1 John 3:1 'See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!' My wife and I have had the privilege of being foster parents for the past six years. Those years have helped me to understand in a ...
1 John 2:26-27 'I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you ever...
1 John 2:15 'Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.' John’s concern here was very similar to that of Jesus when, in the sermon on the mount, he said tha...
1 John 2:9-10 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. The letters in the...
1 John 1:8-9 'If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.' John couldn’t have...
1 John 1:3-4 'We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully s...
1 John 1:1 'We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.' Most of the letters in the New Testament start with ...
Psalm 106:6-7 'Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelle...
Psalm 105:1-2 'Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.' In this beautiful psalm, the writer rooted his pra...
Psalm 104:24-25 'O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.' Many of the psalmi...
Psalm 103:2-4 'Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.' This psalm begins with...
Psalm 102:11-12 'My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass. But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.' We are often reminded of the fragility and brevit...
John 12:3 'Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.' The anointing of Jesus by Mary was a beauti...
John 11:33-36 When Jesus saw Mary weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. T...
John 11:25-26 Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” Jesus had known for some days that Martha’s brother...