Category: Bible (Page 78 of 356)

Generally I’m not a very good pray-er. Easily distracted, my mind veers off into all sorts of (seemingly) interesting directions. But I understand the need for prayer. This week I especially resonate with Paul’s call for prayer:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Paul underscored the value of prayer. Prayer draws upon the power of God, pulling his magnificence into our experience. Prayer pushes us closer to the Lord and to each other. It’s hard to stay angry with someone for very long when you start praying for them.

I need prayer and I need to pray. This week I’m in Italy with a group of professors and fellow ministers, speaking to Italian students at various universities. If you would, please pray for doors to swing open as we proclaim the mystery of Christ. Ask that we make the most of this opportunity, and that we speak words of grace seasoned with the Holy Spirit.

It’s humbling to realize that we are discussing the good news in Italy, where Paul and Peter and others did the same two thousand years ago. But every generation needs to hear afresh, and students find the wisdom of professors compelling. Join us in praying that seeds of faith find good Italian soil in which to sprout.

Colossians 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jonathan Körner

Recently a few lines from the Bible stopped me cold. How does this ancient book describe our modern world so accurately? Notice David’s prayer, which sounds like a fresh description of today’s social media mobs:

Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.

Those who’ve been around awhile know how people with sharpened tongues end up. David understood the experience as well:

But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

Men and women who live by spiteful, merciless words die by them as well. I’m reminded of the French Revolution, where once the guillotining of anti-revolutionaries started, even the founders lost their heads in the frenzy. The mob never stops until it consumes itself.

David rejected the mob for the Lord. His pronouncement of hope extends from ancient days to you and me today:

All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!

Nothing good emerges from the madness of crowds. Social media mobs provide little of value, but coalesce only to challenge and destroy. Ponder instead the works of the Lord. Turn to him for refuge when cruel words fly. Speak aloud of his good works, because the rest of our world needs to understand them as well.

Psalm 64 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Possessed Photography

Sometimes as followers of Jesus we lose sight of what’s in our grasp. We forget the solidity of the object of our trust. The writer of Hebrews reaches out and gives the faithful a good jostle:

Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

I love this message meant for the early church and still applicable for you and me—God is not an indifferent bystander. It’s tempting to think God is absent. But beyond our vision, in realms deeper and higher and more real than our world, the Lord consumes, torching evil and cleaning house.

The kingdom of God sweeps up all in opposition. It never decomposes or diminishes, but remains as solid as bedrock.

You and I can remain hopeful, worshipful, grateful and reverent, because nothing is as solid, or more trustworthy, than the Lord.

Hebrews 12 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Audric Wonkam

At times I read a passage from the Bible and I say to myself, that’s too good to forget. But then I forget it anyway.

I came across one such line recently, when God spoke to Moses and gave him a blessing to pass on to the priests of Israel. The priests then prayed the Lord’s grace over the people. Wonderfully, this blessing exists for us today:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Along with receiving this blessing, we have the privilege of passing this blessing on. Pray this blessing for friends and family. Encourage those who enter and leave your home with these words. Remember those who blessed you in the past with this graceful statement from the Lord.

I’m committed to putting this blessing into practice. I don’t plan to forget it for another year—it’s too powerful not to use.

Numbers 6 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Júlia Borges