If you had obeyed me,\par then peace would have come to you\par like a full flowing river.\par Good things would have come to you\par again and again,\par like the waves of the sea.\par
My words will go out with happiness,\par and they will bring peace.\par Mountains and hills will begin dancing with happiness.\par All the trees in the fields will clap their hands.\par
I will teach them a new word:\par ‘Peace.’\par I will give peace to the people near me\par and to the people that are far away.\par I will heal (forgive) those people!”\par The Lord himself said these things.\par
If the people in that home welcome you, then they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished them. But if the people don’t welcome you, then they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them.
Those servants will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that his servants are ready and waiting for him. I tell you the truth. The master will dress himself for work and tell the servants to sit at the table. Then the master will serve them.
Then Jesus said to the followers, “If a person accepts a little child like this in my name, then that person accepts me. And when a person accepts me, that person accepts the One (God) that sent me. The person among you that is the most humble—that person is a great (important) person.”
In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. In the kingdom of God, the important things are these: living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [143]}
I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [150]}
Some people live for God’s glory, for honor, and for life that cannot be destroyed. Those people live for those things by always continuing to do good. God will give life forever to those people.
If a person’s thinking is controlled by his sinful self, then there is spiritual death. But if a person’s thinking is controlled by the Spirit, then there is life and peace.
The man that makes the jar can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make different things. He can make one thing for special purposes and another thing for daily use.
God waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory. God wanted to give that glory to the people that receive his mercy. God has prepared these people to have his glory.
When a person is in Christ Jesus, it is not important if he is circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.
Is there any person among you who is truly wise and understanding? Then he should show his wisdom by living right. He should do good things with humility. A wise person does not boast.
Why do these troubles happen? To prove that your faith is pure (true). This purity of faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. The purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears (comes).
“The Lord God of Israel promised that your father’s family would serve him forever. But now the Lord says this, ‘That will never be! I will honor people who honor me. But bad things will happen to people who refuse to respect me.