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Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1   Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.     Reflect   Will we ever spiritually “arrive”? Will we ever be sanctified “enough” to quit growing this side of heaven?     It’s human nature to settle. We work until we think it’s good enough and then we slow down. We get satisfied with the status quo. For exampl

After Galatians, we find Paul's letter to the Ephesians--a letter written while in prison. So it may seem strange that Paul begins his letter by talking about the blessing he--and all believers--enjoy in Christ! Find out more as we begin our look at this important letter.

How has God been at work in your life? Paula leads our prayer time today with this prompt to help you focus your prayers.

STEP 1 - RECEIVE (Receive God's Word and Grow in Bible Knowledge) After Galatians, we find Paul's letter to the Ephesians--a letter written while in prison. So it may seem strange that Paul begins his letter by talking about the blessing he--and all believers--enjoy in Christ! Find out more as we begin our look at this important letter. STEP 2 - REFLECT (How does this Scripture Apply to your life?) Looking for ways to increase your faith? Turns out you can grow your faith whi

Looking for ways to increase your faith? Turns out you can grow your faith while also contributing to the lives of those around you. Here's Mark with some encouragement from Scripture that will help you grow stronger in your faith.

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 17:1-3     1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.”     Jesus gave this serious warning to anyone who would

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 17:15-16     15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.     Jesus had told the 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priests. On the way there the lepers were healed. One of them returned to thank Jesus. The last statement in this account is significant: “This man was a Samaritan.” This would have been a

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 17:28-30     28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”     What did Jesus mean by the world being like the days of Lot before He ret

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 18:4-5     4 “The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”     Jesus continued telling His disciples about the judge who did not fear God or care about people. A widow was coming to him because she wanted justice in a dispute she was having. She had come t

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 18:15     15 One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.     In the debates that arise about whether sprinkling babies or immersing adults, those who believe in sprinkling like to use this passage. Jesus “touched and blessed” their babies ( breph ē ). This Greek word was even used in the first century to refer to a nursing child

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 18:26-27     26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”     This was the response of the listeners when they heard Jesus say, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). They thought no one could be saved, but Jesus assured them, “What is impossible for people is possible with Go

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 18:40-43     40 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” 42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.     Jesus stopped when the bling beggar cried out to Him. Jesus

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 19:11     11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.     The kingdom Jesus spoke of was His earthly kingdom. His rule on earth would be a thousand years in length. It is referred to six times in Revelation 20:1-7. This is to be distinguished from the rapture, or catching up of believers to meet Jesus in the air,

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 19:24-25     24 “Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ 25 ‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’”     When the servant had shown no profit from what the nobleman had given to him, the little he had was taken from him. It was given to the one who had the most profit from his investments. As occurs today, the people complained then abou

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 19:39-40     39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” 40 He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”     The unbelieving Pharisees did not like the crowd shouting, singing, and praising Jesus. They wanted Jesus to stop them from doing that. Notice what the Messiah replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheer

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 20:1-2     1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”     The religious leaders were always questioning Jesus. Now they want to know the authority that gave Him the right to teach what He was teaching and preaching the gospel. They seeme

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 20:14-15     14 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him. What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked.     The owner had planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers. Servants who had been sent to get their master’s share of the crop had been se

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 20:27-28     27 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. 28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.”     The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. This was before Jesus’ resurrection and their views did not

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 20:41-44     41 Then Jesus presented them with a question. “Why is it,” he asked, “that the Messiah is said to be the son of David? 42 For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 43 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.’ 44 Since David called the Messiah ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”     This presented to the listeners an understanding

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:8-9     8 He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them. 9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.”     Luke 21 tells of things that will occur before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and also what will occur during the seven-year

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:20-22     20 “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city. 22 For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled.”     Although what would occur to Jerusalem in A.D. 70 would be terrible, the

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:32-33     32 “I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”     There are differences of opinion about the meaning of “generation” in this passage. Some take it to mean the generation that saw Israel become a nation in 1948. Those born that year would be 75 in 2023. The word can also mean “nation” and the Jewish liste

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:7-9     7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.” 9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.     Background is now given for the Last Supper Jesus would have with His disciples. Peter and John were sent to go and “prepare the Passover meal.” They were not sure where this was to be done s

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:19     19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”     This passage continues to tell about Jesus’ last supper with the disciples before He went to the cross. Taking some bread, He broke it in pieces. It was a symbol of how His body would be treated. In the future as they ate the bread, He wanted them to b