Sarai
Read: Genesis 12:1-9 And Abram took Sarai his wife . . . and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. (v. 5) Nobody asked the wife. Abram, later to become Abraham, the great patriarch of the Old Testament, is celebrated as a man of great faith. However, his wife, Sarai (later called […]
Eve
Read: Genesis 3:9-24 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (v. 20) We know Eve’s story: she was deceived by the serpent, chose to eat of the fruit, and gave some to Adam. Then they were driven out of the garden to wander in a wilderness of […]
Wilderness Journeys
Read: Psalm 68:4-10 . . . when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain . . . (vv. 7-8) God’s people often find themselves on a journey. Adam and Eve left the safety of Eden’s enclosure for the wild world, Abraham and Sarah were nomads in the desert, and […]
The Great Encouragement
Read: Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee. (v. 16) We often call this passage “The Great Commission,” and with good reason. A commission is a command to do something specific on behalf of someone else. The Great Commission sounds the farewell message of the risen Lord to his followers, and includes his […]
Blessed Are the Persecuted
Read: Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are you when others . . . persecute you . . . on my account. (v. 11) “Blessing” and “persecution” don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence. But Jesus put them there. I have an Iranian acquaintance who as a young university student was disturbed by the injustice and […]
Radio Still Effective
While in many areas, Words of Hope is expanding into new forms of media in order to share the gospel, we often hear stories of ways in which radio continues to reach out to people in special ways as well.
I Have You in My Heart
Read: Philippians 1:4-8 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (vv. 4-5 NIV) With warmth and affection, the apostle Paul remembered his friends in Philippi. He had gone through a great deal of loneliness, suffering, persecution, […]
When to Pray Boldly
Read: Psalm 83:1-5, 13-18 O God, do not keep silence . . . (v. 1) We often think of godly persons in Bible times as very reverent. Yet they also prayed with great boldness. In the first verses of this psalm, the author is saying essentially, “God, your enemies are busy, you had better get busy […]
No Shrinking
Read: Acts 20:17-24 If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus. (v. 24) Paul’s farewell to the Ephesians reminds us that following Jesus can be costly. He was going to Jerusalem, knowing only that prison and suffering awaited him. Yet he could not be stopped. He was […]