“…who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.  In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good [...]

“God has raised this Jesus to life…” Acts 2:32 The resurrection of Jesus is like no other resurrection account in history.  Sure, Lazarus and some others came back from the dead and those accounts are truly amazing, but they were only possible with the assistance of God and Jesus, and in later resurrections, only with [...]

I can imagine if I was a Jew living in Old Testament or New Testament times I would have felt pretty “safe with God” if I was keeping the law.  I also can imagine I would have felt a sense of bondage or even entrapment to the law.  Nevertheless, the covenant that God established with [...]

Baptism has been around for thousands of years. It is generally accepted that it was done in later Old Testament days. It was certainly done in the New Testament days. Christians have been baptizing ever since the beginning of the church. Baptism has never ceased to be a part of the Christian faith, even through [...]

Yeah, she knew she was a Samaritan, from a Samaritan town. She probably knew all about her heritage too, the one that showed the world when her pure Jewish blood was forever tainted with Gentile blood. And based on what she said to Jesus, in all probability she despondently accepted her caste position and just minded her own business. Too,…

“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’”  (Mark 12:43-44) I am convinced that the story we [...]

Day 30—1 Peter 1:3-5  3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is [...]

Day 29—Colossians 2:6-15 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.     8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive [...]

Day 28—1 Peter 3:18-22 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 In that state he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient [...]

Day 27—Ephesians 4:17-24  17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due [...]

Day 26—Ephesians 2:1-10  1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of [...]

Day 24—2 Corinthians 1:18-24 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For [...]

Day 23—1 Corinthians 1:4-9  4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not [...]

Day 22—Acts 16:13-15, 25-34 [Baptism of Lydia and her household—Acts 16:13-15] 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman [...]

Day 21—Acts 10:30-48 30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who [...]