Posts from October 2024

It is remarkable how easy it becomes to understand a difficult passage if we just look at the precise words found in that verse. Far too often we read a verse and assume we know the meaning of every word, when we do not fully understand how God uses that word elsewhere in the Bible. For example, hear these words from God. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son He receives” (Heb. 12:6). We sometimes are…

Last week, we looked at two vital aspects of Paul’s advice to a young preacher. When he wrote to Timothy, he expected to see him very soon, and this fact emphasizes the importance of the spiritual advice Paul gave to him. When an abbreviated message is sent it contains the most important information that should be remembered. As noted last week Paul told Timothy to first give attention to reading. Young preachers and those of all ages should remember this.…

Years ago, when letters were the primary source of communication those letters often were shorter if you knew it would not be long before you would see those you wrote. Later it was the phone call that was shortened with comments like, “I will tell you the rest when I get there.” Now it is text messages as we shorten them and just send the most important information as an abbreviated form. This same concept is seen in letters written…

Last week we discussed the book in the Bible which has the fewest verses, so this week we look at Third John, which has the fewest words. What truths can be expressed in only 296 words? What is there in this book which caused God to include it in the Bible? This book from the apostle John is written to Gaius. Whether he is one of the three men named Gaius in the New Testament makes little difference. What is…

There are five of the sixty-six books in the Bible which contain just one chapter. Some books have over 30,000 words in them, but all five of these books contain a total of less than 3,000 words! As you read these shorter books, think about why they are included in the Bible. Do not overlook such great truths that our Father gave in them to us. The Bible completely furnishes us (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and if these books were not…