Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“You will be hated by all on account of Me. But whoever holds out till the end will escape death.” —Matthew 10:22 “Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus can expect to be persecuted” (2 Tm 3:12). The Lord has clearly revealed that we will be persecuted if we are trying to live the Christian life (see Mt 5:11). For us, being persecuted is not a possibility but a certainty. The Lord has sent us as sheep among wolves (Mt 10:16), and, no matter how clever and innocent we may be, we will be persecuted. We...

“In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.” —Genesis 41:57 In Joseph’s time, there was a worldwide physical famine. Amos prophesied a spiritual famine: “Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send famine upon the land: not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord” (Am 8:11). Today we have worse famines. While hundreds of millions starve to death physically, Chinese Communists and Muslim-dominated countries deny well over two billion people free access to the spiritual...

“When the crowd had been put out He entered and took her by the hand, and the little girl got up.” —Matthew 9:25 The Lord hears the cry of the poor. In His mercy, “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit He saves” (Ps 34:19). When Jairus was crushed by the news of the death of his twelve-year-old daughter, Jesus raised her from the dead (Mt 9:25) and turned Jairus’ greatest sorrow into his greatest joy (see Ps 30:6). When a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years had reached “the end...

“On entering any house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ” —Luke 10:5 Jesus ministered in the temple and synagogue, on the mountain and at the lake, on the streets and in the desert. However, He chose none of these places to be the base for world evangelism. The chosen place for the ministry of Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be, the home. The home is where it’s at in God’s plan of salvation. The large church building exists to serve the home-church and not vice versa. The home has priority. Dioceses, educational institutions, and international ministries are...