Studies, reading plans and every single day within them, alongside devotionals and articles. Search by title, book of the Bible, passage or topic.
Bible Memory collection
…5:21 The sinless Christ was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Two things change places. Titus 3:4-7 When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous works we had done, but because of his mercy, through…
Bible Memory verse
Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. The purpose of the cross is access. It answers what the cross was for. Not only pardon, but nearness to God, and it was finished once for all. Hebrews 10:10 Romans 5:2 Ephesians 2:13 Father, you brought me to…
Devotional
…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. WEB Peter gathers…
Chapter study
…in John's Gospel: I am the true vine. Israel had long been pictured as God's vine, in Psalm 80, in Isaiah 5, in Jeremiah 2 and Ezekiel 15, almost always in the context of a vineyard that disappointed its owner. Jesus…
Devotional
…this and breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" WEB A Roman soldier who had likely overseen many crucifixions says this after watching Jesus die, not after any miracle he performed while…
Chapter study
…printed on posters for athletic victories and business success, and 'my God shall supply all your need' has been read as a blank check. Both phrases mean something more specific and more searching than the slogans…
Chapter study
…David is not writing abstract theology. He is bearing witness to a God he has known through danger, failure, restoration and worship. Every line has been tested somewhere. So as you study this chapter, do not ask only…
Verse study
…a competition, fails an exam, or sees a business fail has not failed to access some available strength; Paul's own life included shipwrecks, beatings, and imprisonment that were never reversed by claiming this verse (2…
Verse study
…of a king are expected to act loyally. The change is in intimacy and access. The comparison recalls Abraham, called the friend of God in James 2:23 and 2 Chronicles 20:7, precisely because God shared His plans with him…
Devotional
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart. WEB Psalm 51 is David's prayer after Nathan confronted him over Bathsheba and Uriah. It is one of the…
Devotional
…to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled. Yahweh's anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by…
Devotional
…right after Romans 5:1-2, where Paul has just described the peace and access believers have through justification by faith. The suffering in view is not punishment; it happens to people already at peace with God, which…
Devotional
…Kingdom that can't be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe. WEB This verse comes after a description of Sinai, where the earth itself shook at God's presence, and a…
Devotional
…taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.” WEB Mark sums up the whole…
Devotional
…effort, since the whole letter to the Hebrews grounds acceptance with God in Christ's finished work, but it does mean genuine faith always produces a genuine, pursued holiness. The two cannot be separated. Holiness is…
Chapter study
…uphill, a substitute provided at the last moment, and a name for God that Israel never forgot. It also sits near the centre of the Bible's story of redemption. Genesis 3 promised that a seed would come. Genesis 12…
Chapter study
…claim to record everything that happened in these generations. Why did God accept Abel's offering and not Cain's? The difference lay in the kind of offering Abel brought an animal and Cain did not, and blood becomes…
Chapter study
Psalm 1 does not pray and does not praise. Nobody is addressed as God anywhere in it. It teaches, which is why it belongs with the wisdom writing of Scripture even though it stands at the head of the songbook. Read it…
Chapter study
…he ends with a list of everything that might separate a believer from God. Notice also who is speaking. Paul had watched Stephen die, had been beaten, stoned, imprisoned and abandoned. When he writes that nothing can…
Verse study
…as 'an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.' The promise that follows is Paul's confident conclusion for a church that has just given generously, likely out of its own limited resources…
52 Week Journey
…waiting while doing the next right thing, and waiting that ends because God's timing, not ours, is the clock that matters. Psalm 27:13-14 David states what kept him from fainting, then turns and gives the same…
52 Week Journey
Many believers want to hear God's voice and quietly assume Scripture does not fully explain what that means. But the Bible has a great deal to say about how God speaks: through His written word, through creation,…
52 Week Journey
…also insists that guidance is never a substitute for obedience to what God has already made plain, and that the search for His will is meant to deepen trust in Him, not merely to produce a decision. Proverbs 3 Trust in…
52 Week Journey
…or a new religious mood. He arrived announcing a kingdom, the reign of God breaking into the world through His own person and work. Crowds who heard the phrase would have thought of God's promised rule over Israel and…
Dig Deeper
…us all things? The argument runs from the greater to the lesser. If God has already given the costliest thing, the smaller gifts are not in doubt. Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather,…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:19 My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Need, not wishes, and the measure is His riches in glory. The word but ties the promise back to the gift the…
Dig Deeper
…own later summary of the same teaching. Confidence in prayer is tied to God's will, which is the ground of the confidence rather than a limit on it. Read the whole sentence Most misuse of this verse comes from quoting…
Dig Deeper
Genesis 22:1 After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” The Hebrew verb is nasah, to test or put to the proof. It is the same verb used of Israel in the wilderness, where…
Biblical concept
…reason: sinful people cannot simply walk into the presence of a holy God. Someone has to stand in between, carrying the offering in and carrying the blessing out. Hebrews states the job plainly, every high priest is…
Place in Scripture
The temple was the place God chose for his name to dwell, built by Solomon on the pattern of the tabernacle. Its architecture taught distance and access at once: courts, a holy place, and behind a veil the holy of…
Biblical concept
The kingdom of God is God's rule, not a territory. Mark opens the ministry of Jesus with the announcement that the kingdom of God has come near, and calls for repentance and faith as the response. Scripture speaks of it…
Biblical concept
John the Baptist points at Jesus and says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Lamb is sacrificial language. It means a death in place of the guilty. The phrase takes away is one word in Greek…
Biblical concept
In the gospels Son of God is not a title of honour handed round freely. When Jesus uses it of himself his hearers understand a claim to equality with God, which is why John 5:18 records the reaction it caused. The…
Topic study
…is confident expectation resting on the character and the promises of God. Most people use the word hope to admit that they do not know. I hope tomorrow is easier. I hope the results are clear. I hope he changes. The…
Topic study
Prayer is not primarily a way to get things from God. It is the way a creature answers back to the Creator who has invited the conversation. Most people, if pressed, would define prayer as asking God for something. That…
Christian Living
…that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. WEB romans 12 Most people look for God's will as information. Paul presents it as something a renewed mind proves, or tests out, in practice.…
Christian Living
…would rather ask for another sign. Quiet the voices that are not Yours. God's voice is recognised by those who live near His written Word, and it never contradicts it. 1 Kings 19:11-13 God passes by in a still small…
Christian Living
…resignation, believing You are working where I cannot see. Waiting on God is an active trust that receives strength during the delay, not only after it. Isaiah 40:28-31 Renewed strength promised to those who wait.…
Biblical concept
Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Birth is something done to a person, which is the force of the image: nobody arranges their own birth. John 3:8 compares it to wind.…
Biblical concept
A covenant is a formal bond with promises, obligations and a sign. God's covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel and David each carry a sign or an oath, and each is initiated by God. Jeremiah 31 promises a new covenant…
Word and phrase
…says salvation is by grace through faith, and that it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. Scripture also uses grace for God's ongoing help. 2 Corinthians 12:9 records the answer to unanswered…
Bible question
Revelation 21:3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. WEB Heaven…
Bible question
…the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. A purpose stated in terms of conflict. Read with Hebrews 2:14-15 and Genesis 3:15, it…
Bible question
…to his will, he listens to us. WEB Before anything is explained, hear God speak about your prayers in his own words. 1 John 5:14-15 This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to…
Bible question
…us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. WEB Let God answer this before anyone comforts you or frightens you about it. 1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is…
Bible question
…be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you. WEB God speaks about forgiveness before we explain it, and his words set a standard no explanation can lower.…
Bible question
…with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. WEB This is the passage where Paul answers the question directly, so read it before anything said about…
Bible question
2 Timothy 2:15 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth. WEB Scripture teaches how it wants to be read. Hear that before any…
Bible question
…understanding. WEB Before we define the fear of the Lord, listen to how God speaks of it. Proverbs 9:10-11 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your…
Bible question
…been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. WEB Grace should be heard from God before it is defined by anyone. Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich…
Bible question
…for our sins according to the Scriptures, WEB The gospel is a message God delivered, so read his wording before ours. 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which…
Bible question
…of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? WEB God has already spoken about his will. Read that first, because most of what we want to know is answered there. Micah 6:8 He has shown you,…
Bible question
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” WEB Read three passages before any argument. One is a claim Jesus made, one is what his hearers understood by it, one is what a disciple said to his face. John 8:58…
Bible question
…by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, WEB Scripture does not begin with a definition of God assembled by people. It begins…
Bible question
…the glory which will be revealed toward us. WEB This question deserves God's words before ours. Read these passages slowly, because the explanation that follows only tries to open what they already say. Romans 8:18-23…
Bible question
…long shall my enemy triumph over me? Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall. But I…
Bible question
…Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We heard…
Bible question
…heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. WEB Three passages together give the promise, its measure and…
Bible question
…with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. WEB Let God's own words set the terms before the study begins. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.…
Bible question
…and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. WEB Nothing and everything are…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.