“This is why the Lord says, ‘Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.’ Return to the Lord you God, for He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.” (vv. 12-13, NLT)
Author: cackywalker@yahoo.com
Scripture on Employment
“Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.” (Proverbs 25:13, NLT)
“Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Ephesians 6:7, NLT)
Scriptures about Evil
“Keep you servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” (Psalm 19:13, NLT)
“Sine you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT)
Christ’s Sacrifice for All, Excerpts from Hebrews Chapter 10
“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God so a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There He waits until His enemies are humbled and made a footstool under His feet. For by that one offering He forever made perfecct those who are being made holy.
And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For He says, ‘This is the new covenant I will make with My people on that day,’ says the Lord: ‘I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’. Then He says,’I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.’
And when sins have been forgiven, their is no more need to offer any more sacrifices.” (vv. 15-18, NLT)
Scripture on Decisions
“Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do.” (2 Corinthians 10:7, NLT)
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” (James 1:5-8, NLT)
Scriptures on Church
“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and other will approve of you, too. So, then let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.” (Romans 14:7-9, NLT)
“Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, let them serve as deacons.” (1 Timothy 3:10, NLT)
Scriptures on Excelence
“Then God looked over all that He had made, and He saw it was good! And evening passed and morning cam, marking the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31, NLT)
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will face away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-26, NLT)
A Call to Persevere, Hebrews Chapter 10
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new life-giving way through the curtain of the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting in Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.: (vv. 19-25, NLT)
The Resurrection, Excerpts from Matthew Chapter 28
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the sone, and sat on it. His face shown like lightning and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him and they fell into a dead faint.
Than the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid! he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember what I have told you.’
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”(vv. 1-10, NLT)
The Lord’s Suffering Servant
“Who has believed our message? to whom has the Lord revealed this powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected- a man of sorrows, acquainted with the deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weakness He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And though we thought His troubles were punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to slaughter. As as sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open His mouth. Unjustly condemned, He was lead away. No one cared that he died without descendant, that his life was cut short in midstream. But He was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and He had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; he as put in a rich man’s grave.
But is was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in His hands. (Isaiah 53: 1-10, NLT)