Studies, reading plans and every single day within them, alongside devotionals and articles. Search by title, book of the Bible, passage or topic.
Devotional
Matthew 13:44 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. WEB The man does not calculate whether…
Devotional
…only my calm. Amen. Mark places this immediately after a chapter of parables about the kingdom, several of which describe things growing or working unseen, a seed planted, a mustard seed spreading. The storm miracle…
Devotional
…13 that understanding this parable is the key to understanding the parables generally, since it is itself a parable about how parables are received. It functions almost as an introduction to the method. The three…
52 Week Journey
…sets one thing beside another: a sower beside a hearer, a seed beside a kingdom, a lost coin beside a found sinner. Jesus taught this way constantly, and the form itself was part of the message. Parables reward…
Chapter study
…generosity will not go unmet by God. Matthew 6:33 'Seek you first the kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added to you,' the broader teaching that God's provision follows those who prioritize His kingdom.…
52 Week Journey
…a new set of rules 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…
Devotional
Matthew 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. WEB This sentence sits at the end of a passage about anxiety over food, drink and clothing. Jesus does…
Chapter study
…An extended metaphor that never loosens its grip Unlike many of Jesus's parables, which are told and then left to do their work, the vine image is sustained and interrogated across eight verses: vine, branches,…
Chapter study
…you pass through the waters, not if, and Acts 14:22 says we enter the kingdom through much tribulation. Reading the Bible well often depends on small words like this one. The table Meals in Scripture are covenant…
Verse study
…generosity will not go unmet by God. Matthew 6:33 'Seek you first the kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added to you,' the broader teaching that God's provision follows those who prioritize His kingdom.…
Dig Deeper
…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. Jesus makes the same distinction between need and anxiety, and sets…
Devotional
…all Israel, not a separate priestly class alone, was called to be a kingdom of priests. Peter applies the same language to the church, which is part of the New Testament's wider teaching that every believer has direct…
Devotional
2 Samuel 7:16 Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever. WEB David wants to build God a house, a temple. God answers by promising to build David a house, a…
Devotional
…Jesus tells this parable specifically because the crowd supposed the Kingdom of God was going to be revealed immediately, according to verse 11. He corrects that expectation not by denying the kingdom is coming, but by…
Devotional
…“Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter…
Devotional
…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
…angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!” WEB The kingdom Jesus announced as at hand in…
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
…appears in Matthew, where parallel passages in Mark and Luke read kingdom of God. Matthew 19:23 and Mark 10:23 report the same saying with the two phrases, which is the plainest evidence that they name the same thing.…
Biblical concept
…year lets the land rest (Leviticus 19:10, 25:3-4, Deuteronomy 24:21). Kingdom Naboth's vineyard shows what a family's inheritance meant, and what a king was willing to do for it (1 Kings 21). Prophets Israel is the vine…
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
…rather than to be led by Him. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 1 Samuel 8:7 The kingdom Jesus brings is only spiritual, so kingship language is a metaphor. Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not from this world, meaning its…
Topic study
…like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.…
Biblical concept
…and military deliverer who would end foreign rule and restore Israel's kingdom. It is against that backdrop that Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth and, having rolled up the scroll, says simply,…
Place in Scripture
…given, and where Moses sees God's goodness pass by (Exodus 33:18-23). Kingdom Zion becomes the mountain of God's house, and Carmel is where Elijah forces the question of who is God (1 Kings 18). Prophets The mountain of…
Biblical concept
…the tabernacle furnishings are anointed (Exodus 30:22-33, Leviticus 8). Kingdom Saul, David and Solomon are anointed, and the LORD's anointed becomes a protected title (1 Samuel 10:1, 16:13, 24:6). Prophets and Psalms…
Biblical concept
…The feast is commanded yearly, with unleavened bread for seven days. Kingdom Hezekiah and Josiah both restore the Passover as part of reform. Gospels Jesus keeps the meal with his disciples, and dies at that feast.…
Biblical concept
…and the Day of Atonement is given (Exodus 28-29, Leviticus 16). Kingdom and prophets Priests fail and are indicted (1 Samuel 2:12-17, Malachi 2:1-9), and Zechariah 3 shows a filthy high priest re-clothed by God's own…
Word and phrase
…and Jesus both open their preaching with the same call: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance is not mere regret. 2 Corinthians 7:10 distinguishes godly sorrow, which produces repentance leading to…
Word and phrase
…greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees is required to enter the kingdom. The righteousness credited by faith becomes, through the Spirit's work, a righteousness pursued in daily life. Paul's own letters move…
Biblical concept
…bush (Exodus 3:1), and God leads Israel out like a flock (Psalm 77:20). Kingdom David is taken from the sheepfolds to shepherd Israel (2 Samuel 5:2, Psalm 78:70-72), so the king is defined by the job he came from.…
Biblical concept
…titles such as divi filius are attested on coins and inscriptions. Kingdom 2 Samuel 7:14 promises David a son whose throne God will establish. Psalms Psalm 2 has God address his anointed as his Son. Gospels The Father…
Biblical concept
…one like a son of man comes with the clouds and receives an everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days. Jesus uses it for both his suffering and his glory. He says the Son of Man must suffer many things, and he says…
Biblical concept
…the waters. Exodus Bezalel is filled with the Spirit for craftsmanship. Kingdom The Spirit comes upon judges, kings and prophets for their work. Prophets Joel promises the Spirit poured out on all flesh. Gospels Jesus…
Place in Scripture
…Exodus The tabernacle is built so that God may dwell among his people. Kingdom Solomon builds the temple and prays at its dedication. Exile The house is destroyed, and the prophets promise its rebuilding. Gospels Jesus…
Place in Scripture
…and tested there, and the tabernacle is built and carried through it. Kingdom David hides in it from Saul, and Elijah collapses under a broom tree and is fed by an angel (1 Kings 19:4-8). Prophets The wilderness becomes…
Bible question
…of managing our lives, it is worship that includes our needs. Why the kingdom comes before daily bread Your kingdom come precedes give us this day our daily bread. Jesus does not remove the bread, he places it second.…
Bible question
…like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.…
Bible question
…which is true but incomplete, and it makes his teaching, healing and kingdom announcement look like filler before the real event. Luke, writing an ordered account for Theophilus a Gentile reader, in a world of Roman…
Bible question
…certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.” WEB Jesus explains this himself, so read his words before ours. John 3:3-8 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born…
Bible question
…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. Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious…
Bible question
…Jesus then told his disciples how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom, and added, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.' Jesus did not give this man a list of good…
Bible question
…7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your…
Bible question
…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 its…
Bible question
…our sense of what the offender deserves. Matthew 18:23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. Jesus opens the parable of the unforgiving servant with…
Bible question
…7:21 that not everyone who says to him, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of his Father. Wait until you feel ready or feel a strong enough emotion Nowhere does Scripture make a…
Bible question
…own understanding,' which was a real temptation for a young man in a kingdom full of political and commercial calculation. The proverb assumes a mind that reasons, but asks that mind to submit its conclusions to God…
Bible question
…is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. The writer quotes Psalm 45:6 and says the words are spoken of the Son. God is the form of address. The whole argument of Hebrews 1 is that…
Bible question
…renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. This follows two parables about counting the cost, Luke 14:28-32. He is not recruiting by minimising. Renounce is a word of release of ownership, and the disciples in…
Bible question
…are born with. Ahab and the vineyard 1 Kings 21:1-16 A king with a kingdom wanted one neighbouring vineyard, was refused, and lay down sullen and angry. Jezebel had Naboth killed, and God sent Elijah with judgement, 1…
Bible question
…be afraid, little flock, because the Father is pleased to give the Kingdom. Joshua 1:9 Courage commanded on the ground of God's presence wherever you go. Which fear am I carrying that I have never actually put into…
Bible question
…to a church that had just sent money away. Matthew 6:31-33 Seek the Kingdom first, and these things will be added. 2 Corinthians 11:27 Paul lists hunger and cold in his own faithful service. How much should I give?…
Bible question
…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. Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious…
Bible question
…closing summary lists ordinary believers who through faith subdued kingdoms and obtained promises, extending the pattern beyond famous heroes. James 2:24 James concludes that a man is justified by works, and not by…
Bible question
…cleared guilt. Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.” Jesus joins repent and believe in one sentence. They are not two stages separated by…
Bible question
…as one act described from two sides. To believe the news that the kingdom has come is, by definition, to stop living as though it had not. 2 Corinthians 7:10 'Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be…
Bible question
…new birth John 3:5-8 Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can enter the kingdom without being born of the Spirit, and compared him to wind: real, effective, and not under our control. Titus 3:5 says the same in different…
Bible question
…prophet Isaiah, writing roughly seven hundred years before Christ The kingdom of Judah, facing exile, and generations of readers after them who would read this chapter as unexplained prophecy until it was fulfilled…
Bible question
…kindness. Jesus answered John with the works of Isaiah's promised kingdom. Where God seems silent, look at what Christ has already done in fulfilment of what was written. Prayer can feel like speaking into a closed…
Bible question
…brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.