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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 will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth.Whenever I form clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds.Then I will remember my promise to you and every living animal. Never again will water become a flood to destroy all life.
At that time the Lord made a promise to Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.
I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your God.”
If you carefully obey me and are faithful to the terms of my promise, then out of all the nations you will be my own special possession, even though the whole world is mine.You will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words you must speak to the Israelites.”
Then he took the Book of the Lord’s Promise and read it while the people listened. They said, “We will obey and do everything the Lord has said.” Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Here is the blood which seals the promise that the Lord has made to you based on everything you have just heard.”
Keep in mind that the Lord your God is ⌞the only⌟ God. He is a faithful God, who keeps his promise and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love him and obey his commands.
It’s not because you’ve been living right or because you’re so honest that you’re entering to take possession of their land. It’s because these people are so wicked that the Lord your God is forcing them out of your way. It’s also because the Lord wants to confirm the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Faithfully obey the terms of this promise. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction.This is what I’m commanding you today: Love the Lord your God, follow his directions, and obey his commands, laws, and rules. Then you will live, your population will increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you’re about to enter and take possession of.
The mountains may move, and the hills may shake, but my kindness will never depart from you. My promise of peace will never change,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrongdoing. I will faithfully reward my people’s work. I will make an everlasting promise to them.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new promise to Israel and Judah.It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.“But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares the Lord, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.”
“ ‘I will promise them peace. I will remove the wild animals from the land so that my sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stubborn hearts and give you obedient hearts.I will put my Spirit in you. I will enable you to live by my laws, and you will obey my rules.
“I promised Levi life and peace. I gave them to him so that he would respect me. He respected me and stood in awe of my name.
This is my blood, the blood of the promise. It is poured out for many people so that sins are forgiven.
When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new promise made with my blood.”
Jesus has been given a priestly work that is superior to the Levitical priests’ work. He also brings a better promise from God that is based on better guarantees.If nothing had been wrong with the first promise, no one would look for another one.
Because Christ offered himself to God, he is able to bring a new promise from God. Through his death he paid the price to set people free from the sins they committed under the first promise. He did this so that those who are called can be guaranteed an inheritance that will last forever.
“This is the promise that I will make to them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my teachings in their hearts and write them in their minds.’ ” Then he adds, “I will no longer hold their sins and their disobedience against them.”
The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s home. Go to the land that I will show you.There was a famine in the land. Abram went to Egypt to stay awhile because the famine was severe.When he was about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “I know that you’re a beautiful woman.When the Egyptians see you, they’ll say, ‘This is his wife!’ Then they’ll kill me but let you live.Please say that you’re my sister. Then everything will be alright for me, and because of you I will live.”When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful his wife was.When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they raved about her to Pharaoh, so Sarai was taken to Pharaoh’s palace.Everything went well for Abram because of her, and he was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.However, the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with terrible plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.Then Pharaoh called for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he asked. “Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife?Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ and allow me to take her for my wife? Here’s your wife! Take her and go!”I will make you a great nation, I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that he had.I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. Through you every family on earth will be blessed.”
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity.This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised.All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you.For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you.Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise.Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.”God said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess].I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become ⌞a mother of⌟ nations, and kings will come from her.”Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?”Then Abraham said to God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”God replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.I will give you my promise, and I will give you very many descendants.”
and said, “I am taking an oath on my own name, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not refused to give me your son, your only son,I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of their enemies’ cities.Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because on the basis of these words I’m making a promise to Israel and to you.”Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the promise, the ten commandments.
The Lord our God made a promise to us at Mount Horeb.“Never avoid the truth when you testify about your neighbor. “Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife away from him. “Never long for your neighbor’s household, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.”These are the commandments the Lord spoke to your whole assembly on the mountain. He spoke in a loud voice from the fire, the cloud, and the gloomy darkness. Then he stopped speaking. He wrote the commandments on two stone tablets and gave them to me.But when you heard the voice coming from the darkness and saw the mountain blazing with fire, all the leaders and heads of your tribes came to me.You said, “The Lord our God has let us see how great and glorious he is. We’ve heard his voice come from the fire. Today we’ve seen that people can live even if God speaks to them.Why should we die? This great fire will consume us! If we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God, we’ll die!Who has ever heard the voice of the living God speak from a fire, as we did, and lived?⌞Moses,⌟ go and listen to everything that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We’ll listen and obey.”When the Lord heard the words that you spoke to me, he said, “I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good.If only they would fear me and obey all my commandments as long as they live! Then things would go well for them and their children forever.He didn’t make this promise to our ancestors, but to all of us who are alive here today.
O Lord, you are my God. I will highly honor you; I will praise your name. You have done miraculous things. You have been completely reliable in carrying out your plans from long ago.
He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds.
I will promise them peace. This promise will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in number, and put my holy place among them permanently.
“Don’t ever think that I came to set aside Moses’ Teachings or the Prophets. I didn’t come to set them aside but to make them come true.I can guarantee this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a period nor a comma will disappear from the Scriptures before everything has come true.
So it was not by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings that Abraham or his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world. Rather, he received this promise through God’s approval that comes by faith.
Brothers and sisters, let me use an example from everyday life. No one can cancel a person’s will or add conditions to it once that will is put into effect.The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture doesn’t say, “descendants,” referring to many, but “your descendant,” referring to one. That descendant is Christ.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs, as God promised.
But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord’s mercy is on those who fear him. His righteousness belongs to their children and grandchildren,
This is what the Lord says: ⌞I will remember⌟ the castrated men who keep my days of rest as holy days, choose what pleases me, and faithfully observe the conditions of my promise.Inside my house and within my walls, I will give them something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a monument and a name. I will give them a permanent name that will not be forgotten.
“This day will be one for you to remember. This is a permanent law for generations to come: You will celebrate this day as a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor.
The Lord said, “I’m making my promise again. In front of all your people I will perform miracles that have never been done in any other nation in all the world. All the people around you will see how awesome these miracles are that I will perform for you.
Be careful that you don’t forget the promise that the Lord your God made to you. Don’t make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything the Lord your God has forbidden.The Lord your God is a raging fire, a God who does not tolerate rivals.
If you listen to these rules and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his promise to you and be merciful to you, as he swore to your ancestors.He will love you, bless you, and increase the number of your descendants. He will bless you with children. He will bless your land with produce: grain, new wine, and olive oil. He will bless your herds with calves, and your flocks with lambs and kids. This will all happen in the land the Lord will give you, as he swore to your ancestors.
Every path of the Lord is ⌞one of⌟ mercy and truth for those who cling to his promise and written instructions.
This is what the Lord says: In the time of favor I will answer you. In the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you. I will appoint you as my promise to the people. You will restore the land. You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.
“But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
I will remember the promise that I made with you when you were young, and I will make it a promise that will last forever.
So I ask, “Has God rejected his people Israel?” That’s unthinkable! Consider this. I’m an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see. Let them carry back-breaking burdens forever.”So I ask, “Has Israel stumbled so badly that it can’t get up again?” That’s unthinkable! By Israel’s failure, salvation has come to people who are not Jewish to make the Jewish people jealous.The fall of the Jewish people made the world spiritually rich. Their failure made people who are not Jewish spiritually rich. So the inclusion of Jewish people will make the world even richer.Now, I speak to you who are not Jewish. As long as I am an apostle sent to people who are not Jewish, I bring honor to my ministry.Perhaps I can make my people jealous and save some of them.If Israel’s rejection means that the world has been brought back to God, what does Israel’s acceptance mean? It means that Israel has come back to life.If the first handful of dough is holy, the whole batch of dough is holy. If the root is holy, the branches are holy.But some of the olive branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place. You get your nourishment from the roots of the olive tree.So don’t brag about being better than the other branches. If you brag, remember that you don’t support the root, the root supports you.“Well,” you say, “Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted onto the tree.”God has not rejected his people whom he knew long ago. Don’t you know what Elijah says in the Scripture passage when he complains to God about Israel? He says,
This is the list of ancestors of Jesus Christ, descendant of David and Abraham.Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah.Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. They lived at the time when the people were exiled to Babylon.After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel,Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob.Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was the husband of Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called Christ.So there were 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations from the exile until the Messiah.
He has shown his mercy to our ancestors and remembered his holy promise, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.
You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the promise that God made to our ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all people on earth will be blessed.’
They are Israelites, God’s adopted children. They have the Lord’s glory, the pledges, Moses’ Teachings, the true worship, and the promises.The Messiah is descended from their ancestors according to his human nature. The Messiah is God over everything, forever blessed. Amen.
Certainly, Christ made God’s many promises come true. For that reason, because of our message, people also honor God by saying, “Amen!”
Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.”No one receives God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings since, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”These laws have nothing to do with faith, but, “Whoever obeys laws will live because he obeys them.”Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that the laws in Moses’ Teachings bring by becoming cursed instead of us. Scripture says, “Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.”⌞Christ paid the price⌟ so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to all the people of the world through Jesus Christ and we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.
The Holy Spirit used this to show that the way into the most holy place was not open while the tent was still in use.The first part of the tent is an example for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices that were brought there could not give the worshiper a clear conscience.
Today the Lord has declared that you are his people, his own special possession, as he told you. But you must be sure to obey his commands.
He speaks his word to Jacob, his laws and judicial decisions to Israel.The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem. He is the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel together.He has done nothing like this for any other nation. The other nations do not know the decisions he has handed down. Hallelujah!
The Lord was standing above it, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants.Your descendants will be like the dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. Through you and through your descendant every family on earth will be blessed.Remember, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will also bring you back to this land because I will not leave you until I do what I’ve promised you.”
God replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.
I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.If you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, doing everything I command you today,Love the Lord your God, obey him, and be loyal to him. This will be your way of life, and it will mean a long life for you in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He is the one who brings peace to your borders and satisfies your ⌞hunger⌟ with the finest wheat.
but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.He built his holy place to be like the high heavens, like the earth which he made to last for a long time.
“This is my promise to them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I put in your mouth will not leave you. They will be with your children and your grandchildren permanently,” says the Lord.
I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince. I, the Lord, have spoken.
“I can guarantee that I won’t drink this wine again until that day when I drink new wine with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
“Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has come to take care of his people and to set them free.He has raised up a mighty Savior for us in the family of his servant David.
This promise belongs to you and to your children and to everyone who is far away. It belongs to everyone who worships the Lord our God.”
There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who calls on him.So then, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
I am making my promise to you. Never again will all life be killed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a flood that destroys the earth.”
“My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations.So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations.
“You must follow these instructions. They are a permanent law for you and your children.
who made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them. The Lord remains faithful forever.
So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious.
“This is what the Lord says: Suppose you could break my arrangement with day and night so that they wouldn’t come at their proper time.Then my arrangement with my servant David could be broken, and he would not have a descendant to rule on his throne. The arrangement with my servants the Levitical priests could also be broken.
I will give them a single purpose and put a new spirit in them. I will remove their stubborn hearts and give them obedient hearts.
Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift. Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses’ Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us,
Brothers and sisters, let me use an example from everyday life. No one can cancel a person’s will or add conditions to it once that will is put into effect.
But when the right time came, God sent his Son ⌞into the world⌟. A woman gave birth to him, and he came under the control of the laws given to Moses.God sent him to pay for the freedom of those who were controlled by these laws so that we would be adopted as his children.
to those who are faithful to his promise, to those who remember to follow his guiding principles.
“Don’t ever think that I came to set aside Moses’ Teachings or the Prophets. I didn’t come to set them aside but to make them come true.
“This is the promise that I will make to them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my teachings in their hearts and write them in their minds.’ ”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because on the basis of these words I’m making a promise to Israel and to you.”
Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power.He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
“If his descendants abandon my teachings and do not live by my rules,if they violate my laws and do not obey my commandments,then with a rod I will punish their rebellion and their crimes with beatings.
Remember, O Lord, your compassionate and merciful deeds. They have existed from eternity.Do not remember the sins of my youth or my rebellious ways. Remember me, O Lord, in keeping with your mercy and your goodness.
In this way Israel as a whole will be saved, as Scripture says, “The Savior will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob.My promise to them will be fulfilled when I take away their sins.”
Give thanks to the one who killed the firstborn males in Egypt— because his mercy endures forever.He brought Israel out from among them— because his mercy endures forever.with a mighty hand and a powerful arm— because his mercy endures forever.
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, whom I love, and in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the nations.
Realize that you weren’t set free from the worthless life handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed.Rather, the payment that freed you was the precious blood of Christ, the lamb with no defects or imperfections.
He has sent salvation to his people. He has ordered that his promise should continue forever. His name is holy and terrifying.
Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him with suffering. When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the Lord will succeed through him.He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned ⌞through suffering⌟. He will carry their sins as a burden.
Learn what this means: ‘I want mercy, not sacrifices.’ I’ve come to call sinners, not people who think they have God’s approval.”
All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the Lord. All the families from all the nations will worship you
Now that we have God’s approval by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.If the death of his Son restored our relationship with God while we were still his enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of his Son will save us.In addition, our Lord Jesus Christ lets us continue to brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we now have this restored relationship with God.Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned.Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws.Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. Adam is an image of the one who would come.There is no comparison between ⌞God’s⌟ gift and ⌞Adam’s⌟ failure. If humanity died as the result of one person’s failure, it is certainly true that God’s kindness and the gift given through the kindness of one person, Jesus Christ, have been showered on humanity. There is also no comparison between ⌞God’s⌟ gift and the one who sinned. The verdict which followed one person’s failure condemned everyone. But, even after many failures, the gift brought God’s approval.It is certain that death ruled because of one person’s failure. It’s even more certain that those who receive God’s overflowing kindness and the gift of his approval will rule in life because of one person, Jesus Christ.Therefore, everyone was condemned through one failure, and everyone received God’s life-giving approval through one verdict.Clearly, through one person’s disobedience humanity became sinful, and through one person’s obedience humanity will receive God’s approval.Through Christ we can approach God and stand in his favor. So we brag because of our confidence that we will receive glory from God.
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
Do not let mercy and truth leave you. Fasten them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.Do not quarrel with a person for no reason if he has not harmed you.Do not envy a violent person. Do not choose any of his ways.The devious person is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord’s intimate advice is with decent people.The Lord curses the house of wicked people, but he blesses the home of righteous people.When he mocks the mockers, he is gracious to humble people.Wise people will inherit honor, but fools will bear disgrace.Then you will find favor and much success in the sight of God and humanity.
This is what the Lord says: In the time of favor I will answer you. In the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you. I will appoint you as my promise to the people. You will restore the land. You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.You will say to the prisoners, “Come out,” and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” They will graze along every path, and they will find pastures on every bare hill.
Then you will live in the land that I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
The Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.
We can’t allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way. Certainly, each of us will receive ⌞everlasting life⌟ at the proper time, if we don’t give up.
I will pour water on thirsty ground and rain on dry land. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.
His anger lasts only a moment. His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but there is a song of joy in the morning.
“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes, Jews first and Greeks as well.God’s approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
Your faithfulness endures throughout every generation. You set the earth in place, and it continues to stand.
The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy. This is what he says: I live in a high and holy place. But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed.
But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.
The God of peace brought the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, back to life through the blood of an eternal promise.May this God of peace prepare you to do every good thing he wants. May he work in us through Jesus Christ to do what is pleasing to him. Glory belongs to Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
Your commandments, which I love, make me happy.I lift my hands ⌞in prayer⌟ because of your commandments, which I love. I will reflect on your laws.
I will bow toward your holy temple. I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth. You have made your name and your promise greater than everything.
Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand.
I will not dishonor my promise or alter my own agreement.On my holiness I have taken an oath once and for all: I will not lie to David.
Now it is not as though God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord. “I have chosen you as my servant so that you can know and believe in me and understand that I am the one ⌞who did this⌟. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.
He remembered his promise to them. In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
He didn’t doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God ⌞for the promise⌟, he became strong because of faith
The Lord will do everything for me. O Lord, your mercy endures forever. Do not let go of what your hands have made.
Praise the Lord, my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty.You make water gush from springs into valleys. It flows between the mountains.Every wild animal drinks ⌞from them⌟. Wild donkeys quench their thirst.The birds live by the streams. They sing among the branches.You water the mountains from your home above. You fill the earth with the fruits of your labors.You make grass grow for cattle and make vegetables for humans to use in order to get food from the ground.You make wine to cheer human hearts, olive oil to make faces shine, and bread to strengthen human hearts.The Lord’s trees, the cedars in Lebanon which he planted, drink their fill.Birds build their nests in them. Storks make their homes in fir trees.The high mountains are for wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for badgers.He created the moon, which marks the seasons, and the sun, which knows when to set.You cover yourself with light as though it were a robe. You stretch out the heavens as though they were curtains.He brings darkness, and it is nighttime, when all the wild animals in the forest come out.The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.When the sun rises, they gather and lie down in their dens.Then people go to do their work, to do their tasks until evening.What a large number of things you have made, O Lord! You made them all by wisdom. The earth is filled with your creatures.The sea is so big and wide with countless creatures, living things both large and small.Ships sail on it, and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it.All of them look to you to give them their food at the right time.You give it to them, and they gather it up. You open your hand, and they are filled with blessings.You hide your face, and they are terrified. You take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.You lay the beams of your home in the water. You use the clouds for your chariot. You move on the wings of the wind.You send out your Spirit, and they are created. You renew the face of the earth.May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord find joy in what he has made.He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.I will sing to the Lord throughout my life. I will make music to praise my God as long as I live.May my thoughts be pleasing to him. I will find joy in the Lord.May sinners vanish from the world. May there no longer be any wicked people. Praise the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah!You make your angels winds and your servants flames of fire.You set the earth on its foundations so that it can never be shaken.
But the spiritual nature produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There are no laws against things like that.