zephaniah-3:17,-psalm-33:1-3-niv

“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12). God in His love and wisdom established family relationships. If His order is observed, home can be a bit of heaven on earth. Next to the Church the home is the most sacred i... Read More

Communion with God consists of two things: receiving the love of the Father and loving him in return. You might spend hours each day in prayer, telling the Lord how much you love him, but it isn’t communion unless you receive his love in return. The psalmist encourages us to “enter into His gates wi... Read More

Many Christians talk about intimacy with the Lord, walking with him, knowing him, having fellowship with him. But we can’t have true communion with God unless we receive into our hearts the full revelation of his love, grace and mercy. Communion with God consists of two things: 1. Receiving the love... Read More

To glory (2745) (kauchema akin to aucheo = boast + euchomai = pray to God <> auchen = neck which vain persons are apt to carry in proud manner) strictly speaking describes either a boast (the act) or the ground or the matter of glorying or boasting (the object). The boast can be either proper or imp... Read More

Rejoice (2165) (euphraino from eu = well, good + phren = mind, intellect, disposition) means in active sense to make someone glad, to cheer someone up, to make them joyful in mind, to cause them to be glad (2Cor 2:2, Lxx = Ps 19:8, Pr 23:15). In the middle voice or passive voice euphraino means to b... Read More

Rest (2663) (katapausis from katá = intensifies or "down" conveying sense of permanency + paúo = make to cease) describes literally a ceasing from one's work or activity. Thayer cites a use in the active sense of a putting to rest as used in the sentence "a calming of the winds". Metaphorically as u... Read More

"And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home!" Luke 15:5-6 He does not drive the poor weary sheep home. This is not the way of the gentle shepherd. He stoops down and lifts it up, and lays it on his own shoulder and carries it back. There is a wonderful lesson in this li... Read More

(Compare Mark 9:30–35; Luke 9:43–50) DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS 1. The Shekel in the Fish’s Mouth, 17:22–27 What does our Lord now announce to His disciples (vv. 22, 23)? What was His purpose in telling them so often in these days of His coming death and resurrection? Did they comprehend what He was tal... Read More

(Compare Mark 16:19, 20; Acts 1:1–14) DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS 1. Jesus’ Last Conversation with His Disciples in Jerusalem, vv. 44–49 Of what two things did Jesus say the events which had occurred were a fulfillment? Why did He say, “While I was yet with you”? Was He not “with them” still? Will He eve... Read More

DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS 1. Parable of the Lost Sheep, vv. 1–7 What was the occasion of our Lord’s uttering these three parables of Luke 15? What one purpose is there in all these parables? (Compare v. 2 with vv. 7, 10, 24, 32.) How do these parables, while having the same general purpose, differ from... Read More