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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 341 & 342

Dec8

SUNDAY and MONDAY studies are posted together on Mondays

Day 341 – Reading – Romans 1 – 3

Day 342 – Reading – Romans 4 – 7

Read and believe in Jesus!

  • “Some of those converted on the day of Pentecost founded the church at Rome. Paul had long sought to visit the Roman church, but had been prevented. In God’s providence, Paul’s inability to visit Rome resulted in this masterpiece of gospel doctrine. 
  • The theme of Romans is the righteousness that comes from God: the glorious truth that God justifies guilty, condemned sinners by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.  Chapters 1-11 give theological truths, while chapters 12-16 detail the practical working out of those truths.” (from John MacArthur’s commentary)

SUNDAY – Day 341 – Romans 1.

Paul introduces himself and greets the church in Rome.  He calls himself both a servant (slave) of Jesus and an apostle (sent one).  Paul was called to share the gospel (good news) of God, which God promised through His prophets in the Old Testament concerning His Son, to the nations, including the Romans. He prays for them, the Grace and Peace of God.

Then Paul tells them how he’s been longing to come to Rome, but it has never worked out.  But he has been praying non-stop for them because he so wants to impart a spiritual gift to them to strengthen them… and be strengthened BY them. He knows there is a huge harvest there among both the Jews and Gentiles, just the people God is sending him to.

  • “I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome!   For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the POWER of God for salvation to EVERYONE who believes.  In the gospel is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God revealed. 

Next, as is necessary, Paul presents the evidence of man’s overwhelming sinfulness and how man deserves God’s judgment. They have suppressed the truth about God and ignored His attributes and power.

  • “Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools and worshiped images of man, birds, animals, and creeping things … instead of the immortal, glorious God. So… God gave them up to impurity, to serve the creature rather than the Creator.

Then Paul lists the despicable, gross, unrighteous things that their debased minds prompt them to do. (Not only to DO, but to approve of others doing too!  Ugh!!

(Read this awful list carefully, for in it, we also will see some things that we are/were guilty of at one time.)

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Romans 2.

Paul nails that thought down even tighter.

  • “You have no excuse, O man, EVERY ONE OF YOU who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself.  You, the judge, practice the very same things!!”

Then Paul strikes deeper into the Self-righteous in us all.

  • “Do you suppose, you who practice the very same things, will escape judgment?  Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  Don’t store up wrath for yourself when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Paul (and God) shows no difference between Gentiles and Jews in the matter of sin.

For all who have sinned “outside the law” will also perish “outside the law.  All who have sinned “under the law” will be judged “by the law.”

It is the “doers” of the law who will be justified, not just those who “hear” it.  Gentiles may not know the letter of the Mosaic Law, but the law is “written on their hearts.”

No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, but inwardly by the Spirit, and not by the letter.

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Romans 3. 

Then Paul asks a question.  What is the advantage then of the Jew?  MUCH!

They were entrusted with the Words of God!  What IF some were unfaithful, did that nullify God’s word?

And then, seemingly, the opposite question. Are we Jews any better off?  No, not at all.  The whole population is under the curse of sin and death…

  • ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God;  ALL have turned aside; together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one.”

This is a terrible position to be in, to comprehend, but he says it so NO ONE can justify themselves.

  • Yes…. ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…… and are justified by His GRACE as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus….. whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood….. to be received by FAITH.

Oh, what hope he brings to the desperate, soul-sick sinner!

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MONDAY – Day 342 – Romans 4.

Paul then calms the worries of the Jewish believers reading his letter.  Yes, Father Abraham IS included in righteousness by faith alone.  He BELIEVED God’s promises (personal to him as well as about the future Messiah).  And so, God counted that as righteousness for him.  This was BEFORE the law, and even before Abe and his family were circumcised.  Faith alone in the promises of God!

  • “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

Praise God!  And not to Abraham only.

  • “It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, the One who was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.”

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Romans 5.

Then Paul writes those promises that are so sweet to us who have believed. Hopefully we have memorized them.

  • “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame … BECAUSE God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
  • a. “For while we were still WEAK, at the right time, Christ died for the UNGODLY.
  • b. “God shows His love for us in that while we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us.
  • c. “For while we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His son, and saved by his life. 

Weak, ungodly, sinners, and enemies.  Oh, the matchless love, grace, and mercy of God toward us for Jesus’ sake!

Paul then reminds them of how it all happened.

SIN came into the world through one man (Adam), and DEATH came through that sin.  Then death spread to all men because, after Adam, we ALL HAVE SINNED.  (And as we will see in 6:23, the WAGES or PAYMENT for sin is death.)

However, life, eternal life through Jesus, is a GIFT by God’s grace.  If death reigns because of the sin of one man (Adam), Paul says that righteousness reigns through one perfect “man,” Jesus Christ. As the ONE ACT of trespass led to condemnation for all men, so ONE ACT of righteousness (the cross) leads to justification and life for all men.

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Romans 6.

Paul says it gets even closer to Home. 

  • Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised by the dead by the glory of the Father, WE TOO might walk in the newness of life.
  • So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
  • LET NOT SIN REIGN IN YOUR BODY TO OBEY ITS PASSIONS.
  • Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness. 
  • Present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
  • “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen and amen!

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Romans 7.

Paul then speaks mostly to Jewish believers about the Mosaic Law.  After a lifetime trying to keep the LETTER of that law and failing, failing, failing, it is hard to let it go and simply TRUST in Christ.  Paul compares it to a marriage.  A married woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.  But if her husband dies, she is released from that marriage.

“Likewise, my brothers, YOU also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead. And so, you are released from the law, so that they can serve in the new way of the Spirit.

Paul isn’t saying the Law is bad – for how could we know what sin is, unless God gave the law against it.   But the law does try to draw him back into sin.  It’s a huge struggle sometimes. for…

  • I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
  • Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good,
  • It is no longer “I” who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
  • For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
  • For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing.
  • If I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

 

  • O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death!!
  • Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

Wow, do you ever feel that way?  I do.  I keep on doing the things I don’t want to, and as for the things I want to do to please God… well often they never happen.

But the VERY BEST NEWS COMES IN VERSE ONE AND TWO OF THE NEXT CHAPTER!  Take a peek at it right now!!

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 340

Dec6

The LAST Month of 2025’s Reading!

Day 340 – Reading – 2 Corinthians 10 – 13

Read and believe in Jesus!

 2 Corinthians 10-13

Chapters 10-13 have a somewhat different tone as Paul prepares the Corinthians for his promised 3rd visit.  In these chapters, he defends his ministry (as opposed to those “super-apostles” trying to turn them away); he “boasts” some about his travails; mentions that amazing vision of Heaven and subsequent “thorn in the flesh;” and gives his final exhortation to them to examine their own hearts.

2 Corinthians 10.

Paul agrees with his accusers that when he is away from the Corinthians, he’s bold in his rebukes, but when he is with them, he’s like a lamb.  It’s because he loves them and want’s sweet fellowship with them when he is there. 

He admits that they are all walking in their “fleshly” bodies, but the war for their sanctification is waged spiritually.

  • “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

Paul says he doesn’t want to appear frightening to them with his boasts of the authority, but the Lord gave him such authority so to reach them. 

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2 Corinthians 11.

Paul is stern with them because he is divinely jealous of them, as a husband to a wife. He’s afraid they will be led astray from a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”  Let any who proclaim another Gospel be accursed.

“Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not unskilled in knowledge. I am not in the least inferior to those “super-apostles” who attempt to sway them. THEY are deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder!  Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, so no surprise that his servants make themselves appear righteous!

Paul’s embarrassed to boast of his credentials, but he feels the Corinthians need it. 

  • He, too, is a Hebrew and Israelite, a son of Abraham, and a better servant of Christ. 
  • He’s done far greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and often near death.
  • Five times he received the 39 whips from the Jews, three times he was beaten with rods. Once, he was stoned. Three times he was shipwrecked (with 24 hours adrift in the sea)
  • On frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, robbers, his own people, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, and from false brothers.
  • In toil and hardships, through many sleepless nights, hungry and thirsty, often without food, in cold and exposure.
  • AND … apart from that, there is the daily pressure on him of the anxiety for all the churches.
  • And once – this seems to be the most humiliating of all to Paul – he was let down in a basket through a window in the wall of Damascus to escape the governor!!!

WOW!! How much have “I” suffered for Christ and the ministry?  Nada.

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2 Corinthians 12.

And then Paul tells of the most amazing happening of all.  He uses the 3rd person to avoid self-aggrandizement. 

  • “Fourteen years ago, ‘this man’ was caught up into Heaven (God’s dwelling place), whether in the body or not, he couldn’t tell. ‘This man’ was in Paradise, and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of ‘this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will NOT boast, except on my weaknesses. I refrain from boasting SO THAT no one will think more highly of him than he should.
  • “So… to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ****
  • “Three times I pleaded with the LORD about this, that it should leave me.  But He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak … then I am strong.”

Then Paul says he’s been a fool, but they forced him to do it.  THEY should have commended him, but he had to do it himself to show he was not inferior to those super-apostles. 

Paul did among them the signs of a TRUE APOSTLE – signs and wonders and mighty works.

Like a parent (which he was to them), he was glad to spend and be spent for their souls.  He LOVED them.

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2 Corinthians 13.

And so, before his third visit, Paul gives them final warnings. He would not “spare” those he’d warned before if they had not repented.

They are to “Examine themselves, to see whether they are IN THE FAITH.  They should test themselves to see if Jesus Christ is IN them.   “We pray to God that you may not do wrong, that you may have met the test and are doing what is right.”

THIS IS WHY he was writing to them.  Their restoration is what he prays for.  He doesn’t want to be so severe when he comes, using the authority the Lord gave him to build up the churches.

  • “And so, rejoice!  Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace;  and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

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**** NOTE:  There have been many speculations as to what that “thorn in the flesh” was.  Yes, it was “a messenger of Satan,” but it was GOD who sent it.  Like Job, God allowed Satan to afflict Paul’s body in some way to keep him humble.

Some believe it was a continual eye problem, a gradual blindness, perhaps.  Paul mentions that the Galatian churches would have gladly gouged out their own eyes and given them to him. (Galatians 4:15)

Some believe this “thorn” was a demonized person, a demon indwelling the ringleader of the Corinthian conspiracy, the leader of those “false apostles.”  Paul says the “thorn” was sent to “harass” him. “Harass” always refers to ill-treatment from other people. And in the O.T., Israel’s opponents are described “thorns.”

However you view Paul’s thorn, I think the identity was kept vague, so that we, too, might see an evil person, a condition, or an experience as a warning from God or a way to keep us humble.  AND to be assured that God’s GRACE is sufficient in whatever situation.  We can trust Him.

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 339

Dec5

The LAST Month of 2025’s Reading!

Day 339 – Reading – 2 Corinthians 5 – 9

Read and believe in Jesus!

 2 Corinthians 5.

Paul continues to exhort the church at Corinth on the importance of the Gospel, despite the accusations of the false apostles. Paul is not eloquent or glamorous but lowly and common. He had the “treasure” (Gospel) of God in “a clay jar.” It was God’s surpassing power that enabled him.  They were to keep in view the “things that were unseen,” the eternal weight of glory awaiting them.

Our Heavenly Dwelling

Paul, so familiar with tents because of his “day job,” compares this earthly body to a tent that will eventually be destroyed, as opposed to the “building” from God, a “house” not made with hands, eternal in heaven.  Alive in this body, we walk by faith, not sight.  But one day we will be “at home with the Lord.”

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Either way, Paul says our aim should be to “please Him” and persuade others.

  • “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him, who for their sake died and was raised.
  • “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.
  • “Be reconciled to God. For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Paul continues in the urgency of the message.

“Behold, NOW is the favorable time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”

Either way, Paul says our aim should be to “please Him” and persuade others.

  • “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him, who for their sake died and was raised.
  • “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.
  • “Be reconciled to God. For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

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2 Corinthians 6.

No Fault in Our Ministry

Then Paul provides a list of experiences he’s endured that might “prove” or “confirm” the validity of his character as a true apostle.

  • Great endurance in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 
  • Beatings, imprisonments, riots,
  • Labors, sleepless nights, hunger,
  • By purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love,
  • By truthful speech, and the power of God,
  • With the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
  • Through honor and dishonor,
  • Through slander and praise.
  • We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
  • As unknown, and yet well known;
  • As dying and behold, we live;
  • As punished, and yet not killed;
  • As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,
  • As poor, yet making many rich,
  • As having nothing, yet possessing everything.

He spoke very freely to the Corinthians, “Our heart is wide open, widen your hearts also.”

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The Temple of the Living God

  •  “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers!
  • What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
  • What fellowship has light with darkness?
  • What accord has Christ with Belial (Satan)?
  • What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
  • What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
  • FOR WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD.

“And since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

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2 Corinthians 7

Paul’s Joy

Paul loves those rascals!  “Make room in your hearts for us.  We have wronged no one.”  “I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.”

Then he tells them about the anxiety he had for them after his harsh letter.  How he yearned for news back from Titus.  How could he not stay in Troas, but sailed to Macedonia.  And then Titus came with news of their mourning, and their zeal for him, and he rejoiced. Their grief was a godly grief that led to repentance and salvation without regret.  

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2 Corinthians 8.

Encouragement to Give Generously

Now on to practical things.  He reminds them of the offering they are to lay aside each week for the needy in Jerusalem and tells them of the good work the Macedonians have done. “In their affliction and extreme poverty, they gave according to their means, and BEYOND their means, begging Paul for a part in the relief of the saints.”

So now, it was the Corinthians’ turn.  He urges them to complete the offering they began a year ago, so it would be ready when he came.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”

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Commendation of Titus

He recommends to them Titus (Paul’s partner and fellow worker), another well-known brother/preacher, as well as one more “tested” and earnest brother (messengers of the churches), for these will be taking the money to Jerusalem.

“So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.”

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2 Corinthians 9

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

Paul admits that he is encouraging them now to be ready.  If they come to get the money and the Corinthians are NOT prepared with it, it would be humiliating to all concerned.

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The Cheerful Giver

  • “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 
  • Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER.
  • And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
  • “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 338

Dec4

The LAST Month of 2025’s Reading!

Day 338 – Reading – 2 Corinthians 1 – 4.

Read and believe in Jesus!

2 Corinthians

SECOND Corinthians is probably the third letter Paul sent to Corinth, although we don’t have access to the missing one(s).  God oversees His Word, and these two letters are what WE are meant to read.

There was a letter FROM the Corinthians, then a “painful” visit by Paul to Corinth, and finally Paul’s “severe” letter back to Corinth carried by Titus. Paul probably wrote 2nd Corinthians from Philippi, after leaving Ephesus, and finally hearing good news from Titus.

The Corinthians were a carnal, cantankerous bunch, but Paul was determined to set his “spiritual children” right. (Have any of you ever had a child like that?)

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2 Corinthians 1.

The God of All Comfort

After greeting the Corinthians and saints in all of Greece, Paul turns to praising “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He calls Him “the Father of mercies” and “the God of all comfort.  He says that God comforts HIM in HIS affliction, so he can in turn comfort the Corinthians as they suffer for Christ.

Then Paul explains a bit of the affliction he experienced in Asia. He says he “despaired of life,” thinking that surely this time he would die for the Gospel and cut short his ministry. His hope that God could raise him from the dead was the only hope of rescue he had.

(Too bad we don’t know what this horrible experience for Paul was.)

Paul tells them that God “delivered him from a deadly peril” and he trusts He will do it again.  But he tells the Corinthians, “You must help us by prayer.”

Paul’s Change of Plans

Paul had wanted to go to Corinth again after his “painful” visit and “severe” letter, to bring a blessing of GRACE. But for some reason his plans changed and he went straight to Macedonia. Some false apostles took advantage of his change of plans, telling the Corinthians who “untrustworthy” he was. And they tried to discredit him in other ways, saying his yes didn’t mean yes, and his no didn’t mean no.

Paul counters by saying that it was for THEIR benefit that he didn’t come. To spare them.  He even calls God as his witness to this.

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2 Corinthians 2.

Forgive the sinner

Paul then brings up the incidence mentioned in his first letter about the gross sin they were allowing in the church – a man living with his mother in law, and their not correcting him. (1 Corinthians5:4-13) It seems they had obeyed and followed the correct process of discipline and punishment. Now, since the man had repented, they were to allow him back into fellowship in an act of forgiveness.  Forgiving a repentant sinner is just what God had done for them. Let the man experience joy again.

If they remain unforgiving and unwelcoming, they might be “outwitted by Satan’s designs,” which are to destroy unity in the church. God forbid.

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Triumph in Christ

Then Paul confesses his distraught feeling for them before he heard how things were in Corinth.  He’d arrived in Troas from Ephesus intending to preach the Gospel there.  But – even though a door was opened for him in the Lord – his spirit was not at rest, because he hadn’t heard news of them. (Titus hadn’t arrived yet.)  So, even with a door open to ministry in Troas, Paul sailed over to Macedonia, where he finally met up with Titus and rejoiced when he heard the good news.

  • But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal processions and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.  For we are the AROMA of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

And then a “slam” to those false apostles who were trying to discredit Paul while he was away,

  • For we are not – like so many (the majority of) peddlers of God’s word – but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God. In the sight of God we speak in Christ.

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2 Corinthians 3.

Ministers of the New Covenant

The false apostles attacked Paul’s competency as a minister of the Gospel – he was not eloquent, he was poor and had to work for a living, he didn’t have the “right” documents of authority (from Jerusalem).

Paul answered that last accusation with,

  • YOU yourselves are our “letter of recommendation,” written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. You are a letter from Christ delivered to us, written not with ink, but wit the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

Paul claimed that his “sufficiency” came not from men, but from God, “who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not by LETTER but by the SPIRIT.”

Paul relates a story of the OT Israelites whose minds were hardened and to this day also when they read the Law. They did not grasp the glory then, nor now, because of their UNBELIEF.  But when a person comes to Christ, the veil is lifted and his spiritual perception is no longer impaired.  With the veil of unbelief lifted, believers are now able to see the glory of God revealed in Christ.

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2 Corinthians 4.

The Light of the Gospel

Paul continues from chapter 3, saying they have THIS MINISTRY by the mercy of God.  In comparison to those fake apostles, “We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.  We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth, we commend ourselves in the light of God.

“If our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.  The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

“For what we proclaim is NOT ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

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Treasures in Clay Jars

Paul continues,

  • “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, so show that the surpassing power belongs to GOD and not to US.
  • We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
  • Perplexed, but not driven to despair;
  • Persecuted but not forsaken;
  • Struck down, but not destroyed;
  • Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
  • Death is at work in us, but life in you.

It is all for your sake (o you Corinthians), so thanksgiving may increase to the glory of God.

  • “So we don’t lose heart.
  • Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day after day.
  • This light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comprehension. 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 337

Dec3

The LAST Month of 2025’s Reading!

Day 337 – Reading – 1 Corinthians 15 – 16

Read and believe in Jesus!

 I Corinthians 15.

This chapter is an extensive teaching on the RESURRECTION – of Jesus and of true believers.  The Corinthians had already heard the Gospel which Paul preached to them, including the resurrection of Jesus. They were saved by this Gospel.  He’s reminding them of it.

  • First:  Jesus died for our sins, as per the Scriptures.
  • Second: Jesus was buried.
  • Third: Jesus was raised on the third day, as per the Scriptures.
  • Fourth: Jesus appeared to Peter.
  • Fifth: Jesus appeared to the “Twelve” (Eleven)
  • Sixth: Jesus appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most still alive.
  • Seventh: Jesus appeared to James (His brother).
  • Eighth: Jesus appeared to all the apostles.
  • Ninth: Jesus appeared to Paul.

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The Corinthians believed the Gospel. They believed in the resurrection of Jesus, but they had a hard time believing in their own resurrection one day.  Part of this comes from their pagan beliefs and background, which taught that everything physical was “evil” so the idea of the resurrected body was disgusting.

Maybe some of the Jewish believers had also been influenced by the Sadducees (Sad, you see.), who also did not believe in resurrection. (Remember the test question they gave Jesus in Matthew 22:23-33?)  Jesus taught about it plainly, especially in John’s gospel.

So, Paul now lists six disastrous outcomes for believers, IF THERE WERE NO RESURRECTION. (Verses 13-19)

  • Preaching Christ would be senseless.
  • Faith in Christ would be useless.
  • All the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars.
  • No one would be redeemed from sin.
  • All former believers would have perished.
  • Christians would be the most pitiable people on earth.

WOW!

Then the coup de gras – “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.” 

But (Paul says) Christ HAS been raised from the dead, the “first fruits” of those who have fallen asleep.  

IN Adam we all die. 

IN Christ we shall all be made alive!   (Praise God!)

Then Paul is facetious.  “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, if the dead are not raised?”  If there is no resurrection, then…”Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”  HA!

.

Then there is the discussion of what the resurrected body will look like. (Remember the Corinthians had been taught the “body” was evil.   Paul reminds them that “flesh and blood,” the body we see and feel now, can’t inherit the kingdom of God.  The flesh we see on our bodies is perishable (just ask an 80-year-old!), so it can’t inherit the imperishable. 

Yep, it’s a mystery.

At the sound of the last trumpet sound, we will ALL be changed in a blink of an eye.  Those who have died and been buried will rise first. (Why?) So they can meet those who are still alive above ground, and descend heavenward together, neither before the other. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16)

The new, imperishable body will not be “disgusting,” aged, hurting, maimed, or decayed.  It will be changed in the “twinkle” of an eye – both the living and the dead bodies (The Lord God will push the “Refresh” key!  haha).  We’ll have imperishable bodies like Jesus.

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Paul quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14

  • He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away fears from all faces.” 
  • O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And so, Paul says, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is NOT in vain.” (see 15:14)

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1 Corinthians 16.

Since his last trip to Jerusalem to fulfill his vow, Paul has been very aware of the suffering and needs of the believers in Jerusalem. There has been persecution by the Roman rulers, and there has been a famine on top of that. They need help.  Paul wants the Corinthian believers to show love (as he preached about in chapter 13) and send an offering to them.  Here’s what he says,

  • “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper (no set amount or percentage), so there will be no (last-minute) collecting when I come.  Then, I will send those whom YOU accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If I need to go too, I will.”

 

Paul tells them he is in Ephesus now and will be until Pentecost. He then plans to go through Macedonia. Then he will come to Corinth and perhaps even stay the winter with them. (Ship travel is dangerous in winter.) 

He tells them Timothy is coming to see them (probably to deliver this letter).  They are to host him and send him back to Paul.  He had urged Apollos to visit them with Timothy, but it was not in Apollos’ plans at that time.  He would come when he got a chance.  Meanwhile, 

  • Be watchful,
  • Stand firm in the faith,
  • Act like men,
  • Be strong.
  • Let all you do be done in LOVE

He sends greetings from Asia, and especially hearty greetings from Aquila and Priscilla and the church in their house.

Then, with a scowl, “If anyone has NO LOVE for the Lord, let him be cursed.” and a softer, “My LOVE be with you all in Christ Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 333

Nov29

Day 333 – Reading – 1 Corinthians 1 – 4

Read and believe in Jesus!

1 Corinthians 

Paul is back in Ephesus. 

Apollos has come from Alexandria, been taught more correctly by Aquilla and Priscilla, and sent to minister across the Aegean Sea in Corinth.  He’s doing a great job, and the people like him. He’s sooooo eloquent! Some REALLY like him, and an “Apollos sect” is formed. Those originally converted under Paul’s early ministry form another group, loyal to him. Others follow Peter (did HE ever go to Corinth?) and still others, no doubt very “pious, nose-in-the-air” ones, say they follow only …. the Christ.  it became a point of boasting as to who they followed.

The church in Corinth’s main problems were immaturity and worldliness, which Paul addressed firmly.  (And this wasn’t his FIRST letter to them!)  But note that he calls them…

“…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

They were true believers, but so immature in the faith, like young school children.

 

I Corinthians  1.

It’s interesting that Paul had a “spy” in Corinth who reported to him about any difficulties.   

  • “Chloe’s people reported that there was quarreling among these factions.” (Today, there would be phone calls, texts, and emails. Then, they sent messengers.) 

Is there a little jab towards what they loved about Apollos in…

  • “For Christ sent me …. to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross be emptied of its power.”
  • “…we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
  • “God chose the weak things of the world, that no human being might boast in the presence oF God.  Let everyone who boasts, boast in the LORD!”

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I Corinthians 2.

Again, Paul states that when he first came to Corinth to proclaim the Gospel, he didn’t do it ‘with lofty speech or wisdom.’ 

  • “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Then Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13.  

  • “For who has understood the mind of the Lord to instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ.”  (Believers can know the thoughts of the Lord Jesus by the word and the Spirit.) (Luke 24:45)

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1 Corinthians 3.

Paul may have come to the Corinthians in “weakness” and without “lofty speech,”  but it was because they were so immature, infants in Christ.  He had to feed them the “milk” of the word and not solid food.  Even now, Paul says, they were not ready for “meat” because they were still of “the flesh.”

How does he know?  Because there was jealousy and strife among them.  Those “Paul” and “Apollos” sects are evidence of immaturity.   

The Corinthians didn’t realize that both men were “servants” of the Lord, “through whom they were saved,” each preacher doing what God gave him.  Paul planted the seeds of the Gospel, Apollos watered that “seed,” but it was GOD who gave the growth. Neither the “planter” nor the “waterer” is anything, only God.

Then Paul switches to a new illustration: that of construction.  Paul compared himself to a master builder, laying the foundation of Jesus Christ.  Then someone else built on it to make a house.  Paul cautions them about building on their Christ-foundation with inferior materials, for the chief inspector will know.  It will be tested by fire.  What a waste to have all your worldly, fleshly “props” be burned on that last day!.  How much better and wiser, to use strong, tested materials that will pass through fire unharmed!

  • And, hey! you Corinthians, don’t you realize that YOU are the Temple of God, a dwelling place being built for Him. Take care how you build on that foundation (Christ).

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1 Corinthians 4.

  • “And so… this is how you Corinthian brothers should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  And please note, it is required of stewards that they be trustworthy.

And then, something strange.  Paul says that the apostles and preachers live at poverty levels in society.  They labored with their own hands to support themselves, which Greeks considered beneath their dignity. 

  • “We are weak…. we are in disrepute. At this present hour. we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and are buffeted and homeless. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we retreat.  We have become, and still are, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

WHOA!

Paul says he doesn’t write these things to make them ashamed, but to admonish them as children.  They do not have many fathers.  HE became their father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  So, like children, they are to IMITATE HIM.

  • “But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills.  What do you wish?  Shall I come to you with a ROD, or with LOVE in a spirit of GENTLENESS?”

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 332

Nov28

Day 332 – Reading – Acts 18 – 19

Read and believe in Jesus!

Acts 18.

Paul leaves Athens for Corinth and stays there a long time.

In Corinth, Paul (a tentmaker himself) meets and stays with a Jewish tentmaking couple. Aquila and Prisilla had fled from Rome because of Emperor Claudius. Paul earned a living during the week and “reasoned” each Sabbath in the Synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Gentiles that Jesus was the Messiah, slain and resurrected.

Silas and Timothy finally arrived from Macedonia to help in the ministry.  But the Jews were resistant, so the missionaries “shook out the garments,” saying he was on to the Gentiles. 

Next store to the synagogue lived Titus Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, also believed in the LORD with his entire household and was baptized. Paul based his ministry there, and one night had a clear vision from the Lord.

  • “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Paul stayed in Corinth for another 18 months, teaching the word of God among them. 

During the time Gallio was the Proconsul of Greece, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him to court, saying,

  • “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the Law.”

But Gallio had no time for them.

  • “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves.  I refuse to judge on these things.”

The angry Jews then seized Sosthenes, another believing ruler in the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio paid no attention to all of this. 

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Paul visits Ephesus for a short time.

After this incident, Paul stayed in Corinth for many days. Then he said goodbye and set sail for Ephesus, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. He spent a short time reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue, then he left the tentmaking couple there and sailed on to Caesarea.

He traveled up from there to Jerusalem to complete the vow he’d made. After that, he returned to his “sending” church in Antioch and spent some time there.

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Acts 18b.

Paul travels back to Ephesus.

Paul visited the original churches in Galatia and Phrygia to strengthen them, then kept going toward Ephesus.

While Paul was on the way, a man from Alexandria named Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, competent in the Scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, and fervent in Spirit.  He began speaking boldly in the Synagogue, but not the “whole story.”  Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and “caught him up” about the ‘Way” more accurately.

When Apollos desired to go across to Greece to minister there, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the believers there to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Messiah was Jesus.

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Acts 19.

Paul’s 3-year stay in Ephesus was eventful.

He first ran into twelve converts of Apollos and asked them if they’d received the Holy Spirit when they believed.  They hadn’t, Paul explained that John’s baptism was only for repentance.  Paul explained Jesus more clearly, and they believed.  He then baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues.

Paul went to the synagogue again and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them.  But when some were stubborn and continued in unbelief, even speaking evil of “The Way,” Paul withdrew and afterwards spoke daily in a community center called the Hall of Tyrannus.  This continued two years, and ALL THE RESIDENTS of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.  WOW!

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Miracles and Exorcists.

Amazing miracles verified the spoken word by the hands of Paul.  Even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched him were carried away to heal the sick and send out demons.  Then, as in Samaria, seven exorcists, all sons of one man, wanted that power.  They tried to cast out devils, too. Their words did not come with Holy Spirit power, however. They said,

  • “We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims, come out.”

The evil spirits said, 

  • “Jesus, we know, and Paul, we recognize, but who are YOU?”

Then the demons attacked the exorcists, stripping them and beating them up.

Seeing the weakness of human spiritualism, many former exorcists and magicians in the city, who had now come to believe in Jesus, came forward to confess and divulge their practices. They brought their books of spells and black arts and burned them in the sight of all. (Worth 50,000 silver pieces!)

So the Word of the Lord continued to increase and prevailed mightily.

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A Riot at Ephesus

The increase in the number and power of believers, along with the witness of the Holy Spirit and miracles, led many devotees to lose trust in the idols they had worshiped.  Ephesus was the center of the worship of Artemis (Diana), and the Silversmiths’ Union was powerful. When fewer people bought their little silver statues and shrines, their business began to hurt. 

The Union leader, one Demetrius, gathered together workmen of similar trades and roused them against Paul and the other believers. With more tradesmen and spectators gathering every minute, a great disturbance rocked the city.  The mob called, chanted, and screamed.

  • “Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus! GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF EPHESUS!!”

For two hours, the rioters shouted, pumped fists, and threatened to rage out of control. Confusion reigned. Then some of the rioters dragged out Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonian men who were traveling with Paul.  Paul wanted to go help them, but the believers there held him back.

A Jew named Alexander tried to make a defense, but they overpowered him with their continuous chanting.  Finally the town clerk was able to quiet them down.

  • “Men of Ephesus, who is it that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?  Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 
  • For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemous of our goddess. If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a complaint, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring a legal charge.  For … we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause to justify this commotion!”

And he dismissed the assembly.

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North to Macedonia.

(After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell, and they departed for Macedonia.)

WHEW!

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 330

Nov26

Day 330 – Reading – Acts 17

Read and believe in Jesus!

Acts 17.

Thessalonica

We left Paul and company politely being asked to leave Philippi, after being imprisoned, loosed by an earthquake, and the salvation of the jailor. Paul does not often claim the power of his Roman citizenship, but it’s part of who he is.

After this, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke make their way west across Macedonia to Thessalonica, a major city. Finding a synagogue of Jews, Paul went in (as was his habit: to the Jews first) on three Sabbaths, and “reasoned” with them from the Scriptures.  He showed them that the Messiah needed to suffer (die) and be raised from the dead, and that this Jesus is the Messiah.

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas.  A great many devout Greeks and quite a few leading women also believed.   Of course, this causes jealousy among the unbelieving Jews, and they mobbed Jason’s house, thinking the missionaries were staying there.  But they weren’t, so the mob grabbed Jason and some of the new believers and took them before the city authorities.

Accusations were made that they were “turning the world upside down,” and that they were telling people to honor another King besides Caesar.

But Jason, a wealthy man, paid the surety for himself and the others, and they were let go. 

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Berea

That night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to the nearby town of Berea.  They arrived in the morning and immediately found and entered the Jewish synagogue. 

Paul says that the Jews of Berea were more “noble” than those of Thessalonica.  They received the Word with eagerness, and then examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true.  Many, therefore, believed in Jesus, including some prominent women, because the Word is a powerful tool in evangelism. 

But the irate Jews from Thessalonica came to cause trouble, and the Berean believers whisked the apostle off to Athens by boat.  Silas and Timothy stayed behind to nurture the new believers.  As soon as Paul arrived in Greece, he sent word back for Silas and Timothy to come ASAP.

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Athens

The first thing Paul noticed was the many statues and idols in town. Then he “reasoned” with the Jews and devout Gentiles in the synagogues, and in the marketplace every day.  Various Greek philosophers talked with him and asked him to stay for more “conversation” (debate?).  But when Paul mentioned Jesus’ resurrection, they laughed and turned away. “Perhaps another day.” 

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The Areopagus

Paul was then taken to the Areopagus, an open-air court, and asked to defend his claims.  EVERYBODY liked nothing more than to spend their time telling and hearing new things.  So Paul obliged.

He began, “Men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious.”  He then pointed out their statue to “The Unknown God,”  built possibly so no god would feel offended.  But Paul used it to point them to the God they did not know, and His Son, who was sent to save mankind from sin by first dying and then being resurrected. Mankind now needed to repent because God had set a day for judgment.

But again, the topic of the resurrection turned them to mocking.  However, a few men joined him and believed, plus a woman named Damaris and a few others. 

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Tomorrow we read Paul’s letters to the Thessalonian believers. 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 329

Nov25

Day 329 – Reading – Galatians 4 – 6

Read and believe in Jesus!

Galatians 4.

Paul continues his letter, urging the new believers in those four churches in Galatia to hold fast to their faith. He first scolds them, calling them foolish,  and then pleads with them not to go back into the “slavery” of justification by good works.

  • “STAND FAST in the liberty in which Christ has set you free. BE NOT ENTANGLED with the yoke of bondage.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for ANYTHING.”  Only FAITH in Christ’s atoning work on the Cross.”

Paul gives an example from the Old Testament of believing in God totally VS depending on our own strength for righteousness.”  Abraham’s son, Ishmael, was conceived by Hagar from Abraham (and Sarah’s) own self-will.  But Isaac was the son whom God planned and promised. He was conceived and born way after the time Sarah could naturally become pregnant.  Hagar represents receiving the promises of God by the “flesh” (Paul says, Mount Sinai and the Law), while Sarah represents “faith” and the Heavenly Jerusalem.

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Galatians 5

Don’t go back to a system that put a heavy yoke on you, and it didn’t work to make you righteous! 

  • Walk by the Spirit of God. 
  • If you are led by the Spirit, you are NOT under the law. 
  • The WORKS of the flesh are impure, sinful, evil, mean, argumentative, divisive, and selfish. If you do those things, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 
  • Live by the Spirit. 
  • The Spirit’s fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and against all of these there is no law.
  • Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 
  • If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  

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Galatians 6.

Paul writes further, illustrating how a person lives by the Spirit in all goodness.

Restore a brother who is caught in a transgression … in a spirit of gentleness. 

Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the “law” of Christ (which is love).

Do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

  • “Be not deceived.  God is not mocked.  Whatever you sow, that is what you will reap. The one who sows to his own flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption.  But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

And remember, those who want YOU to be circumcised want it so THEY can boast in you.  THEY don’t keep the law; they just want YOU to so they can boast. 

As for me, I “boast” only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.   Circumcision doesn’t matter!! Only being a new creation in Christ matters. 

And to all of you who think this way, “Peace and Mercy” be upon you, and upon the Israel of God. 

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. 

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 326

Nov22

Day 326 – Reading – James 1 – 5

Read and believe in Jesus!

James 

Nope, this is not the brother of John who was beheaded by Herod Agrippa.  THIS James is the 1/2 brother of Jesus, the oldest in the list of Jesus’ 1/2 siblings, according to Mark 6:3.  Another of Jesus’ 1/2 brothers was Judas, who wrote the New Testament book of Jude.

While Jesus was alive, His brothers did not believe in Him, and even mocked him. But after His death and Resurrection, at least these two believed, and saw Jesus alive before His Ascension. See 1 Corinthians 15:7.

James became the leader of the Jerusalem Church and was close to Peter and John. He led the first and most important Jerusalem Council, which established once and for all what a person must do to be saved. (Acts 15) 

His book was written to Jewish believers who were scattered after the persecution by Herod Agrippa.  James is the earliest written book in the New Testament, written about 44-49 A.D.  It has more than 40 references to the Old Testament, and more than 20 to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  James was martyred in 62 A.D.

James 1.

Testing your Faith.

  • “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you KNOW that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
  • “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”

Hearing and Doing the Word.

  • “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
  • “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
  • “The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts – he will be blessed in his doing.”

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James 2.

The Sin of Partiality

  • “Show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.”
  • “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?”
  • “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?  Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable Name by which you were called?”
  • “If you love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you are committing a sin.”

Faith Without Works is Dead

  • “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can THAT faith save him?”
  • “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and fed,’ without giving them the things they need, what good is that?”  THAT faith, by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
  • “Show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith BY my works.  Faith, apart from works, is dead.”
  • (James gives the example of Abraham, who believed God and that faith was counted to him as righteousness.  But this same Abraham was also justified by his works, when he obeyed God and offered up his son Isaac on the altar.)

(Wouldn’t you have loved to see James and Paul sparring on this subject, both being in the right?

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James 3.

Taming the Tongue

  • “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (Teachers use their “tongues” often and must be very careful.)
  • “The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.”
  • “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”
  • “No human being can control the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  These things ought not to be so!

Wisdom from Above

  • “If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  This wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”
  • “But the wisdom from above is first pure, the peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
  • “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

And from James 1:5-7

  • “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.  THAT person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.”

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James 4.

Warning about Worldliness

  • “What causes quarrels and fights among you?  Is it not your passions that war within you?”
  • “You desire and do not have, so you murder.”
  • “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”
  • “You do not have, because you do not ask.”
  • “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.”
  • “Adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?”
  • “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • “Submit yourselves therefore tooo God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
  • “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord ….. and He will exalt you.”

Boasting about tomorrow

  • “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit….'”
  • “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?  You are a mist that appears and vanishes!”
  • Instead, you ought to say, ‘IF the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”  All such boasting is evil”

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James 5.

Warning to the Rich

  • “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.”
  • “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.”

Patience in Suffering

  • “Be patient, therefore, until the coming of the Lord.”
  • “Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
  • “Do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is at the door.”
  • “As an example of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”
  • “You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how He is compassionate and merciful.”

The Prayer of Faith

  • “Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.”
  • “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
  • “Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church and let they pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
  • The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”
  • “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed (and forgiven).”
  • “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  
  • (Elijah as an example.)
  • “And if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering, will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.”