‘Am I a God who is only near’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration #– #‘and not a God who is far away?Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him? ’ #– #the Lord’s declaration. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? ’ #– #the Lord’s declaration.
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, “For we are also his offspring.”
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.
Jesus answered, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Today, recognise and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.
Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. ,
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.
Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.
No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What sort of house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what will be my resting place?
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.
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.’
‘Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you’ #– #this is the Lord’s declaration.‘Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become my people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.
This is what the Lord says: Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where could you possibly build a house for me? And where would my resting place be?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
But will God indeed live on earth with humans? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.
‘Make an earthen altar for me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause my name to be remembered.
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.
God is enthroned above the circle of the earth; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
no one will say, “See here! ” or “There! ” For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.’
Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
for my gaze takes in all their ways. They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight.
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens #– #what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol #– #what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.
The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.’
I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me. I will strengthen you, though you do not know me,so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is no one but me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.
But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him?
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration.‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.
Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return.
Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person.
And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. ,
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ,
Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west.
Now this is what the Lord says – the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel – ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. ‘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. I #– #I am the Lord. Besides me, there is no Saviour. I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed – and not some foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses’ – this is the Lord’s declaration – ‘and I am God. Also, from today on I am he alone, and none can rescue from my power. I act, and who can reverse it? ’ This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: Because of you, I will send an army to Babylon and bring all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans in the ships in which they rejoice. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.This is what the Lord says – who makes a way in the sea, and a path through raging water, who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty one together (they lie down, they do not rise again; they are extinguished, put out like a wick ) – ‘Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you.
God #– #his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock? Only our God.
My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will look favourably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word.
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,
No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’
God replied to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. , This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.’
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.
‘I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me,just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me. You test whether my heart is with you. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter and set them apart for the day of killing.
For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
Then he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.’ At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.
‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing.
Elisha said, ‘Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed, ‘Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.’ So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements and untraceable his ways!
For this is what the Lord says – the Creator of the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, the one who established it (he did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) – he says, ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.
For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered; , he will thunder in the heavens against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed. , Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli. Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the Lordor the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boilingand plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, ‘Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you #– #only raw.’If that person said to him, ‘The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,’ the servant would reply, ‘No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force! ’So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because the men treated the Lord’s offering with contempt. Samuel served in the Lord’s presence #– #this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God.
Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them.‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea.It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long.
But they urged him, ‘Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him, but he disappeared from their sight.
For the majestic one, our Lord, will be there, a place of rivers and broad streams where ships that are rowed will not go, and majestic vessels will not pass. For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King. He will save us.
This is what God, the Lord, says – who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it –
Then he said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds?Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying?If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?
This is why you are great, Lord God. There is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, as all we have heard confirms.
Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us #– #
I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed – and not some foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses’ – this is the Lord’s declaration – ‘and I am God.
These are but the fringes of his ways; how faint is the word we hear of him! Who can understand his mighty thunder?
‘Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory.
Have you travelled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?Have you comprehended the extent of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
If they had really stood in my council, they would have enabled my people to hear my words and would have turned them from their evil ways and their evil deeds.
The God who made the world and everything in it #– #he is Lord of heaven and earth #– #does not live in shrines made by hands.Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.
yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.