“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV). The example of Christ’s generosity should inspire and empower our own. He took on the poverty of our separation, sin and
“Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you” (Ecclesiates 7:21 ESV). Solomon warned against being overly sensitive to what others say about you. Guard your heart. For from time to time, even those closest to you may say something disparaging of you. You might even
“Let not your mouth lead you into sin” (Ecclesiastes 5:6 ESV). How many times has your mouth led you into sin? How quickly it seems to speak without thinking. It makes promises it can’t keep and it offers opinions on things of which it has no knowledge. It exaggerates for pride’s sake and denies to
“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV). The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 49:8) concerning the time of salvation that the coming Messiah would bring to both Jew and Gentile alike. Paul declared to the Corinthians that the long awaited for time had come.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). This is the great exchange: The Righteous One took on our sin, so that we might become His righteousness. The Son took the Father’s wrath that we
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1 ESV). Paul encouraged the Corinthians not to give up, for the present troubles of this world are temporary, but the coming glory
“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV). The combined effect of having received both the “mercy” and the “ministry” of the gospel strengthened the apostle Paul, so that he did not “lose heart.” Whenever he felt discouraged, he remembered that, through the gospel, God
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1 ESV). Job made a covenant with his eyes not to gaze at a young woman. His “covenant” (“pledge, sacred promise”) was with God and with his wife, that his eyes belonged to God and to his wife
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:11 ESV). The psalmist searched his own soul to discover the source of his distress. When we look inward to find the source of
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV). This proverb speaks of the God-given stewardship of parenting. For children are a gift from the Lord and parents are called of the Lord to raise them to follow Him. The