And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” —Mark 9:35, part of our reading plan today. Pastor Kim Riddlebarger, at the Riddleblog: From these sayings of Jesus, three important themes emerge. First, membership in the kingdom of God is bestowed upon us, we don’t earn it. … More As he denied himself, so must we.
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.—Psalm 95:3 Charles Spurgeon, from the Treasury of David: No doubt the surrounding nations imagined Jehovah to be a merely local deity, the god of a small nation, and therefore one of the inferior deities; the psalmist utterly repudiates such an idea. Idolaters … More A great King above all gods
And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. As we begin our readings of 1 & 2 Samuel this month, … More Hannah’s Psalm
Love in the body of Christ is a message proclaimed loud and clear in 1 Corinthians, and especially in chapter 15, which we come to in our read-through-the-Bible plan today: Verse 14: “Let all that you do be done in love.” Verse 22: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.” … love must … More Loving like God. Sometimes having hard things to day.
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” … More His death was the great end for which He came into the world
He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law, to give him … More How foolish are those who think that God does not know their actions
John Piper, in the last sermon in a series on Ruth, “Ruth: The Best is Yet to Come” (Read Ruth 4 in the reading plan today) What one main thing does the author want us to take away from reading this story? Here’s what I would suggest as the main lesson: The life of the godly … More Frequent signs: “The best is yet to come.”
John Piper comments on 1 Corinthians 15:29-58, our “Read-through-the Bible” passage for today: Verse 50: “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” What does that mean? Is it a wholesale denial of the bodily resurrection? No. “Flesh and blood” simply means “human nature as we know it”—mortal, … More Paul: A resurrection analogy
In today’s passage, we come to Mark 9:1-13, the account of Jesus’ transfiguration. In June 2012, the first-ever Gospel Coalition National Women’s Conference was held in Florida. Here is the message from Nancy Leigh DeMoss (now Wolgemuth), speaking about the Transfiguration. http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/a/on_another_mountain_the_god_who_points_to_his_son
The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. Psalm 93:1-4 C. H. Spurgeon on Psalm 93 (Treasury of David): Whatever opposition may … More The Lord DOES reign!
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 