Book of the Bible – Page 9 – Just Keith Harris

1 Thessalonians 4 on 11/16 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul urges believers to please God more and more by walking in holiness (vv. 1–2). God’s will is our sanctification—that we abstain from sexual immorality and learn self-control “in holiness and honor,” not in the passion of lust (vv. 3–5). To sin sexually is to wrong a brother or sister, and the Lord is an avenger in these matters. We were called to holiness; to reject this command is to reject God, who gives His Holy Spirit (vv. 6–8).

Then Paul commends their brotherly love and calls them to a quiet, faithful life: mind your own affairs, work with your hands, and walk properly before outsiders so you’re not dependent on others (vv. 9–12). Finally, he comforts the grieving: we don’t sorrow as those without hope. Because Jesus died and rose, those who have “fallen asleep” in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord—and “so we will always be with the Lord” (vv. 13–17). Therefore encourage one another with these words (v. 18).

🌀 Reflection:
Where is God inviting you to grow “more and more”—in purity, in quiet faithfulness, or in hope about death and Christ’s return (vv. 1, 3, 11, 13)? Ask the Spirit to help you walk “in holiness and honor” today (vv. 4, 8).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Write a short note (text or card) to a believer who’s grieving. Share 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18 and one sentence of encouragement: “Because Jesus rose, we have sure hope.”

1 Thessalonians 3 on 11/15 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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When Paul couldn’t stand the concern any longer, he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen and encourage the church in their faith because trials were expected for followers of Jesus (vv. 1–4). Paul feared the tempter might shake their trust and make his work “in vain” (v. 5). But Timothy returned with good news—their faith and love were steady, and they longed to see Paul just as he longed to see them (v. 6). Even amid Paul’s own distress, their steadfast faith refreshed his heart: “now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord” (vv. 7–8).

Grateful for God’s work, Paul prayed night and day to see them again and supply what is lacking in their faith (vv. 9–10). He asked God our Father and the Lord Jesus to clear the way for a visit (v. 11), to make their love increase and overflow for one another and for all (v. 12), and to establish their hearts blameless in holiness at Jesus’s coming with all His saints (v. 13). Holiness and love now prepare us to meet Christ with joy then.

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you facing pressure for your faith? Ask the Lord to help you stand fast today, and to grow your love so it overflows toward both the church and your neighbors (vv. 8, 12).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Encourage a believer under pressure. Send a brief prayer or verse and one sentence naming how you see their faith and love strengthening others (v. 6).

1 Thessalonians 2 on 11/14 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul reminds the Thessalonians how he and his team ministered with courage after being mistreated in Philippi—preaching the gospel “in the midst of much conflict” (vv. 1–2). Their message wasn’t built on error, impure motives, or trickery; they spoke as those approved by God, seeking to please Him who tests our hearts (vv. 3–4). They didn’t use flattery, chase money, or demand honor, even though as apostles they could have (vv. 5–6). Instead, they were gentle like a nursing mother, sharing not only the gospel but their very lives, and they worked night and day so as not to burden the church (vv. 7–9). They lived holy, righteous, and blameless among them, urging them like a father to walk worthy of God, who calls us into His kingdom and glory (vv. 10–12).

The church’s response confirmed God’s work: they received the preached word “not as the word of men but… the word of God,” which keeps working in believers (v. 13). Like the Judean churches, they suffered from their own neighbors for following Jesus (v. 14). Paul explains his sudden absence: he was torn away and repeatedly tried to return, but Satan hindered him (vv. 17–18). Still, his hope, joy, and crown of boasting at Jesus’s coming will be the Thessalonian believers themselves—his dearly loved spiritual family (vv. 19–20).

🌀 Reflection:
Where might God be inviting you to serve others not for praise or gain, but with a mother’s gentleness and a father’s faithful urging (vv. 7–12)? How can you welcome the Scriptures this week as God’s living word that keeps working in you (v. 13)?

💬 Mission Challenge:
Write a short note (text or card) to someone who helped you grow in Christ. Thank them for sharing “the gospel of God” and their life (v. 8), and tell them one way the word is still at work in you today (v. 13).

1 Thessalonians 1 on 11/13 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul, with Silvanus and Timothy, greets the church and thanks God for the clear marks of new life among them—faith, love, and hope—seen in their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 1–3). He’s confident they are loved and chosen by God because the gospel came to them not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction, and because they saw the missionaries’ sincere lives (vv. 4–5).

The Thessalonians imitated Paul and the Lord, receiving the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and they became an example to believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia (vv. 6–7). The news of their faith sounded forth everywhere: they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, the One who delivers us from the wrath to come (vv. 8–10).

🌀 Reflection:
What “idol” (habit, approval, control, comfort) do you need to turn from today so you can more freely serve the living and true God and wait for His Son (vv. 9–10)?

💬 Mission Challenge:
Let your faith sound forth (v. 8): share a brief testimony with someone today—how Jesus met you in a hard season with the joy of the Holy Spirit (v. 6)—and invite them to read 1 Thessalonians with you.

Galatians 6 on 11/12 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul shows what life in the Spirit looks like in real relationships. When someone is caught in sin, those who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness, watching themselves (v. 1). We’re called to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ—love (v. 2). Each believer should examine his own work, carrying his own load while avoiding comparison (vv. 4–5). Churches should share all good things with those who teach the Word (v. 6). God is not mocked: we reap what we sow—sowing to the flesh leads to corruption, but sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life (vv. 7–8). So don’t grow weary; in due season we will reap if we don’t give up. Do good to everyone, especially the household of faith (vv. 9–10).

Paul closes in big letters, warning against teachers who boast in outward signs to avoid persecution (vv. 11–13). He will boast only in the cross of Christ—through it, the world is crucified to him and he to the world (v. 14). What counts is not circumcision but being a new creation (v. 15). Peace and mercy rest on those who follow this rule, the true people of God (v. 16). Paul bears the marks of Jesus in his body and ends with a blessing of grace (vv. 17–18).

🌀 Reflection:
Whose burden can you help carry this week (v. 2)? And where do you need to shift your “boast” from self—wins, work, or worry—to the cross of Christ (v. 14)?

💬 Mission Challenge:
Sow to the Spirit today (v. 8): reach out and gently restore a struggling friend (v. 1), support a gospel teacher with a tangible gift or note (v. 6), and do one concrete good for a church member (v. 10).

Galatians 5 on 11/11 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul urges the church to stand firm in the freedom Christ gives and not trade it for a yoke of slavery by making circumcision (or any work) a requirement for being right with God (vv. 1–6). If you choose law-keeping for justification, you’re obligated to keep all of it—and you cut yourself off from the grace of Christ (vv. 3–4). The Christian hope rests not in what we do, but in grace through faith in Jesus alone working through love (vv. 5:6, 11–12).

Freedom isn’t a license to sin; it’s power to love and serve one another, which fulfills the law (vv. 13–14). The battle is real: the flesh desires against the Spirit, but the way forward is to walk by the Spirit so you will not gratify the flesh (vv. 16–18). The works of the flesh are obvious—sexual sin, idolatry, divisiveness, envy, drunkenness—and those who make a practice of such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (vv. 19–21). In contrast, the Spirit grows love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control in us; against such things there is no law (vv. 22–23). Belonging to Jesus means we have crucified the flesh and now keep in step with the Spirit (vv. 24–26).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to earn God’s approval or to indulge the flesh? Ask the Spirit to help you “keep in step” today, and pick one fruit of the Spirit to practice intentionally (vv. 16, 22–25).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Serve someone in love this week—meet a practical need, reconcile a strained relationship, or encourage a weary friend—so that your faith works through love (vv. 6, 13–14).

Galatians 4 on 11/10 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul explains that before Christ came, God’s people were like heirs who were still minors—no different from slaves under guardians (vv. 1–3). But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman and born under the law, to redeem those under the law so we might receive adoption as sons (vv. 4–5). Because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts so we cry, “Abba! Father!” and are no longer slaves but heirs through God (vv. 6–7).

Paul warns the Galatians not to turn back to the old “elementary principles” by keeping special days, months, seasons, and years as if they were required (vv. 9–11). He appeals to their past love for him when he first preached to them through weakness/illness, contrasting his sincere care with the flattery of the false teachers (vv. 12–18). With pains of childbirth, he longs for Christ to be formed in them (vv. 19–20).

Using Hagar and Sarah, Paul shows that seeking righteousness by the law leads to slavery, while trusting God’s promise brings freedom (vv. 21–31). Believers are like Isaac—children of promise, belonging to the Jerusalem above and called to cast out the enslaving message of works-righteousness (vv. 28–31).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to slip back into rule-keeping to feel accepted by God? Remember—you are adopted, indwelt by the Spirit, and free to call God “Abba, Father” (vv. 6–7).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Encourage someone who feels like a spiritual slave. Share Galatians 4:4–7 and remind them of the gift of adoption and the Spirit’s witness in our hearts.

Galatians 3 on 11/9 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul calls the Galatians “foolish” for turning from the gospel of grace to the works of the law (v. 1). They had received the Spirit by hearing with faith, not by keeping rules (vv. 2–5). To make his point, Paul reminds them of Abraham, who was counted righteous by faith long before the law was given (vv. 6–9). True children of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, are those who believe as he did.

But those who rely on the law’s works are under a curse, since no one can keep it perfectly (vv. 10–12). The good news is that Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us—He bore our sin on the cross so that the blessing of Abraham and the gift of the Spirit might come to all nations through faith (vv. 13–14). The promise given to Abraham came long before the law, and the law did not cancel it (vv. 15–18). Instead, the law was given to reveal sin and to lead us to Christ, the true “offspring” of Abraham (vv. 19–22).

Through faith in Jesus, believers are no longer under a guardian but have become sons and daughters of God (vv. 23–26). All who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ—their identity is now found in Him. In God’s family, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus (vv. 27–28). And if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise (v. 29).

🌀 Reflection:
Are you resting in God’s promise or striving to earn His approval? Remember—your righteousness and acceptance come by faith alone in Christ who redeemed you.

💬 Mission Challenge:
Remind someone today that the gospel is not about what we do for God, but what Christ has done for us—share Galatians 3:13–14 as good news of freedom and grace.

Galatians 2 on 11/8 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul recalls a visit to Jerusalem where the leaders recognized his gospel and mission. Even with Titus (a Gentile) present, they did not require circumcision, showing that Gentiles are received by grace, not by law (vv. 1–5). James, Peter (Cephas), and John gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that Paul would go to the Gentiles while they focused on the Jews—only asking them to remember the poor (vv. 6–10).

Later in Antioch, Paul opposed Peter for withdrawing from table fellowship with Gentile believers under pressure from the “circumcision” group (vv. 11–14). Such behavior denied the truth of the gospel. Paul states the heart of it: a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15–16). Believers have died to the law and now live to God—“I have been crucified with Christ… and the life I now live… I live by faith in the Son of God” (vv. 19–20). If righteousness could come by the law, Christ died for no purpose (v. 21).

🌀 Reflection:
Ask the Lord to expose any ways you lean on performance for acceptance with God. Rest in Christ’s finished work, and live by faith in the One who loved you and gave Himself for you (v. 20).

💬 Mission Challenge:
Encourage a believer who feels like a “second-class Christian.” Share Galatians 2:16 or 2:20 and remind them that in Christ, they are fully accepted by grace.

Galatians 1 on 11/7 | NT260 — Reading & Growing in Christ

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Paul opens by reminding the Galatians that his apostleship comes not from men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father (v. 1). He greets them with grace and peace, pointing immediately to the gospel—that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, all according to God’s will and for His glory (vv. 3–5). His authority and his message both come directly from the risen Lord, not through human instruction (vv. 11–12).

But Paul is astonished that the Galatians are so quickly deserting the grace of Christ for a different gospel that is not the good news about Jesus at all (vv. 6–7). He warns that the message of salvation through Christ alone cannot be altered, and that anyone—whether an apostle or even an angel—who preaches another gospel stands under God’s curse (vv. 8–9). Paul’s concern is not to please people but to remain a faithful servant of Christ (v. 10).

🌀 Reflection:
Where are you tempted to care more about human approval than about the truth of the gospel? Ask the Lord to help you stand firm in His grace.

💬 Mission Challenge:
Share with someone this week what makes the gospel “good news”—that Jesus gave Himself to rescue us from sin and bring us peace with God.