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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.
I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates:
I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.And to you and your future offspring , I will give the land where you are residing #– #all the land of Canaan #– #as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.’
Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.” These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.’
He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, ‘We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.’Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.’
Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.
You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to fulfil the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.
See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says your compassionate Lord.
For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward my people and make a permanent covenant with them.
‘Look, the days are coming’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration #– #‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt #– #my covenant that they broke even though I am their master’ , #– #the Lord’s declaration.‘Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days’ #– #the Lord’s declaration. ‘I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.No longer will one teach his neighbour or his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
‘ “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous creatures from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.
‘My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.
Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, , so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,andI will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. ,
The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, ‘Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” They will kill me but let you live.Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.’When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, ‘What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?Why did you say, “She’s my sister,” so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go! ’I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. ,
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, ‘I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: every one of your males must be circumcised.You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you. ,Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old #– #every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring.Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant.If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’God said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ Abraham fell face down. Then he laughed and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth? ’So Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael were acceptable to you! ’ But God said, ‘No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.’
and said, ‘By myself I have sworn,’ this is the Lord’s declaration: ‘Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.’
The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.’ Moses was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.
The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbour. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife or desire your neighbour’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. ‘The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.You said, “Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives.But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.For who out of all humanity has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived?Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.” ‘The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper for ever.He did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive here today.
Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you. I will praise your name, for you have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a permanent covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them for ever.
‘Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfil.For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say ‘and to seeds’, as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, , who is Christ.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
For the Lord says this: ‘For the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases me, and hold firmly to my covenant,I will give them, in my house and within my walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give each of them an everlasting name that will never be cut off.
‘This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
And the Lord responded, ‘Look, I am making a covenant. In the presence of all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in the whole earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring.
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you.For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
‘If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep his covenant loyalty with you, as he swore to your ancestors.He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, , and the produce of your land #– #your grain, new wine, and fresh oil #– #the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.
This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favour, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
‘Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days’ #– #the Lord’s declaration. ‘I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a permanent covenant with you.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually. , I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,if I might somehow make my own people , jealous and save some of them.For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree,do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast #– #you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah #– #how he pleads with God against Israel?
An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud,Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob,and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations.
He has dealt mercifully with our ancestors and remembered his holy covenant – the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant that we,
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring. ,
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. , Amen.
For every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in him. Therefore, through him we also say ‘Amen’ to the glory of God.
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. ,Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. ,But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. ,Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. ,The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.
The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshipper’s conscience.
And today the Lord has affirmed that you are his own possession as he promised you, that you are to keep all his commands,
The Lord was standing there beside him, saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out towards the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’
But God said, ‘No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today,love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’
‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord: ‘My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and for ever,’ says the Lord.
I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’
Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’
since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him.For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ,
But you are a chosen race, ,, a royal priesthood, , a holy nation, , a people for his possession, , so that you may proclaim the praises ,, of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.’
‘As for me, here is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.
Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
‘This is what the Lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,then also my covenant with my servant David may be broken. If that could happen, then he would not have a son reigning on his throne and the Levitical priests would not be my ministers.
I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh,
This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants #– #not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.
Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.
When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
‘Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfil.
This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,
The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.’
Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.
And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.And this will be my covenant with them , when I take away their sins. ,
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. , When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities.
Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. , For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.’
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law.Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgement, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them round your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright. The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous;He mocks those who mock but gives grace to the humble. The wise will inherit honour, but he holds up fools to dishonour.Then you will find favour and high regard with God and people.
This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favour, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances,saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
Let us not get tired of doing good, for we shall reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.
‘Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, , because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, , just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. ,,
For the High and Exalted One, who lives for ever, whose name is holy, says this: ‘I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.
But seek first the kingdom of God , and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus #– #the great Shepherd of the sheep #– #through the blood of the everlasting covenant,equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. , Amen.
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.
Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
‘You are my witnesses’ – this is the Lord’s declaration – ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.
He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.