SCRIPTURE: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). OBSERVATION: In Christs Sermon on the Mount, He addressed people weighed down by anxiety over everyday needs, like food, drink, and clothing. He taught that worry revealed misplaced priorities and a lack

SCRIPTURE: “I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High” (Psalm 7:17 ESV). OBSERVATION: David wrote this psalm during a season of false accusation and opposition. After appealing to the LORD as righteous Judge and describing the certain

SCRIPTURE: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)” (Genesis 14:18 ESV). OBSERVATION: Moses recorded this brief but weighty encounter for Israel as part of Abram’s victory narrative after rescuing Lot. Melchizedek, whose name means king of righteousness, is a mysterious figure in the Bible: a

SCRIPTURE: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 ESV). OBSERVATION: Moses recorded God’s words to Abram as part of the initial call that launched God’s redemptive plan in history. Spoken to a pagan

SCRIPTURE: “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent” (Psalm 4:4 ESV). OBSERVATION:David wrote this psalm to people who were emotionally stirred and tempted to respond to opposition with reckless words or actions. He acknowledged that anger and inner agitation were real human responses to felt

SCRIPTURE “But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’” (Matthew 4:4 ESV). OBSERVATIONMatthew recorded that after forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread. Jesus deliberately answered the temptation

SCRIPTURE “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5–6 ESV). OBSERVATIONMatthew recorded that as John the Baptist preached a message of repentance, a remarkable movement took place among the people of

SCRIPTURE “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1–2 ESV). OBSERVATIONPsalm 1 is a beautiful

“‘Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’” (Revelation 22:12–13 ESV). The apostle John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the churches who would

“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:15 ESV). Malachi, writing as the LORD’s messenger to the post-exilic

Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them (Revelation 20:11 ESV). The Apostle John wrote these words to the seven churches in Asia Minor, providing a prophetic vision of the culmination of human history. He

“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah who had returned from Babylonian exile, spoke words of hope that reached far beyond their immediate circumstances. While

“Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2b ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah, addressed a people who had returned from exile but were still spiritually disoriented. Though back in the land, they were vulnerable, restless, and afflicted. The prophet explained the root cause

“ And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast…” (Revelation 17:8 ESV). The apostle John wrote Revelation to the persecuted churches in Asia Minor who were pressured to compromise with the idolatrous powers of the

“And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong” (Zechariah 8:13 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the post-exilic community of Judah and Israel, assured a discouraged

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul” (Psalm 143:8 ESV). David, writing as a suffering servant of the LORD and speaking on behalf of God’s covenant people, prayed for renewed assurance

“Then he 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 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the returned Jewish remnant after the Babylonian exile, recorded the LORD’s message of encouragement to Zerubbabel, the governor charged with

“For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day” (Zechariah 3:9 ESV). Zechariah spoke to a returned, but discouraged, remnant in Judah, assuring

“Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 1:3 ESV). Zechariah, a prophet sent by the LORD in the post-exilic period, addressed a people who had already returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and

“On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts” (Haggai 2:23 ESV). Haggai, the prophet of Judahs post-exilic period, wrote to the remnant who