Category
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.
So you people are not faithful to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. So if a person wants to be a part {\cf2\super [18]} of the world, then he makes himself God’s enemy.
A person will be truly happy if he\par doesn’t follow the advice of bad people\par and doesn’t live like sinners\par and doesn’t feel at home with people\par who don’t respect God. {\cf2\super [1]} \par
Don’t be friends with a person who becomes angry easily. Don’t go near a person who becomes mad fast.
If you do, you may learn to be like him. Then you will have the same troubles he has.
Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If a person loves the world, the love of the Father (God) is not in that person.
Be friends with people who are wise, and you will become wise. But if you choose fools to be your friends, then you will have trouble.
I am writing to tell you that the person you must not associate with is this: any person that calls himself a brother in Christ but sins sexually, or is greedy, or worships idols, or talks bad to people, or gets drunk, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with a person like that.
A troublemaker is always causing problems. That person spreads gossip and causes trouble between close friends.
She cries bitterly in the night.\par Her tears are on her cheeks.\par She has no one to comfort her.\par Many nations were friendly to her.\par But none of them comforts her now.\par All of her friends turned their backs on her.\par Her friends became her enemies.\par
If you forgive a person who does wrong to you, then you can be friends. But if you continue to remember the wrong that he did, then it will hurt your friendship.
Brothers and sisters, by the authority (power) of our Lord Jesus Christ we command you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work. People who refuse to work are not following the teaching that we gave them.
A friend might hurt you sometimes, but he does not want to do this. An enemy is different. Even when an enemy is kind to you, he wants to hurt you.
I am asking you for my son Onesimus. He became my son while I was in prison.
You know that a person like that is evil and sinful. His sins prove that he is wrong.
A troublemaker causes a lot of trouble for his friends. He will lead them in a way that is not good.
If a person is rich, then his wealth will bring him many friends. But if a person is poor, all his friends will leave him.
A person that works hard will have plenty to eat. But a person that wastes his time with dreams will always be poor.
Jehu the seer {\cf2\super [217]} went out to meet Jehoshaphat. Jehu’s father’s name was Hanani. Jehu said to King Jehoshaphat, “Why did you help evil people? Why do you love those people that hate the Lord? That is the reason the Lord is angry with you.
I am not one of those worthless people.\par
I hate those evil gangs.\par I won’t join those gangs of crooks.\par
If any person does not obey what we tell you in this letter, then remember who that person is. Don’t associate with them. Then maybe they will feel ashamed.
But don’t treat them like an enemy—counsel them like a brother.
Wisdom is better than swords and spears\par in war.\par But one foolish person {\cf2\super [38]} can destroy\par much good.\par
A good man is very careful about the friends he chooses. But evil people always choose the wrong friends.
A person will be truly happy if he\par doesn’t follow the advice of bad people\par and doesn’t live like sinners\par and doesn’t feel at home with people\par who don’t respect God. {\cf2\super [1]} \par
A good person loves the Lord’s teachings.\par He thinks about them day and night.\par
So that person becomes strong\par like a tree planted by streams of water\par He is like a tree that makes fruit\par at the right time.\par He is like a tree with leaves that don’t die.\par Everything he does is successful.\par
Don’t do the things that people in darkness do. Doing those things brings nothing good. But \{do the good things to\} show that those things in darkness are wrong.
You are not the same as those people who don’t believe. So don’t join yourselves to them. Good and bad don’t belong together. Light and darkness cannot have fellowship (sharing).
God, kill the wicked people.\par Take those murderers away from me.\par
They say bad things about you.\par They say bad things about your name. {\cf2\super [635]} \par
Lord, I hate the people who hate you.\par I hate the people who turn against you.\par
I hate them completely!\par Your enemies are also my enemies.\par
\{Be careful!\} “Just a little yeast {\cf2\super [64]} makes the whole batch of dough rise.” {\cf2\super [65]}
You were running a good race. You were obeying the truth. Who persuaded you to stop following the true way?
That persuasion does not come from the One (God) who chose you.
\{Be careful!\} “Just a little yeast {\cf2\super [64]} makes the whole batch of dough rise.” {\cf2\super [65]}
People use pieces of iron to sharpen iron knives. In the same way, people learn from other people, making each other sharp.
Control yourselves and be careful! The devil is your enemy. And he goes around like a roaring lion looking for some person to eat.
Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If a person loves the world, the love of the Father (God) is not in that person.
These are the \{evil\} things in the world:
The world is passing away. And all the things that people want in the world are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.
Brothers and sisters, I ask you to be very careful of those people that cause people to be against each other. Be very careful of those people that upset other people’s faith. Those people are against the true teaching you learned. Stay away from those people.
People like that are not serving our Lord Christ. They are only doing things to please themselves. They use fancy talk and say nice things to fool the people that don’t know about evil.
But you are a man of God. So you should stay away from all those things. Try to live in the right way, serve God, have faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Keeping your faith is like running a race. Try as hard as you can to win that race. Be sure you get that life that continues forever. You were called to have that life. And you confessed the great truth \{about Christ\} in a way that many people heard you.
My son, some people love to do bad things—and those people will try to make you do bad things too. Don’t listen to them!
Those bad people might say, “Come with us! We are going to hide and wait for someone to kill. We will attack some innocent person.
We will kill that person. We will send that person to the place of death. We will destroy that person and send him to the grave.
We will steal all kinds of things worth lots of money. We will fill our houses with these things.
So come with us and help us do these things. We will all share everything we get!”
My son, don’t follow those people. Don’t even take the first step along that path.
Those non-believers think that it is strange that you don’t do the many wild and wasteful things that they do. And so they say bad things about you.
“Be careful of false prophets. {\cf2\super [84]} They come to you and look \{gentle\} like sheep. But they are really dangerous \{like\} wolves.
The foolish person hates to be told when he is wrong. And that person refuses to ask wise people for advice.
Never depend on a liar during times of trouble. That person is like a hurting tooth or a crippled foot. \{He hurts you when you need him most.\}
Brothers and sisters, a person in your group might do something wrong. You people who are spiritual should go to the person who is sinning. You should help to make him right again. You should do this in a gentle way. But be careful! You might be tempted to sin, too.
Stay away from the evil things a young person wants to do. Try very hard to live right and to have faith, love, and peace. Do these things together with those people who have pure hearts and trust in the Lord.
Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more from the work they do.
If one person falls, then the other person can help him. But it is very bad for the person that is alone when he falls—there is no one there to help him.
Those people are filled with every kind of sin, evil, greed, and hatred. Those people are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst things about each other. Those people gossip
and say evil things about each other. Those people hate God. They are rude and conceited and boast about themselves. Those people invent ways of doing evil. They don’t obey their parents,
they are foolish, they don’t keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to other people.
Those people know God’s law. They know God’s law says that people who live like that should die. But they continue to do those wrong things. And they say that people who do those things are doing right.
A friend loves at all times. A true brother always supports you, even in times of trouble.
Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If a person loves the world, the love of the Father (God) is not in that person.
These are the \{evil\} things in the world: