP Bible Reading schedule, here is an introduction to the readings from Jude that begin today (Taken from GotQuestions.org). Author: Jude 1:1 identifies the author of the Book of Jude as Jude, a brother of James. This likely refers to Jesus’ half-brother Jude, as Jesus also had a half-brother named James…
they will know we are Christians by…
SCRIPTURE: 2 John, 3 John OBSERVATION: John is writing to new communities of Jesus-followers, addressing concerns and encouraging them to stay true to the message of Jesus. Though persecution was a problem, a greater danger was coming from within: leaders and teachers who were not living in the way of Jesus (love, truth, grace, hospitality,…
reading 2 John/ 3 John
Background for Reading the Prophecy of 2 John, 3 John Taken from “How To Read The Bible Book by Book” by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart [2 John] Content: “The elder” warns against false teachers who deny the incarnation of Christ. Author: The same author who wrote 1 John, who calls himself “the elder”; a…
be strong
SCRIPTURE: Haggai 2 OBSERVATION: There are 3 sections in the reading. (1) God encourages His people who are discouraged by how small the temple seems. God is with them, He will bring His glory to this little place. (2) The poisonous effect of sin and worldliness, it undermines our success and happiness. Sin is contagious and affects…
stirring my spirit
SCRIPTURE: Haggai 1 OBSERVATION: For God’s special community, the temple was the most important symbol of their relationship with God and the world. After God brought them back from exile to Israel, they started working on the city walls and the temple, but soon got distracted by building bigger and nicer homes. Better harvests meant better…
your kingdom come… in me too
SCRIPTURE: Zechariah 14 OBSERVATION: This is a vision of the end of history, when the Lord returns and finally and fully restores His kingdom on earth. It is written in language that the Jews of the day would understand (the nations, the temple and its furnishings, the feast of Tabernacles, Jerusalem). I would not read this…
reading Haggai
Background for Reading the Prophecy of Haggai Taken from “How To Read The Bible Book by Book” by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart Content: Four oracles encouraging God’s people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Prophet: Haggai, a postexilic prophet in Jerusalem and contemporary of Zechariah (see Ezra 5:1; 6:14). Date of prophetic activity: A four-month…
God can help us all
Hey, this is NOT the way to help your kids. Before we can help our kids, we need to allow God to help us. You may not understand your kids, but do you understand you? The best thing we can offer others is not a ‘fix-up’ at church, but our own open, honest and teachable…
resisting or assisting Him
SCRIPTURE: Zechariah 12-13 OBSERVATION: These messages speak about God’s plan to restore His people to an important place in the world (12:1-9), the grief His people experience for rejecting (piercing) God, an anticipation of the crucifixion (12:10-14), God’s promise to remove the impurity of false teachers and prophets who were misleading His people (13:1-6) and the…