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
These are the verses believers have used for centuries to explain how God saves. Learn them in order and you can walk anyone from the problem of sin to the person of Christ without opening a single note. John 3:16 Jesus tells Nicodemus that God's love moved him to give his only Son, so that…
Chapter study
Read Genesis 4:1-16 slowly before reading anything below. The chapter is short, and most of what this study points out is visible in the text itself. Hold three things apart as you read: what Scripture states, what it…
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,…
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…
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…
Verse study
חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ chattat robets Hebrew A participle of lying down or lying in wait, joined to the ordinary word for sin. The picture A door is a boundary. Something at a door is outside it and close to it. The image says…
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…
Devotional
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. WEB This psalm follows David's affair with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah, and the title says as much.…
Devotional
James 3:5-6 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which…
Devotional
Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, Yahweh, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. WEB David does not resolve to control his own tongue by willpower. He asks Yahweh to set the watch and keep the door, treating restraint of…
Devotional
Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. WEB The psalmist chooses east and west rather than north and south deliberately. North and south meet at poles; east…
Devotional
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. WEB This verse places sickness and sin side…
Devotional
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "Death, where is…
Devotional
Romans 5:20-21 The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal…
Devotional
Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. WEB The disciples' first reaction to the risen Jesus is fear, supposing…
Devotional
1 Peter 2:24 who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. WEB Peter is explicit about what happened on the cross: sins…
Devotional
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. WEB Isaiah's servant song describes a…
Devotional
Genesis 2:18 Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” WEB Everything else in the creation account up to this point has been called good. This is the first…
Devotional
Mark 10:45 For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. WEB This verse answers a request from James and John for the best seats in the kingdom. Jesus corrects…
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…
Biblical concept
Desire in Scripture is simply wanting, and its worth depends on what is wanted. Psalm 37:4 tells the reader to delight in the LORD and speaks of God giving the desires of the heart, so desire itself is not treated as…
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…
Word and phrase
Repentance is a change of mind that produces a change of direction. John the Baptist and Jesus both open their preaching with the same call: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance is not mere regret.…
Word and phrase
Righteousness in Scripture is relational as well as moral. It means conformity to God's standard and standing accepted before him, and Romans 3 says all have fallen short of it. Romans 1:17 speaks of a righteousness of…
Biblical concept
Leviticus gives the reason in one sentence: the life of the flesh is in the blood, and God has given it on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life (Leviticus…
Biblical concept
Salvation in Scripture is rescue. It begins with God delivering Israel from Egypt and runs through to the New Testament's use of the same word for deliverance from sin, judgement and death. Ephesians 2:8 to 9 states…
Biblical concept
This is the title Jesus uses of himself more than any other. In Ezekiel the phrase simply means a human being, but in Daniel 7 one like a son of man comes with the clouds and receives an everlasting kingdom from the…
Biblical concept
The cross was a Roman method of execution, and it is the place where Jesus died. The Gospels describe the event in careful historical detail: the charge, the soldiers, the nails, the hours, the words he spoke. The New…
Biblical concept
The incarnation is the entry of the eternal Son of God into human life as a real human being. John 1:14 states it in a single sentence: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. Philippians 2:6…
Biblical concept
John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that we have seen his glory. Two things are held together: full deity from verse 1, and real humanity here. Nothing is subtracted from either. The verb dwelt…
Christian Living
James 1:19-20 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. WEB james 1 James does not say never be…
Christian Living
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. WEB 1-peter 5 Peter writes to Christians under real pressure, not to people with imaginary problems. The command to cast has a reason attached to…
Christian Living
2 Corinthians 12:9 He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. WEB…
Christian Living
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. WEB matthew 6 Jesus treats…
Christian Living
Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, WEB acts 3 Repentance in Scripture is a change of mind that…
Christian Living
1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. WEB…
Christian Living
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape,…
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…
Bible question
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive 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…
Bible question
John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is…
Bible question
2 Peter 1:3 seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue; WEB God speaks about growth before we…
Bible question
Romans 10:9 that if you will confess 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,…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape,…
Bible question
Romans 6:12-14 Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as…
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
Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. WEB Read God's words on anxiety before you read anyone's explanation of them,…
Bible question
Isaiah 41:10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. WEB Read the…
Bible question
Psalms 68:6 God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land. WEB Hear God's answer to loneliness before any explanation of it. Psalms 68:5-6 A…
Bible question
1 Timothy 6:9-10 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of…
Bible question
Colossians 3:23-24 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. WEB Three passages give…
Bible question
Matthew 6:31-34 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you…
Bible question
Ephesians 2:8-9 for by grace you have 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…
Bible question
Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, WEB Three passages define repentance from three sides: the…
Bible question
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. WEB Rather than starting with a list of behaviours, Scripture gives definitions. Three passages define sin from three angles. 1 John 3:4-6…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, WEB The gospel is a message God delivered, so read his wording before ours.…
Bible question
Acts 16:30-31 and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." WEB The question in the title of this study…
Bible question
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. WEB God explained the cross before it…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. WEB The resurrection is announced by Scripture before it is explained by anyone. 1 Corinthians…
Bible question
Romans 7:19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. WEB Paul described this struggle himself. Read his words before any explanation of them. Romans 7:18-25 For I…
Bible question
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. WEB This question deserves God's words before ours. Read these passages…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.