For thousands of years people have studied the words and stories of the Bible, searching out the meaning of verses from patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament and from Jesus and the first Christians. With so many books, chapters, and verses, the Bible is daunting to most of us. Now Steve and Lois Rabey offer a foothold toward understanding, a key to the mysteries, and a brilliant selection of verses that stand at the very heart of Scripture's true spirit and meaning for our time.

Rather than a substitute for God's word, this book captures the breadth and depth of expression in the Bible, whether it is in the haunting, poetic cry of David's psalms, Job's famous "grumbling unto God," or the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples. What does it mean to be created in "God's image"? Why did God say to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you"? How are we to interpret Galatians 3:28-"You are all one in Christ Jesus"? With their unmatched ability to find simple yet powerful lessons for our daily lives, Steve and Lois Rabey show how verses from Scripture echo throughout human events and why the Bible can change the way we live through sickness and health, joy and sadness, challenges and triumphs.

101 Most Powerful Verses in the Bible breathes new life into Bible verses we thought we knew, delves deeper into words we may have overlooked, and guides us to a closer relationship with God by offering a single precious gift: the hunger to learn more of his word.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.

Psalm 119:105

For little children, darkness can bring about feelings of anxiety and fear. Darkness can harm adults, too, making us lose our way and exposing us to danger.

I know hikers who have been forced to sleep out in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains after the sun quickly set and darkness engulfed any signs of a trail. Those hardy souls who are adventurous enough to brave Alaska's frigid winters encounter more than their share of darkness. The sun doesn't shine for days at a time, leaving hikers unusually vulnerable and bringing disorder to those huddled safely inside who are desperately trying to figure out if it is morning or evening.

Closer to home, even a brief power outage can turn a familiar room into a potential disaster area full of obstacles that seem to lurch out at your shins or your head. And who among us hasn't experienced the momentary frights that can occur when we are awoken by an unusual noise in the hallway during a pitch-black night?

A missionary I know once told me about a South American tribe whose members traveled only at night. In order to keep from losing their way or falling off of one of their region's many cliffs, the men and women of this tribe lit tiny candles that they carried on strings. The candles provided enough illumination for only the next step or two, but that was enough.

Our lives often seem like pilgrimages on rough trails winding through dark and dangerous lands. But God's Word is like a candle that clarifies our path and shows us the way to go.

There are many books in the world, but only one stands supreme. The Bible is God's matchless revelation to us. Since the invention of the printing press more than five centuries ago, the Bible has been the world's best-selling book.

For millennia people copied its contents onto papyrus, parchment, and paper so they could share its wise words with others. Scholars and missionaries have translated its message into hundreds of languages. Brave souls have risked their lives to spread its message or even gone to their deaths rather than deny its teachings.

Why have so many people made such a fuss about this one book for such a long, long time? As the verse from Psalm 119 suggests, the Bible is a source of certain light in an often dark and confusing world.

Psalm 119, which is the longest single chapter in the entire Bible, gives plenty of other reasons people throughout the ages have turned to this unique book. Titled "In praise of God's Word," the psalm lists benefits that come from studying and applying the Bible: it helps us walk in accordance with God's law; it encourages us to remain steadfast and pure; it teaches us to distinguish truth from falsehood and right from wrong; and it strengthens weary souls, bringing hope, comfort, and courage.

George Fox was an English preacher during the seventeenth century and the founder of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. In one of his many sermons, he told his listeners about the light of God's love: "I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love which flowed over the ocean of darkness."

God has given us the Bible, and with its illumination, we can confound the darkness of our world.

God, thank you for sharing your Word with us. May its words find a home in my heart and light my way.

Copyright © 2004 by Steve and Lois Rabey

About the Author

Steve Rabey is a freelance journalist whose recent articles have appeared in the New York Times and Christianity Today. He is the coauthor of the CBA bestseller Rachel's Tears, a book about a young girl who was killed at Columbine in April 1999. More

Lois Rabey has been a popular speaker and author for more than twenty years. More