Proverbs 14-16

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (14:30). The proverbs teach that our hearts (feelings, desires, motivations) influence what we say and do. When our hearts are right with God, our words reflect this, just as anger and envy also overflow into what we say (15:28). God sees our hearts clearly, even if we do not (15:11), and His desire is that we become “wise in heart” with His help (16:21). Our emotions are important to Him; He cares about our happiness and heartache (15:13).

“The discerning heart seeks knowledge” (15:13). The good news is that we can grow in heart-wisdom by seeking more of Jesus, who brings healing to our innermost being.

Proverbs 11-13

“From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence” (13:2). The proverbs urge us to be wise in our behavior, recognizing that our daily choices in areas like honesty, hard work, generosity, and keeping promises affect our lives and countless others. Our words, like our actions, have the power to destroy or build up (12:6). Reckless, angry speech can lead to violence (13:2), bloodshed (12:6), and emotional wounds (12:18).

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (12:18). God calls us to use our words as He does, to bring encouragement, hope, and healing to those who around us.

Proverbs 9-10

“Wisdom has built her house ...To those who have no sense she says, ‘Come, eat my food’” (9:1-6). Wisdom, which is knowing and following the ways of God, is available to all who want to “walk in the way of insight” (6). Folly, too, calls out to humanity, and we are easily enticed (9:13-18). Yet, if we will listen to His voice and fear Him (9:10), God offers us a straight, clear, and firm path, even in a difficult world. “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely” (10:9).

“When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever” (10:25). Lasting peace and security, deeper than circumstances, comes from basing our lives on God’s character and ways.

Galatians 3

“Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?” (5). The Galatians had received God’s Spirit through faith in Jesus. Following the Law, which had already served its purpose, could add nothing to their salvation. “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith” (24). Now that Christ had come, they were “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (29).

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (26). No culture or rituals can make us closer to God. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we have full access to all the Father’s good gifts.

Galatians 2

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (21). Paul was concerned that “false believers” (4) were causing people to doubt God’s grace. They wondered if Christ was enough to make them holy, or if they needed to keep the Law, be circumcised, and stay apart from Gentiles. Paul fought to preserve the gospel (5) - faith in Christ alone, not culture, background, Law, or efforts (15-16).

“I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (20). Christ’s sacrificial love is more than enough to save us and make us holy, as we cling to our faith in Him.

Psalm 99

“The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake” (1). The whole earth trembles and shakes at the awesome power of our Creator God, yet we also rejoice. Rather than hide in terror, we praise Him because He loves justice and does what is “just and right” for everyone (4-5). He doesn’t use His power to crush us; instead, He gets involved and helps us. Moses, Aaron, Samuel and others “called on the Lord and He answered them” (6).

“Lord our God, you answered them” (8). We can confidently call out to the Lord who is not only Almighty, but also the Savior who hears and responds to our needs.

Proverbs 7-8

“Guard my teachings as the apple of your eye” (7:2). Even though God’s wisdom has existed from the beginning, “when he set the heavens in place” (8:27), because of sin’s deceptions, we must actively seek and cultivate God’s ways. The world’s temptations are colorful, attractive, and persuasive (ch 7, “linens from Egypt”), capturing our imaginations and clouding our minds. Therefore, we must write God’s ways on our hearts (7:3), regularly reading His Word and worshiping with others who remind us of His character and truth.

“For those who find me find life” (8:35). Rather than being passive in the face of temptations and struggles, God calls us to pursue Him and His ways with all our hearts and find life.

Proverbs 4-6

“When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble” (4:11-12). Although there are troubles that come unexpectedly, outside our control, the proverbs warn against self-inflicted obstacles and disasters. Sin pulls us off the straight path (4:27), causing us to wander aimlessly (5:6), stumble, and lose our way. Specifically, the proverbs mention destructive attitudes and actions like “haughty eyes” (arrogance), laziness, lying, adultery, and stirring up conflict within a community (ch 6).

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you” (4:25). When our attention is fixed on our God revealed in Jesus Christ, the path ahead is straight, and He promises to walk with us.

Proverbs 1-3

“Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace” (3:17). Everyone, the proverbs tells us, is looking for a good life. Paths of sin are enticing because they seem to lead to “valuable things” (1:13), but in reality going our own way brings destruction (2:18,22). God invites us to listen to His wisdom so that we will understand what is “right and just and fair- every good path” (2:9). When we trust Him enough to obey, He makes our paths straight (3:5-6).

“She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her” (3:15). The deceptive, empty attractions of self-indulgence can’t compare to the beauty and peace of God’s path, the life of wisdom.

Galatians 1

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (6). Anything that perverts the truth about Jesus is “no gospel at all” (7), Paul told the Galatians. The good news (gospel) is about the Savior “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age” (4), not our own efforts, rules, or background. Paul warned against listening to false gospels which bring confusion (7-9).

Human gospels feed our pride and lead us to look down on others, but we live “in the grace of Christ” when we trust in what He has done for us.

II Corinthians 13

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves” (5). Paul was not shy about dealing with sin in the Christian community, yet he warned people (2) with the aim of leading them to repentance, not to condemn them. His spiritual authority was for “building up”, not tearing people down (10). There may have been “discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder” (12:20), but he believed that God was still at work in them.

“Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace”. Our failures are not the end; when we cooperate with Him, the “God of love and peace” continues to shape us into His image.

II Corinthians 12

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (9). Paul had learned that the humility of trials and suffering allowed the Lord’s power to work in his weakness, and he was trying to teach this to the Corinthians. They admired human success and wanted Paul to shine like the “super-apostles” (11), but he accepted insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties “for Christ’s sake”. God worked miracles through Paul (12), yet he supported himself and refused worldly honor (13).

“For when I am weak, then I am strong” (10). We don’t have to be ashamed of the inevitable trials of life. Our weakness opens the door to the presence and power of Christ.

Psalm 98

“The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations” (2). We praise God along with the psalmist and “all the earth” (4), because He has done marvelous things (1). From walking with Adam and Eve in the garden to calling out to Noah, Abraham, Jacob and countless others, God has revealed Himself so that we can know Him. Rather than distancing Himself from rebellious humanity, “He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel” (3) – and to the world, through Christ.

In everyday acts of mercy and redemption in our lives, and uniquely in the Cross, we see “the salvation of our God” (3). We rejoice because He is the God who comes to save us.

Psalm 97

“Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” (2). In awe, the psalmist described God’s mighty power in the universe: “Fire goes before Him ... His lightnings light up the world” (3-4). Yet rather than causing fear, God’s might and His judgments bring comfort and security to His people. “The villages of Judah are glad” (8), because when God’s ways are recognized and honored, the earth and everyone in it flourishes.

“Let you who love the Lord hate evil” (10). Whatever chaos is happening in the world, we can invite God’s reign into our own hearts and lives. When we recognize Him as our King, we are secure.

Job 40-42

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (42:2). God’s dramatic “showing up” in Job’s life changed everything. Job had been hurt and angry, thinking God was punishing him, and Job’s friends had insisted (wrongly) that his suffering was his own fault (42:7). Confronted by God’s voice, his attention drawn to God’s detailed care of the universe, Job was transformed (42:6). He realized that the infinite Creator was involved in his life and did not condemn him (42:7).

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5). Everything changes when God touches us with His presence. Our fears are calmed, and our darkest nights pierced with light.

Job 37-39

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” (38:4). As Job and his friends concluded their debate about Job’s misery, God himself “spoke to Job out of the storm” (38:1). God painted a picture for Job of the great mysteries of the universe, from the stars, snow, and hail to the instincts of roosters, wild donkeys, and ravens. Rather than explaining Job’s predicament, God reminded him of who holds the universe together. “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?” (38:12).

The God who made the stars and “satisfies the hunger of lions” is the One who cares for us (38:39). We can trust that His grace and wisdom are sufficient for our situation.

II Corinthians 11:16-33

“I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst ...” (27). The Corinthians were being persuaded by so-called “super-apostles” (5) to follow leaders who were prideful and successful in worldly terms. In contrast, Paul described the life of an apostle who truly followed the Way of Jesus: hardship, danger, shipwrecks, beatings, and constant concern for the well-being of the churches (28). Genuine Christian leaders did not often look ‘successful’ in the world’s eyes.

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (30). When our confidence is in the Lord, we have the courage to seem ‘weak’ in front of others as we follow the pattern of Christ.

II Corinthians 11:1-15

“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached ...” (4). Paul knew that many were tempted to accept a ‘Jesus’ that conformed to the world’s expectations, rather than the Jesus preached by the first witnesses. The Corinthians admired ‘winners’, and some questioned Paul’s leadership because he was too humble (5-10). But Paul warned that those who boasted were not followers of Christ but rather “false apostles” (12-15).

“Sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (3) means returning to the Jesus of Scripture, rather than cultural forms of Christianity. Our Savior King calls us to follow his own radical path of love and sacrifice.

II Corinthians 10

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does” (3) Paul wanted the Corinthians to reject sin (like prideful comparisons,12) and grow in spiritual maturity, but he knew the battle could not be won by worldly methods of force or domination. Instead, believers had to open their minds and hearts to divine power, allowing God himself to demolish spiritual strongholds and tear down wrong ways of thinking (4-5).

“As your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand” (15). Despite our momentary struggles, we can trust that God is using His Spirit and His Word to help us overcome spiritual battles and grow up into maturity.

Psalm 96

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth” (1). The new song we are commanded to sing is not just about God’s care for us, but about declaring His glory – His beautiful, kind rule – to the world (3). No one on earth needs to waste time serving idols (3), because the real Creator wants us to know Him. God loves the nations (7) and has opened His salvation to all. Even the sea, fields, and “trees of the forest” rejoice over the goodness of our God (11-13).

“Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns’” (10). Because God has demonstrated His perfect love and power in Christ, we sing His praises to the world.