Matthew 18:17 [Jesus said:] “If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.” This might sound rather harsh, but Je...
Matthew 18:15 [Jesus said:] “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offence. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.” Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have fallen out with one...
Matthew 18:12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?” I suspect that few of us have had experience of being she...
Psalm 51:1-2 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. The background to this psalm is well known. King David ha...
Psalm 48:1-3 How great is the LORD, how deserving of praise, in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain! It is high and magnificent; the whole earth rejoices to see it! Mount Zion, the holy mountain, is the city of the great King! God...
Proverbs 25:12 To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewellery. Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer, said: “I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the m...
Proverbs 24:26 An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship. Like most of us, I am sure, I was brought up with the saying that honesty is the best policy. But what I wasn’t taught was that it’s often the most difficult policy. It’s often easier...
Proverbs 24:16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. The big question is not whether we experience failure, but what we do when it happens. The writer is clear that the pers...
Proverbs 23:29-30 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. The abuse of alco...
Proverbs 23:17-18 Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. The writer of Proverbs tells us here that we shouldn’t envy sinners, but the tenth commandment tells us...
Proverbs 22:13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!” There is so much blunt truth in the book of Proverbs, and here the writer laughs at the lazy person who has always got an excuse for doing nothi...
Proverbs 22:3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. This proverb, like so many of them, is just sheer good sense. It’s the kind of statement that could easily be turned...
Proverbs 21:26 Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! Longing for more money and possessions is a terrible disease, but our materialistic society is built on the assumption that that is how we should all live. Long ago...
1 Peter 5:8-9 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. I have visited Africa on a number of occasions and have...
1 Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Whether they are large or small, we all carry various cares and concerns. They may be focused on health issues for ourselves or those who are close to us. We may be concer...
