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
Christian joy is not required cheerfulness. It is a deep gladness in God that can sit beside sorrow. Nehemiah 8:10 As the people weep over the law they have just heard, Nehemiah tells them not to grieve, because the joy of the Lord is their strength. Psalms 16:11 In God's presence there is…
Bible Memory verse
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times you have all you need to abound in every good work. Grace supplies generosity. It is the verse behind Christian giving that is glad rather than pressured. Philippians 4:19 Proverbs 11:25 1 Chronicles 29:14 Generous…
Bible Memory verse
As the people weep over the law they have just heard, Nehemiah tells them not to grieve, because the joy of the Lord is their strength. It ties joy to strength rather than to mood, and it comes right after Scripture was read and explained. Psalms 28:7 Habakkuk 3:18-19 Philippians 4:4 Lord, your…
Bible Memory verse
In God's presence there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures forever. It locates lasting joy in God's presence, which means joy and holiness are pointing the same direction. Psalms 73:25-26 Acts 2:28 Psalms 36:8 Father, show me the path of life. There is fullness of joy where you are.
Chapter study
Philippians 4 is one of the most quoted chapters in the New Testament, and also one of the most misquoted. 'I can do all things through Christ' has been printed on posters for athletic victories and business success,…
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…
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
Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Careful in older English means full of care, anxious. The Greek verb merimnao…
Bible study
Paul's field manual for anxiety, written from a prison cell Philippians 4:6-7 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:11-12 Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have…
Verse study
μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε meden merimnate Greek Merimnao describes a mind divided and pulled apart by care, the same verb Jesus uses three times in Matthew 6:25-34 when He tells His disciples not to be anxious about food,…
Verse study
πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με panta ischyo en to endynamounti me Greek Ischyo means to have strength or ability; endynamoo, to empower, appears in the present tense, describing ongoing rather than one-time…
Verse study
αὐτάρκης εἶναι autarkes einai Greek Autarkes, self-sufficient, was a prized Stoic virtue achieved through detachment and reason. Paul uses the word but roots the sufficiency in Christ's strength (v.13), not in the…
Verse study
The 'but' that connects the promise to what came before Verse 19 opens with 'but,' linking it directly to the paragraph just finished (vv.14-18), where Paul thanks the Philippians for their sacrificial gift, describing…
Verse study
χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε chairete en kyrio pantote Greek Chairo, to rejoice, appears at least sixteen times across Philippians' four chapters, giving the letter its reputation as the epistle of joy despite being…
Verse study
ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν he eirene tou theou he hyperechousa panta noun Greek Hyperecho means to surpass or rise above; the peace exceeds ordinary human reasoning (nous) rather than being produced by…
52 Week Journey
Judgment and mercy are not opposites fighting for control of God's character. Scripture holds them together in the same sentences, sometimes the same verse, refusing to let either one cancel the other. God judges sin…
Verse study
A list built for the mind, not just the mouth Verse 8 gives eight qualities across six 'whatsoever things are' clauses plus two summarizing categories (virtue, praise): true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report,…
Devotional
Isaiah 58:13-14 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor…
Devotional
Psalm 96:13 Let all the trees of the woods sing for joy before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the truth with his peoples. WEB The psalm ends not…
Devotional
Ecclesiastes 3:4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; WEB The Preacher lists weeping and mourning alongside laughing and dancing, as things that have their proper time under…
Daily reading
Read John 15 remembering when it was said: the last night, on the way to a garden, to men who would fail within hours. Fruit is never produced by the branch. It is carried by it. Pruning happens to fruitful branches,…
Devotional
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. WEB Paul says in every thing, not for every thing. Scripture never asks you to call evil good. It asks you to…
Devotional
Luke 9:51 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem. WEB From this verse, Luke's gospel turns and begins moving deliberately toward Jerusalem.…
Devotional
2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me…
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
Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away. WEB The image is personal, God…
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…
Devotional
Mark 16:6 He said to them, "Don't be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen! He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him!" WEB The women in Mark's account go to the tomb…
Reading plan day
The psalm opens the whole book with a choice: the way of the righteous, pictured as a tree planted by water, or the way of the wicked, pictured as chaff the wind blows away. What roots you, what you delight in and…
Reading plan day
David wrote this after his sin with Bathsheba was exposed, and he does not soften what he did or bargain with God. He simply asks for mercy, for a clean heart, and for the joy of salvation to be restored, which is the…
Reading plan day
The psalm treats nearness to God's presence as the deepest joy available to a person, so much so that a single day there is better than a thousand elsewhere. It is a psalm for anyone who has to travel, wait, or…
Reading plan day
This short psalm commands joy and thanksgiving rather than merely describing them, because gladness before God is treated here as something you choose to do, an act of obedience, not only a feeling that shows up on its…
Reading plan day
This opening section of the longest psalm in the Bible describes someone who delights in God's law rather than merely obeying it out of duty, and hides God's word in his heart specifically so he will not sin against…
Reading plan day
Written for a people remembering both a past deliverance and a present hardship, the psalm pictures faithful labor as sowing in tears that will one day be reaped with songs of joy. It is a promise for anyone still…
Reading plan day
When the pregnant Mary visits her relative Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy, and Elizabeth blesses Mary for believing that what the Lord had spoken to her would be fulfilled. Two ordinary women…
Reading plan day
Jesus warns his disciples honestly that they will have sorrow and trouble in the world, but he does not leave them there: their sorrow will turn into joy, and in him they can have peace even while the world remains…
Reading plan day
In this prayer on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus prays not only for his disciples but for everyone who will believe in him through their word, including every reader of this gospel since. He prays specifically…
Reading plan day
The chapter ties honest business dealings to the character of God, who delights in accurate weights, and pairs that honesty with a promise about generosity: the one who waters others will himself be watered. Proverbs…
Biblical concept
Jesus says he is the true vine and his followers are branches, and that a branch bears fruit only while it stays joined to the vine. Apart from me you can do nothing is the plainest sentence in the passage. The Old…
Christian Living
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your…
Bible question
1 John 5:14 This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. WEB Before anything is explained, hear God speak about your prayers in his own words. 1 John…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.