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VERSES FOR OFFERINGS
Think about giving – it's truly beautiful in God's eyes. When you're preparing your offering, remember it should be your best, given with a sincere heart. It should be a joyful act, knowing how much God has already blessed us with, even when we don't deserve it. He's been incredibly generous, hasn't He?
If you only give what's leftover, well, life might just mirror that back to you. Think about it – give as if you're giving to yourself. Don't do it out of obligation or because you expect something in return. True giving comes from the heart.
Don't make a big show of it either. It's not about getting praised or patted on the back. Let your giving be a quiet act between you and God. He sees what's in your heart, and He loves a cheerful giver. Remember what it says in 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Giving is an act of worship, a way to give back a portion of what God has already given us. And when God gives, He gives abundantly. When you offer from the heart, you're opening the door for even more blessings. The more you give, the more you receive. It's a beautiful cycle.
You are turning away from God, like a woman who is not faithful to her husband. You choose to be friends with people who are against God. So you yourselves become enemies of God. You should know that!
If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do, if he does not join with sinners, if he does not meet with those who laugh at God, God has blessed that person!
Someone may come to you and teach you something that is different. Do not receive that person into your house. Do not receive him as a Christian.
If you receive people like that as Christian people, you are making yourself the same as them. You also are doing the same kind of bad work.
—2— Do not become a friend of angry people. Keep away from them.
You might become angry, like them. Then you would spoil your whole life.
Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father.
If you have wise people as your friends, you will become wise yourself. But if you have foolish friends, you will hurt yourself.
When I wrote to you before, I was writing about people who say that they are believers. If they say that, but they have sex in a wrong way, do not be friends with them. It is the same if they want many things for themselves. They may worship idols. They may insult people. They may often get drunk. They may deceive people and rob them. If anyone in your own group does things like that, do not even agree to eat a meal with them.
A man with many friends may lose them. But there is a friend who is more faithful than a brother.
Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this: ‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’
People who tell lies cause arguments. If you tell people's secrets, you will lose all your friends.
She weeps aloud in the night. There are tears on her face. She had many lovers. But now there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have turned away from her. They have become her enemies.
If you forgive people when they hurt you, they will still love you. But if you continue to talk about what they have done, they will no longer be your friends.
Our friends, you must stay away from every believer who is living in a lazy way. We tell you this with the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. Lazy people like that are not living in the way that we taught you.
You can trust a friend when he says things that hurt you. But when an enemy kisses you, he is deceiving you.
If someone teaches a false message that causes trouble, warn him. If you warn him twice and he still does not stop, stay away from him.
You know that a person like that has chosen not to believe the true message. He knows that he is doing a bad thing, but he continues to do it.
Rich people can easily find new friends. But poor people will easily lose their friends.
A farmer who works hard will have plenty of food to eat. But anyone who works only on useless things will always be poor.
The prophet Jehu, Hanani's son, went to meet him. He said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘You agreed to help a wicked man. You became the friend of someone who hates the Lord. You should not have done that. You have caused the Lord to be very angry with you.
I do not become a friend of people who tell lies. I do not join together with hypocrites.
I keep away from any crowd of evil people. I do not become a friend of wicked people.
Maybe someone among you will not obey the message that we have written in this letter. Make sure that everyone knows about someone like that. Do not be friends with him, so that he may become ashamed.
But remember that he is a believer, as you are. So warn him carefully.
Wisdom is better than weapons that are used to fight a war. But one bad person can destroy many good things.
A righteous person gives good advice to his friends. But wicked people are always taking the wrong path.
If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do, if he does not join with sinners, if he does not meet with those who laugh at God, God has blessed that person!
He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord. He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night.
He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water. It gives its fruit at the right season. Its leaves do not fall off. Everything that person does will have a good result.
People whose minds are in the dark do things that have no good purpose. Keep away from wrong things like that. Instead, show how bad those things really are.
Do not become united with people who do not believe in Christ. God has made you right with himself. Right and wrong cannot work together. Light and dark cannot join together.
God, you should surely destroy the wicked people! Yes, you murderers, go away from me!
You know when I sit down, and you know when I get up. Even when you are far away, you understand what I am thinking about.
Those people say bad things against you, God. Your enemies always tell lies.
Lord, I hate those people who hate you. I do not respect those who turn against you.
Yes, I really hate them. Your enemies are my enemies too.
People say this: ‘Only a small amount of yeast in the flour will cause a loaf of bread to grow big.’
Like good runners in a race, you were doing very well! You should not have let anyone turn you away from God's true message.
It is not God who has caused you to change what you believe. No! God is the one who has chosen you to belong to him.
People say this: ‘Only a small amount of yeast in the flour will cause a loaf of bread to grow big.’
Think seriously about how you live. Watch carefully for danger. Remember that the devil is your enemy. He wants to hurt you. He walks about like a hungry lion. He is looking for someone to kill and then eat!
Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father.
What are the wrong things that belong to this world? People want to do bad things to make themselves happy. People want to have things that they see, even bad things. People want to show other people how rich they are. These ideas do not come from God, our Father. They are the thoughts of people who belong to the world.
One day, those people and the things that they want will not be there any longer. But those who continue to do what God wants will live for ever.
My Christian friends, I want to tell you something important. Be very careful about those people who teach wrong things. They teach things that are different from God's true message that you learned. Those people cause you to quarrel with each other. They cause people to turn away from God. You must stay away from them.
People who are like that are not servants of our Lord Christ. Instead, they are doing the things which please themselves. They speak words that seem very nice, but they deceive people who easily accept a false message.
But you, Timothy, are a servant of God. So keep away from all bad things like that. Instead, always try to do what is right. Serve God in a way that pleases him. Choose to trust God and to love other people. Continue to be strong when you have trouble. Be kind to people.
Continue to believe God's true message. Be like someone who fights well to keep it safe. God has chosen you to live with him for ever. You stood in front of many people and said clearly that you believed in Jesus Christ. So live in a way that shows that you belong to him.
My child, if sinners want you to join with them, do not agree!
They may say, ‘Come with us. We will find someone to murder. We will attack any helpless person that we choose.
We will send them quickly to their graves. They may be strong and healthy, but they will soon be under the earth.
We will take all their valuable things for ourselves. We will fill our houses with lots of good things.
So come and join us! We will share with each other everything that we rob from other people.’
My child, do not go along with people like that. Stay away from them.
If people are honest, their lives are safe. But those who are not honest will receive punishment.
But now you no longer live in the same wicked way as those people do. They continue to enjoy those wrong things all the time. But you do not join with them. So they insult you.
‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.
Proud people do not like it when someone warns them. They will not ask wise people to give them advice.
If you are in trouble and you trust someone who is not honest, it will not help you. He will be as useless as a bad tooth or a broken leg.
My child, never stop learning about what is right. If you stop learning, you will soon forget what you already know.
My friends, if you see that someone among you is doing something wrong, you must warn them. Those of you who have God's Spirit should warn that person. Show them how to live in a good way. But you must be kind and patient with them. Be very careful yourselves, so that it does not cause you to do wrong things too.
Be careful not to do the kind of bad things that young people often want to do. Instead, always try to do what is right and fair. Continue to trust God. Love other people and live in peace with them. Join with people who are clean inside and who pray to the Lord.
So think about the good things that are there in heaven above. Do not think only about things that are on the earth.
They only think about wrong and bad things that they want to do. They want many things for themselves. They want to hurt other people. They are always jealous of other people. They kill people. They quarrel and fight with people. They are not honest or kind. They say silly things about other people.
This good news is about God's Son, who is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus was born as a human baby, a descendant of King David. But after Jesus died, God's Holy Spirit raised him to make him alive again. In this way God showed clearly that Jesus was his powerful Son.
They tell lies about people. They hate God. They insult other people. They are proud and they say how important they are. They think of many ways to do bad things. They do not obey their parents.
They do not understand what is right. They do not do what they have promised to do. They do not love anyone and they are not kind to anyone.
These people understand God's message about what is right. They know that people who do bad things like this deserve to die. But they still continue to do those bad things. They are even happy when other people do those bad things too.
A friend will always show that he loves you. Relatives are there to help you when you are in trouble.
Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father.
What are the wrong things that belong to this world? People want to do bad things to make themselves happy. People want to have things that they see, even bad things. People want to show other people how rich they are. These ideas do not come from God, our Father. They are the thoughts of people who belong to the world.