Genesis 8

The flood is over. The time of judgment has come to an end. As I was thinking about the flood and what lay beyond the flood, I found myself thinking of some words from the hymn, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." Here's a lyric video of the hymn. …

Genesis 7

Terrifying: that's what it was like outside of the ark. Reassuring: that's what it was like inside the ark. Outsde and inside the ark: this is the way God said it would be. The word of warning and the word of promise: this is what is saying to us, today. The flood: this is the …

Genesis 6

These were dark days, but God was still there. There was judgment, but there was, also, salvation. There was the flood, and there was, also, the ark. We live in dark days. Everywhere we look, it seems like there's a 'flood' that's sweeping away everything that stands in its way. Is there any hope, for …

Genesis 4

Things are going from bad to worse. Cain kills his brother, Abel. There are times, in life, when we wonder, "Can things get any worse than this?" This was one of these times. When things start going wrong, we start wondering if they're ever going to get any better. Sometimes, things can get a lot …

Genesis 1

"Genesis 1" has become a battlefield. People argue about creation and evolution. A battllefield: Is this all that we have in Genesis 1? When we read our Bibles, do we leave Genesis 1 to "the experts" - the people who know what they're talking about? This raises some questions. Who, exactly are the "experts"? What …

God keeps on loving us, even when we’re doing all that we can to keep on running away from Him.

Genesis 16 Hagar was running away, but "the Angel of the Lord found her" (verses 6 and 7). Can we run away from God? We can try, but will we succeed? Why does God come looking for us? It's because He loves us. This is something we must never forget. God does not want us …

Fear is such a powerful emotion.

"Do not be afraid, Abram" (Genesis 15:11). Fear is such a powerful emotion. It can have such a negative effect on us. Abram needed to hear this word from the Lord. We need to hear this word from the Lord. There are times when everything seems to be so out of control. We wonder, "What's …

A call to faithfulness from 1 John, 2 John and Jude

These are short letters. Each of them has only one chapter. They present to us a call to faithfulness in the face of departure from Gospel truth. 2 John: "There are many deceivers about in the world, refusing to admit that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. They are the deceiver: they are the …

Hebrews 5-7

Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest. He is "the one Mediator between God and man" (1 Timothy 2:5). He is perfectly qualified to be the Mediator because He is, at one and the same time, both God and man: "the Son of God" and "Son of man." These things are taught in the Word …

Witnessing for Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1-3 The Lord Jesus called His disciples to be His witnesses, in the power of the Holy Spirit. They prayed that the power of God would come upon them (chapter 1). The Lord sent the Holy Spirit to them. They were were epowered by the Holy Spirit. Their ministry was blessed by God. It …

God’s blessing is reaching more and more people.

Acts 4-6 God is at work, and so is Satan. The devil does all that he can to try to hinder the work of God. The victory, however, belongs to the Lord. His work is advancing: "Their proclamation of the Good News of Christ Jesus was never interrupted... the number of disciples was increasing" (5:42-6:1).

Genesis 3

It had all started so well, then everything went wrong. That's the story of Genesis 3. After Genesis 1 and 2 started so positively, disaster struck. Sin entered the world, and nothing was ever the same again. We read this story, coming to us from such a long time ago, and we wonder, "What does …

Despite our many failures, God remains faithful.

Genesis 12 Before starting to comment on chapter 12, I want to say something about the second part of chapter 11, verses 10-32. These verses provide us with the background to the events which begin to unfold in chapter 12. The message of this long list names is this: God is moving on. He is …

God’s work goes from strength to strength.

Acts 7-8 In chapter 7, through a history of God's dealings with Israel, Stephen exposes the sin and guilt of hts accusers, They react violently, and Stephen is stoned to death. Saul watched this, and "entirely approved of the killing" (8:1). Saul went on from there, "working for the total desctruction of the church" (chapter …

Matthew 8-9

The great works, done by Jesus, provoked the question - "What sort of man is this?" His mighty works led to the declaration: "Nothing like this has ever been done in Israel" (chapter 9). To come face-to-face with Jesus Christ is to encounter His uniqueness. He's no ordinary man. He's the eternal Son of God …

The good news of Christ is for people of every nation.

Acts 11-13 Peter's taking the Gospel to Cornelius opened the way for the Gospel to go the Gentiles. In chapter 11, Peter emphasizes that the Gospel is for the Gentiles. In chapter 13, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, emphasizes that the Gospel for all nations is rooted in God's revelation to the Jews. While …

Peter and Paul, working together to bring many people to Christ

Acts 14-16 Here, we see the great influence of both Peter and Paul in the life and witness of the early church. In chaoters 14 and 16, we have the ministry of Paul. In chapter 15, we see Peter giving his support to Paul's ministry. He does this by emphasizing that the Gospel is for …

Matthew 12-14

Much of Jesus' ministry was carried out under the watchful eye of the Pharisees. These men were out to get Jesus. For all their religion, they had no time for Jesus. Jesus' teaching in parables was hidden from proud religious unbelief and was revealed to simple, childlike faith. As Jesus did mighty works, faith arose …

As Paul travelled from place to place, the good news of Christ’s love was reaching more and more people.

Acts 20-22 As we read about Paul, travelling from place to place, we come to appreciate the geographical breadth of his ministry. In chapter 22, we see the spiritual depth of his ministry. This spiritual depth arises out of his real, life-changing experience of the salvation which had come to him through the Lord Jesus …

God is carrying out His plan of salvation.

Genesis 20-21 In these chapters, the high point is the birth of Isaac (21:1-3). The great verse, which jumps out at us, is the first verse of chapter 21: "The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised." This is more than a human story. …

In the eyes of men, Paul was a prisoner. In the plan of God, he was a witness.

Acts 26-38 In addressing King Agrippa, Paul focuses attention on the resurrection: "Why does it seem incredible to you that God should raise the dead?" (chapter 26). Paul proclaimed that "Christ... as the first to rise from the dead... was to proclaim that light now shone for our people and for the pagans too" (chapter …

The long journey, through the Old Testament, is leading us to Jesus Christ, our great Saviour.

Genesis 17 "Your wife, Sarah, will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac" (verse 19). Abraham was given a glimpse of the future. For Abraham and Sarah, Isaac would be their immediate future. God was looking beyond the immediate future. He was looking toward the long-term future. God told Abraham that he would …

The resurrection of Christ opens up for us a glorious future.

Acts 23-25 "The resurrection of the dead" was a central theme in Paul's preaching: "It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial" (chapter 23); "It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today" (chapter 24). His teaching concerning the resurrection …

God is leading His people towards a time of great blessing.

Genesis 18-19 Abraham lived through tumultuous times. As we read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us not lose sight of where things are going: "Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him" (18:18). When terrible things happen, and we …

God’s work is moving forward.

Acts 9-10 In these chapters, we read of two events of enormous significance for the advance of the Gospel: the conversions of Saul of Tarsus (chapter 9) and Cornelius, the Roman centurion (chapter 10). Saul became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. The conversion of Cornelius was the beginning of the Gospel going to the …

The importance of a teaching ministry: an in-depth ministry, not a superficial ministry

Acts 17-19 Here, we see that the preaching of the Gospel which is grounded in the Scriptures. In chapter 17, Paul spoke "from Scripture." In chapter 18, we read about Apollos who "demonstrated from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." In Paul's preaching, the message was "the Christ is this Jesus." When we preach …

Matthew 10-11

The disciples are sent out in the name and in the power of the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we are to point away from ourselves to Jesus, who is far more than a prophet. As we point men and women to Him, we are to echo His words, "Come to Me... " (11:28). We …

The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God (Travelling Through God’s Word: Ezekiel)

EZEKIEL 1:1-2:10  –  ‘The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God… The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel’(1:1-2). The Lord opens our eyes to ‘see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Lord speaks to us and we must listen to Him: ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening’ …

Looking beyond Jesus’ death to his resurrection (Luke 23-24)

Here, we see unity in evil: "And though Herod and Pilate had been enemies before, they were reconciled that same day." Politically, these men were at odds with each other. Spiritually, however, they were united in their opposition to Christ. Whatever the outcome of this incident with Jesus of Nazareth, nothing must be permitted to …

Learning from all that Isaiah has to say to us (Travelling Through God’s Word: Isaiah).

Many years ago, I led a weekly midweek Bible study in the home of one of our church members. When we were coming to the end of a series of Bible studies, I asked the group if anyone had any ideas about what we should study next. The lady, whose house we were in, suggested …

Christ comes to us in love (Travelling Through God’s Word: Song of Solomon, also known as Song of Songs)

Within the context of the Old Testament, Song of Solomon, also known as Song of Songs, is an unusual book. God is never mentioned in it. It's really a collection of love songs. It's not always easy to see the connection between one part of the "song" and another part of it. It can be …

Proverbs

PROVERBS 1:1-7  -  Scripture speaks of different kinds of ‘wisdom’. In Proverbs, wisdom is closely associated with godliness. In Ecclesiastes, wisdom - viewed as mere human intelligence - is described as ‘meaningless, a chasing after the wind’ (1:12-18). This contrast is continued in the New Testament, where Paul describes Christ as our ‘Wisdom’, contrasting this …

Luke 19-20

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, He knew that He was heading towards the cross. He indicates this in His parable of the wicked tenants. Jesus knew, however, that His death would not be the end. He was to become the cornerstone of God's work of salvation. Beyond his death, there would be His resurrection. Before His …

Psalms

PSALMS 1:1-6  -  As well as journeying through the Old and New Testaments, we will read a Psalm at fairly regular intervals. The first Psalm contrasts two ways - the way of the Word and the way of the world, the way of blessing and the way of judgment. Encouraging us to build upon the …

There is a greater Power than the power of Satan (Travelling Through God’s Word: the book of Job).

JOB 1:1-2:13  -  Satan is very busy - ‘going to and fro on the earth... walking up and down on it’. Why is Satan ‘roaming through the earth’? - ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour’ (1:7; 1 Peter 5:8). If, like Job, you ‘fear God and …

Ezra

EZRA1:1-2:35  –  To ‘all’ of us, God gives His call. We are to ‘rebuild the House of the Lord’. To ‘all’ of us, He gives His strength: ‘Then… all those whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the House of the Lord’ (1:3,5). If the work of God is to be …

Joshua

JOSHUA 1:1-18  -  For Israel, it was a new beginning. They were leaving the wilderness. That was their past. They were entering the promised land. This was God’s future. For God’s future, there is God’s command - ‘Be strong’ - and God’s promise - ‘the Lord your God is with you’. We wonder what the …

Amos

AMOS 1:1-2:16  -  ‘The Lord roars’. ‘The Lord thunders’ (1:2). God’s Word comes to us from above -  ‘The Lord will roar from on high’. He speaks to us from heaven - ‘He will thunder from His holy dwelling’. We dare not ignore the Word of the Lord. His Word comes to us as a …

To be blessed by the Lord is better than anything else.

"Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:19). To be blessed by the Lord is better than anything else. Without the blessing of God, our lives are empty. We may fill our lives with many things, but the question keeps coming back to us: What about God: where does …

Is the Lord at the centre of our lives?

"Abram built an altar to the Lord" (Genesis 13:18). As I was reading about Abram and Lot going their separate ways, I noticed these words in the last verse of this chapter. Here, we are challenged to think about what is important to us. Are we giving the Lord His rightful place in our lives? …

Genesis

GENESIS  1:1-3 ‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’. These opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right – (a) The priority of God (1). God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) The priority of God’s Word (3). God is the first to speak. Before any human word is spoken, there is the …

Travelling Through God’s Word: Lamentations

LAMENTATIONS 1:1-22  –  Jerusalem had fallen into hard times – ‘she who once was great among the nations… ha snow become a slave’ (1). The explanation for this sad situation was not hard to find – ‘Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean…’ (8-9). Could things be turned around? Could there once again …

Jeremiah

JEREMIAH1:1-19  –  To understand Jeremiah’s story, we must look ‘behind the scenes’: ‘The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”’ (4-5). To understand our own story, we must go even …

Without Christ, life is empty. With Him, everything changes.

ECCLESIASTES  1:1-2:26 -  Without Christ. life is empty. With Him, everything changes. He fills our life with God’s blessing. With Him, we have more than life ‘under the sun’. We have life ‘in the Son’ – abundant life, eternal life (1:3,14; 2:11,17; John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). Which life do you want? You can settle …

Recent posts: Learning from God’s Word

The eternal God and His everlasting love Berkouwer and Speculative Theology God’s Eternal Love – Living as a new creation: our response to love, eternal love, the love of God. We trust in the Name of the Lord our God.

Malachi

MALACHI1:1-2:17 –  God looks upon us in our sin. What does He see? He sees ‘the Wicked Land. He sees ‘a people always under the wrath of the Lord’ (1:4). He looks at what Christ has done for us – ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’; ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died …

Zechariah

ZECHARIAH1:1-2:13 –  God promises to bless His faithful people: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My House will be rebuilt’ (16). God looks upon His House, and He sees His glory – ‘I will be the glory within it’ (2:5). He sees the glory of His presence – ‘I will live among you’ …

Haggai

HAGGAI1:1-15 –  ‘“Why is everyone saying it is not the right time for rebuilding My Temple?” asks the Lord’. His reply to them is this: ‘Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes, when the Temple lies in ruins?’ (2-4). God’s people had forgotten about God. They were pleasing themselves – …

Zephaniah

ZEPHANIAH1:1-2:7  –  ‘The great Day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly… That Day will be a Day of wrath… I will bring distress upon the people… because they have sinned against the Lord’ (1:14-17). This is God’s Word of warning. He is calling us back to Himself: ‘Seek the Lord – …

Habakkuk

HABAKKUK1:1-2:14  –  ‘How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen?’ (1:2). There are times when it seems that God is not listening to us. What are we to do when we feel like this? Are we to give up on God? Are we to stop praying? No! We must …

Nahum

NAHUM1:1-2:9  –  ‘Fulfil your vows’ (1:15). God is calling us to be faithful to Him. We are to be faithful in worship. We are to be faithful in reading His Word. We are to be faithful in prayer. We are to be faithful in giving. We are to be faithful in witness. Our faith is …

Micah

MICAH1:1-2:13  –  Micah was a fearless preacher of God’s Word. His message was not popular: ‘Let the Lord God be a witness against you’. He was a forthright preacher of God’s Word. He knew that the people wouldn’t want to hear what he had to say to them. He demanded that they listen to him. …

Jonah

JONAH 1:1-2:10  –  ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’ (2:9). We can never save ourselves. We can only be saved – by the Lord. Left to our own devices, we ‘flee from the presence of the Lord’. We ‘run away from the Lord’ (1:3). Sin – This is the story of our life. Salvation – This is the story of …

Obadiah

OBADIAH 1-21  –  ‘The Kingdom will be the Lord’s’ (21). When God’s Kingdom comes, there will be both salvation – ‘The house of Jacob will possess its inheritance’ – and judgment – ‘There will be no survivors from the house of Esau’ (17-18). ‘Not by works but by Him who calls’ – This is the great contrast between ‘Jacob’ …

Joel

JOEL 1:1-2:17  -  ‘Joel’ means ‘the Lord is God’. The Lord is our God. He is ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love...’. Let us ‘return to the Lord our God’. Let us ‘return to Him with all our heart’. Let us look to Him for His ‘blessing’ (2:12-14). Alongside God’s promise …

Hosea

HOSEA 1:1-3:5  -  ‘Hosea’ means ‘salvation’. Married to ‘an adulterous wife’, Hosea spoke with great compassion to  ‘the land’ which was ‘guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord’ (1:2). He  brought God’s Word of love to the people: ‘I will show My love to the one I called, “Not My loved one”’. …

Esther

ESTHER 1:1-2:18  –  This is a very human story. It is the story of a man – Ahasuerus – and two women – Vashti and Esther. It is the ending of one love and the beginning of a new love (1:19; 2:17). It is also a very important part of the Divine Story. God is …

Nehemiah

NEHEMIAH 1:1-2:18  –  ‘You see the trouble we are in’ – How do you react when the going gets tough? Do you collapse in despair and succeed only in making your troubles seem even bigger than they really are? There is a better way of dealing with our problems. Believing that ‘the hand of  his …

2 Chronicles

2 CHRONICLES 1:1-2:18 – ‘Give me wisdom’ (1:10). What is the greatest wisdom of all? – It is the ‘wisdom’ which leads to ‘salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’. Where do we find this wisdom? – Read ‘the Holy Scriptures’. Ask God for wisdom – ‘Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful truths …

1 Chronicles

1 CHRONICLES 1:1-54 –  What are we to make of this long list of names? – A waste of space? Are we wasting our time looking for God’s Word here? No! God has a very important message for us! Do you ever feel insignificant – just one among so many? Here`s God’s Word for you …