Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (NIV). Observation: Paul used the previous...

Psalm 83:5 “With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you” (NIV). Observation: Ten nations were said to be plotting Israel’s destruction. The writer’s appeal for their defeat is colorful, to say the least; he asks that God make them “like refuse...

Song of Solomon 8:6 “Place me as a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame” (NIV). Observation: The love depicted in Song of Songs has...

Ecclesiastes 7:3 “Sorrow is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart.” Ecclesiastes 9:12 “Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall...

Deuteronomy 25:17–19 “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore, it shall come about...

Hosea 10:12 “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and showers righteousness on you.” Observation: Hosea has spent several chapters reminding Israel in...

Amos 4:8–11 “… ‘Yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the Lord” (NIV). Observation: In each of these four verses God testified of Israel’s sin and established justification for coming judgment. He recounted things He had done to show His commitment to Israel...

1 John 1:3–4 “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete” (NIV). Observation: John the apostle was the...

1 Peter 1:7 “These have come so that your faith … of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire … may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (NIV). Observation: Peter is encouraging me to...

Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Observation: Paul has just encouraged the Ephesians to “be imitators of God … as dearly loved children …” (Verse 5:1) We are told to be a “fragrant offering” (Verse 2), and to carry not so...