Study Desk

But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.

Any of God's people who are poor should be glad that he thinks so highly of them.

He wanted us to be his own special people, and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.

The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law.

What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.

Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud.

In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.

Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.

The Spirit of Christ was in them and was telling them how Christ would suffer and would then be given great honor. So they searched to find out exactly who Christ would be and when this would happen.

You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth.

Dear friends, you are foreigners and strangers on this earth. So I beg you not to surrender to those desires that fight against you.

Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises you are healed.

Even if you have to suffer for doing good things, God will bless you. So stop being afraid and don't worry about what people might do.

The good news has even been preached to the dead, so that after they have been judged for what they have done in this life, their spirits will live with God.

Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray.

Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.

God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.

Silvanus helped me write this short letter, and I consider him a faithful follower of the Lord. I wanted to encourage you and tell you how kind God really is, so that you will keep on having faith in him.

God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.