More Than Meets the Eye
Read: John 1:35-42 Come and you will see. (v. 39) We named our son “Andrew” in part because I love the disciple known by that name. Little is known about him outside of two stories in John 1 and John 12. In both, he invited people to Jesus. As Andrew stood beside John the Baptist in […]
Who Is This Jesus?
Read: John 1:1-18 He gave the right to become children of God. (v. 12) The opening paragraphs of John’s gospel contain staggering claims about who Jesus is, why he was born, and how he changes us. Read slowly. Gaze at it as you would the Milky Way on a moonless night away from artificial light. It’s […]
April 2022 Prayer Guide
ALBANIA — Words of Hope’s team in Albania has been focusing efforts on ministering to elderly and vision impaired individuals who struggle to read printed text. The pastor at one church congregation told us that several people have been blessed by listening to the Words of Hope program on the radio. They also appreciate the […]
Isaiah Still Speaks
Read: Acts 8:26-40 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (v. 3) Today’s reading shares the testimony of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. As you read this passage, I hope you recognized the passage that enabled this Ethiopian official to understand […]
Aid for Afghan Refugees
“Providing food, clothes, shoes. People in North America are helping Words of Hope Albania amplify our efforts and bring a helping hand to these hurting people,” says Erion Prendi. Erion is the director of Words of Hope Albania. In August of last year, the Albanian government agreed to take in thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, […]
Life as a Joyful Journey
Read: Isaiah 55:1-13 [S]o shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (v. 11) Isaiah 40-66 gives God’s promise and encouragement to the exiles in Babylon for their […]
A Suffering Servant
Read: Isaiah 52:13‑53:12 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief . . . (53:3) This vivid and elegant Servant Song stirs us to recognize anew that it is through the suffering and death of Jesus that our sins are forgiven. The song opens by announcing the ultimate […]
A Servant of the Lord
Read: Isaiah 42:1-13 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. (v. 9) This beautiful poem is the first of several “Servant Songs” by Isaiah. This Servant is never identified, but described in vivid terms that echo earlier themes of redemption in Isaiah. The Servant is commissioned and empowered as […]
God’s Comfort Follows His Rebuke
Read: Isaiah 40:1-11, 28-31 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (v. 1) Scholars hold various views on the authorship of the next section of Isaiah. As recorded in Isaiah 39, envoys from Babylon visited Hezekiah about 712 BC. Chapters 36-37 record Sennacherib’s departure from Jerusalem (about 701 BC), when Isaiah was around 70 years […]