The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven;His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,And the one who loves violence His soul hates.Upon the wicked He will rain snares;Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:5,8 NASB I am growing fruit from a dwarf orange […]
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”And call understanding your intimate friend;That they may keep you from an adulteress,From the foreigner who flatters with her words. Proverbs 7:4-5 In the movie “My Cousin Vinny”, Joe Pesci calls the two young men on trial- “Yutes”. Of
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,Nor stand in the path of sinners,Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!But his delight is in the law of the Lord,And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-3 Show me your friends, I will show your future! Many of the
Two things I asked of You,Do not refuse me before I die:Keep deception and lies far from me,Give me neither poverty nor riches;Feed me with the food that is my portion,That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”Or that I not be in want and steal,And profane the name of my God.
The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,The wicked does not understand such concern.Scorners set a city aflame,But wise men turn away anger.When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.Men of bloodshed hate the
Blessed be the Lord,Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.The Lord is my strength and my shield;My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;Therefore my heart exults,And with my song I shall thank Him.The Lord is their strength,And He is a saving defense to His anointed.Save Your people
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.Wait for the Lord;Be strong and let your heart take courage;Yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14 What I believe about God has a profound affect on my resiliency. Because I believe
Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,So honor is not fitting for a fool.Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,So a curse without cause does not alight.A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,And a rod for the back of fools.Do not answer a fool according
O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad,And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire,And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.For You meet him with the blessings of good things;You set a crown of fine gold on his head.He asked
A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,But a man of understanding draws it out.Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,But who can find a trustworthy man?A righteous man who walks in his integrity—How blessed are his sons after him. Proverbs 20:5-7 Wise king Solomon observed the world and
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;The judgments of
With the kind You show Yourself kind;With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;With the pure You show Yourself pure,And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. For You save an afflicted people,But haughty eyes You abase.For You light my lamp;The Lord my God illumines my darkness. For by
Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low;Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,From men with Your hand, O Lord,From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;They are satisfied with children,And leave their abundance to their
Righteousness exalts a nation,But sin is a disgrace to any people.The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely,But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully. Proverbs 14:34-35 In his comparison of evil and good, Solomon concludes that when the overall expression in a country is
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.They speak falsehood to one another;With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,The tongue that speaks great things;Who have said, “With our
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.The generous man will be prosperous,And he who waters will himself be watered.He who withholds grain, the people will curse him,But blessing will be on
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;What is man that You take thought of him,And the son of man that You care for him?Yet You have made him a little lower than God,And You crown him with glory and
O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands,If I have rewarded evil to my friend,Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;And let him trample my life down to the groundAnd lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well.Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?Let them be yours alone and not for strangers with you.Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.As a loving hind and a
But the path of the just is like the shining sun,That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.The way of the wicked is like darkness;They do not know what makes them stumble. Proverbs 4:18-19 In his beautiful admonition to ‘get wisdom’, Solomon comments on what his father David
Blessed be the Lord,For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”;Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplicationsWhen I cried out to You. Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!For the Lord preserves the faithful,And
Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,Give unto the Lord glory and strength.Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:1-2 Something very positive happens to me when I get the ‘Creator – Creature’ relationship right. When
Evil men do not understand justice,But those who seek the Lord understand all things.Better is the poor who walks in his integrityThan he who is crooked though he be rich.He who keeps the law is a discerning son,But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.Proverbs 28:5-7 The
For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from
The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the
Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for
But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a
Honor widows who are widows indeed; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity. 1 Timothy 5:1-2 When my buddy Dale and I were leading a church plant in Northern California, we often said-
On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. By common confession, great is the
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 2 Timothy 1:1-2 People who are serving our city could use our
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more
But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 In Christ, believers are righteous in
Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me. Philippians 2:29 NASB The Apostle Paul sent Epaphraditus home to Philippi to comfort and
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 People often discuss
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time