I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. (1 Tim. 2:8)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 2:8

“What is that cup with two handles?” I wondered. My husband and I were window-shopping in Jerusalem when we saw these perfectly shaped cups with a handle on both sides. These cups are used to pour water two or three times over one’s hands when preparing to eat a meal with bread. The washing is not for cleansing, but for symbolically purifying the hands.

On her blog, Lori Palatnik explains the Jewish custom of washing hands before eating bread. Water represents the Torah or wisdom, hands represent our interactions or dealings with others in daily life, and bread is the sustenance of life. The pouring of water over the hands symbolizes interacting with others in a wise, kindly manner.

Paul encourages people everywhere to pray with hands that are holy, lifted in praise to and reliance on God. When one prays, they should not have any anger that is on a slow boil toward another person, especially as they commune with God together in prayer. If a believer resents or is at odds with another believer, it interferes with their conversation with God and may disrupt the unity of worship.

Perhaps we, too, should pause and wash our hands with a two-handled cup before praying, so that we can reflect on whether our hands are holy.

Use wisdom and kindness with others to keep your hands holy.

Gena Duncan previously served as a writer for Light from the Word. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. (1 Tim. 2:5–6)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 2:5-7

Xinyu Dai and Eduardo Guerras, astronomers at the University of Oklahoma, recently discovered planets outside our galaxy. By using gravitational microlensing, a technique based on Einstein’s theory of general relativity, they discovered 2,000 unbound planets ranging in size from the moon to Jupiter between the galaxy’s stars. This galaxy is located 3.8 billion light-years away. These planets cannot be seen, even with the best telescope, but they are there.

This discovery is not a surprise to the one God. He created this universe and these planets within the galaxy that we cannot yet directly observe. Likewise, he created each of us, desiring that we seek an intimate relationship with him. Just as astronomers cannot directly observe the 2,000 new planets, we cannot directly observe God, but we can see him in the life of his Son.

God sent Christ as a mediator to provide a way for us to establish a relationship with him. Christ came as a man, so he knows our sorrows, rejections, tensions, delights, and pleasures. Whatever we face in everyday life, Jesus Christ our Redeemer paid the price for our sins when he died for us on the cross. He died for all of us. In doing so, Jesus became our go-between. He wants all of us to experience the unique forgiveness found only in him.

Observe God through the lens of his Son.

Gena Duncan previously served as a writer for Light from the Word. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. (1 Tim. 2:1)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Our pastor, Joe Russo, taps on heaven’s doors. He humbly, yet powerfully, prays to his Abba, Father. A hush falls over those of us who have gathered. Joe confesses our joint sins and petitions for our specific needs. He intercedes for our president, members of Congress, and police officers. He commits global, national, and regional concerns to God’s control. He praises the One who is in omnipresent control. Then he reverently says amen (“so be it”).

When Paul says “first of all,” he declares prayer as the core of worship because prayer produces results. As we pray for those in authority over us, it encourages quiet and peaceful living that decreases the potential for political upheaval (v. 2). The Greek word for quiet, hésuchia, implies a God-given inner peace. We can have inner calmness in our obedience to pray and to live correctly. Additionally, we please God with our prayers (v. 3). What an awesome thought that we, insignificant, earthly mortals, please the creator of the universe when we pray. When we pray, we also have the opportunity and privilege to help bring others to heaven’s doors to meet our Savior, to bring others to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ (v. 4).

Joe’s prayers do all of this in those few moments of entreating meditation. When we join in prayer during worship, our prayers do this also.

Try tapping on heaven’s doors today.

Gena Duncan previously served as a writer for Light from the Word. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. (Ps. 119:74)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 119:73-80

My grandfather suffered from iritis, a painful inflammation of the eyes which made them extremely sensitive to light. For an extended period of time, he had to lie in total darkness. Bandages covered his eyes, shades were pulled, and quilts were hung over the windows to prevent even the smallest glimmer of light from entering his room.

That meant he couldn’t read his Bible, of course, but family members sitting in the hallway outside his room would read it to him through the closed door. When no one was reading it, he held it firmly in his hands, and when sleeping he placed it under his pillow.

Bibliolatry? Worshiping the Word? No, not at all. He had met his Lord on those pages, and its truth was the basis of his hope, both in this world and in the world to come. Contrary to appearances, his room wasn’t dark at all. It was filled with a light no one could see.

John Wesley said it well. “I want to know one thing—the way to heaven. God himself has written it down in a book. O, give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God!”

In an age which many find increasingly hopeless, there is hope in the Christ who can be met on the pages of that book.

Read the Word, not just out of habit, but in hope.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 1:14)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:1-17

In one of the most famous stories in literature, from Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is caught stealing the bishop’s silverware. When the police drag him back to the scene of the crime, the bishop not only insists that Valjean keep the silver, but also hands him two silver candlesticks, saying, “You forgot to take these.” That gracious act transforms Valjean. He gratefully sells the silverware to begin a new and productive life, but he keeps the candlesticks, which will forever represent grace to him. As the reformed thief breathed his last at the end of the book, Hugo wrote, “The light from the two candlesticks fell upon his face.”

That’s a powerful story, but I know a better one, and so does every born-again child of God. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith,” the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians (Eph. 2:8). When he later wrote to Timothy, who was pastoring that same Ephesian church, he shifted to a first-person pronoun (1 Tim. 1:14). This was Paul’s testimony too.

Certainly, the lost silver cost the bishop a great deal, but think what Christ’s sacrifice cost him. No wonder the German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned us not to settle for what he called “cheap grace” by being unwilling to pay the cost of discipleship. Paul didn’t, Bonhoeffer didn’t, and neither must we.

Surround yourself with reminders of the difference God’s grace has made.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:17

“Why do I have to study theology?” a seminary student complained. “It’s not like I’m going to use it in my ministry.”

He wasn’t kidding. Theology is not very “PC” (“pastorally correct”) in many churches these days. An increasingly popular opinion seems to be that “worship unites but theology divides.” For the sake of evangelism all barriers must come down, we are told. But what if those “barriers” are actually gateways to truth—truth about God and truth about ourselves?

In just the first chapter of his first letter to Timothy, Paul deals with the sinfulness of humanity, the splendor of God, and the saving power of grace. That’s theology in the service of evangelism and discipleship! The truth about God in our key verse alone could fuel an entire sermon series.

When truths that compose the very core of our faith are neglected, the result is far worse than ignorance. It is error. C. S. Lewis said, “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.”

Paul was determined that Timothy, as a young pastor, would preach the truth (2 Tim. 3:10—4:5). Through the theology Paul imparted, Timothy was prepared to share the truth with new believers. Every congregation should expect the same today.

Dive into theology to find the right ideas about God.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (1 Tim. 1:15)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:15-16

John Newton’s story is well known. Captain of a slave ship, he turned to God in a fearsome storm at sea and became a minister in the Church of England. Powerfully influenced by John and Charles Wesley and their friend George Whitefield, he in turn became a mentor to a generation of Christian leaders like William Wilberforce, who was God’s instrument for ending the slave trade in England not long before Newton’s death.

Newton’s greatest legacy, of course, is his classic hymn “Amazing Grace,” but he also left a wonderful testimony on his tombstone. His epitaph reads, “John Newton, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”

The same rich mercy and amazing grace transformed the apostle Paul, too. In his first letter to Timothy he powerfully combined a confession of faith (Jesus saves) with a confession of sin (no one needed saving more than I did). John Newton echoed this verse when, on his death bed at age eighty-two, he whispered to a friend, “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

Every sinner saved by God’s amazing grace can say “Amen” to both truths.

Remember the Savior’s amazing grace.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. (1 Tim. 1:12)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:12-14

Temple Gairdner has been called “the apostle of Arabic Christianity,” and with good reason. He left England in 1898 to tackle one of the most difficult assignments—a mission to Muslims.

Sent to Cairo by the Church Missionary Society, Gairdner focused on Egypt’s educated classes and brought the gospel to them in innovative and imaginative ways. He was a pioneer, and others are still building on his foundation.

Although few may have noticed it at the time, the key to his success was apparent in his very first public prayer. His words were brief and directly to the point: “O God, you know that I do not want anything else but to serve you and [others], always, all my life.”

We hear a lot about leadership in the church today, and we should. Leaders are critically important. But leadership in the New Testament is always expressed through servanthood. Paul was an apostle—he says so in the greeting of this letter—and that leadership was expressed through faithful service to God and others. After all, the root word for “minister” in the New Testament literally means “to wait on tables.” Can you picture it? A servant, carrying a towel, bending low to work at menial tasks in service around a table at mealtime . . . perhaps for a party of twelve? It sounds vaguely familiar.

Seek to serve God and others in ways both menial and innovative.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. (1 Tim. 1:8)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:8-11

Shop class and I didn’t get along in the seventh grade, but this time it would be different. With fierce determination, I set out to avoid past mistakes and produce a knickknack shelf in the form of a maple leaf for my mother to proudly display for decades to come.

Miraculously my maple-leaf masterpiece took shape, more or less, and I applied two generous coats of varnish before putting it aside to dry. At the end of the day, however, results weren’t quite up to my expectations. Apparently, I had coated it with glue instead of varnish, and now it was decorated with wood shavings, lint, and various flying insects. Not only that, but it was bonded to my workbench for time and eternity.

Glue has its place, but not as a substitute for varnish. Glue is glue. Glue does what glue does. Inadvertently, I was depending on it to do something it was never intended to do.

The law has its place, too. “It is God’s straight-edge to show us how warped we are,” John R. Church said. But don’t count on the law for salvation. It’s grace that brings new life through faith, we’re told, and that will make all the difference one day when we place the finished craftwork of our lives in the hands of the Carpenter for his “Well done.”

Seek to understand the law so that you can appreciate grace.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer. (1 Tim. 1:3)

Expanded Passage: 1 Timothy 1:1-7

When Paul wrote to Timothy, Nero sat on the throne of Rome and Christians were persecuted mercilessly. The Roman historian Tacitus told of Christians being burned alive as human torches to light Nero’s evening parties. Later, Nero would execute both Peter and Paul.

The church of the first century was painfully aware of the threat posed by outside persecution, but the New Testament also warns about the threat posed by false teachers within the church. Historically, persecution has almost always resulted in the growth and expansion of the church. Tertullian, writing about AD 200, famously reminded the faithful that the blood of the martyrs is seed, spreading the faith. False teaching, on the other hand, can rob the church of its power by corrupting its message. The issue is not differing interpretations of Scripture so much as it is a denial of its authority.

The false teachers in the church Timothy pastored were promoting doctrines that sound strange to us—obscure Jewish myths, contrived genealogies (perhaps to create a family-tree connection to Old Testament heroes), extreme forms of self-denial, and even self-abuse. We’re more familiar with modern examples of pastors and scholars who reduce Jesus to no more than a great teacher and the Bible to no more than a human book.

The threat is the same, and so is its source. Beware the enemy within.

Pray for the persecuted church and for misguided churches closer to home.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.