Scripture: “For I hate divorce!” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.” Malachi 2:16 (NLT)Observation: Malachi indicates that marriage is much more than a civil contract and that it involves a permanent covenant
Scripture: This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. . . 17 These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:12,17 (NKJV)Observation: This was the new feature of it. Christ’s love to His people in giving His life a ransom for them was altogether new, and consequently as a Model and
Scripture: Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Romans 14:19 (NKJV)Observation: Jewish people often spoke of the perfect future time of God’s kingdom (see 1 Cor 6:9), when the Spirit would be made available and all people would be at peace with one another (Rom 14:17). For Paul,
Scripture: Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" ' Luke 22:11 (NKJV)Observation: Anyone with a two-story home, the second of which contained a “large” upper room, would be considered well-to-do. This family presumably resided in the Upper City
Scripture: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.' " Luke 10:27 (NKJV)Observation: With all thy heart. Lit., out of thy whole heart. The heart, not only as the seat of the affections, but as the centre of our
Scripture: So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV)Observation: As the lamps burned continually, supplied with oil from a source (the living olive trees) which man did not make, so Zerubbabel need not be
Scripture: But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)Observation: The principle stated here occurs in Proverbs 25:6–7 with reference to seating at banquets, and elsewhere the principle refers to the future time when God equalizes everyone (Is 2:11–12;
Scripture: Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 3:10 (NKJV)Observation: The prophet’s message may have included conditions whereby the threats of God could be rescinded. As an evidence of His mercy to the
Scripture: But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created
Scripture: They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up. Psalm 90:3, 5 (NKJV)Observation: This psalm is attributed to Moses which would then make it the oldest psalm written. Verses 3-6 describe life much like grass as a cycle of growing and dying. In the morning, grass flourishes and grows up, but in the
