Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Mark 2:1-12

Luke 5:1-11

The scene of this lesson is the Lake of Gennesaret. "Although God has created seven seas," said the rabbis, "yet He has chosen this one as His special delight." No body of water on the earth is so sacred to the hearts of Christians, as this little inland sea. Along its shores Jesus walked, wrought, and talked. At that time its shore was a garden, without break, covered with pleasant towns and villages. Desolation now reigns...

Mark 1:9-13 Matthew 4:1-11

For thirty years the beautiful life of Jesus had gone on in Nazareth. He differed not from the other children, with whom He played and attended school, except in the stainlessness and sinlessness of His life. He grew up among plain people. The village where He lived was small, and everyone knew all the neighbors. Jesus was a carpenter, as Joseph had been. We may be...

Mark 1:1-8 Luke 3:1-20

Mark's gospel opens with the title of the book, "The beginning of the gospel." It was not a very promising beginning from an earthly point of view. As we look at the gospel now, it is a great river, whose streams run through all Christian lands and into many portions of heathendom. For centuries men sought in vain for the source of the Nile, at last finding it in the...

Luke 2:40-52

After the presentation in the temple, came the incident of the visit of the Magi, recorded only in the Gospel according to Matthew, followed by the flight into Egypt, and then Herod's massacre of the children. When Mary and Joseph and the Holy Child returned from Egypt, they went to Nazareth, where they remained until Jesus was thirty years of age. Of these years we have no record, excepting this...

Matthew does not tell us much of the infancy of Jesus. There is something very beautiful, however, in the little we have in this first Gospel. It gives us a glimpse of the way the world, outside of His own country, received Him. There was no room for Him in the inn, and He was born in a stable; but Matthew shows the Far East waiting for Him and honoring Him. A little later, too, it shows Egypt sheltering Him. Jerusalem was the place where...

Luke 2:22-39

The first Jewish rite which was observed in the case of a child, was circumcision. Jesus was circumcised. The time was when He was eight days old. At that time, also, He received His name, Jesus, as the angel had directed. The next religious observance was His presentation in the temple. This was forty days after His birth. An offering was required in connection with...

Luke 2:1-20

Not much is told in secular history, about the period in which the event of the birth of Jesus belongs. It is said, however, that there are distinct traces that such a census as Luke describes took place. The great emperor commanded that an enrollment of all the world should be made. The emperor did not know when he issued this decree, that long before he was born, there had gone forth another decree from a more glorious King,...

Luke 1:57-80

It is a stupendous moment when a great man is born. The birth of few men through the centuries has meant more to the world than John the Baptist's. Jesus said of him, that of all born of woman there was none greater (see Luke 7:28). The beloved disciple thus describes his coming into the world: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (

Luke 1:5-23

There was a wonderful preparation of the world for Christ before He came. There was a Jewish expectation of the Messiah. This hope had been diffused throughout the nations by the wide dispersion of the Jewish people, who carried their religion with them and had synagogues in every city, where also their holy books were read. It is wonderful to think what the world owes...

Malachi 1:6-11 Malachi 3:8-12

The prophet reproves the people for their lack of loyalty and faithfulness to Jehovah. He had treated them as a father - but they had not given Him a father's love and honor. "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father -...

Zechariah 4:1-14

The visions of Zechariah all have a meaning. This one is of a candlestick supplied by olive trees. "Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep." It is a good thing to have anyone wake us up. We ought always to be awake. We will miss a great deal if we are not. It is a good thing to be awakened by an angel. An angel's touch is soft, gentle, and...

Zechariah 3:1-10

Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. His prophetic career seems to have been brief. His mission was that of an encourager. The people in trying to rebuild Jerusalem had become greatly discouraged. A deep depression had settled on them. Zechariah sought to kindle hope in their hearts and to induce them to undertake the work of building. In

Jonah 1:1-4 Jonah 3:1-10

It was not by any means an easy task that was given to Jonah - his mission to Nineveh. There was no Board of Missions behind him with ample funds. There were no comfortable missionary quarters in Nineveh to receive him. There were no fine railroads to carry him there. The journey...