WHAT WOULD YOU PAY?
What would you pay if someone you loved’s life hung in the balance? If your child were gravely ill, would you stop at nothing to save them? Would you give everything—your time, your strength, your life? On Earth, most of us would. A father fights. A mother pours out strength. A sibling, a friend, would lay down their life. Yet in the spiritual realm, we often hesitate. Why does the battle for Heaven and Hell feel less real than fleeting earthly struggles? Compared to eternity, life is a breath. Why obsess over the temporary and neglect the eternal? Christ’s blood alone can save those He loves. If their destiny rests in part on our prayers, witness, and perseverance, shouldn’t we act? Count the cost. Pray without ceasing. Love without quitting. Keep showing up. Heaven’s listening.

WHEN JESUS TAKES OVER
We all fight to stay in control as long as possible. But when the Holy Spirit comes in power, the rules we wrote collapse, and Jesus takes over. God’s outpourings rarely look like we expect. Our normal is often part of the problem, and Heaven comes to set it right. A powerful Holy Spirit presence can touch emotions, even bodies. The atmosphere becomes otherworldly, and time seems to vanish. Yet manifestations are not the essence. What remains—the fruit—is what matters, and Jesus must stay our obsession. Deep repentance transforms character. Restitution brings healing, anchored in Scripture, truth liberates us. This is the hallmark of God-breathed Revival: centered on Jesus, saving the lost, reordering priorities, and sending people to love their neighbors.

REVIVAL & REPENTANCE “SPIRITUAL TWINS”
Revival is the fruit, if repentance is the root; cut the root, and the tree withers. True revival is agonizing, because the Spirit convicts and provokes us over sin until we repent deeply. It is consuming, disrupting schedules, comforts, and demanding undivided attention. Scripture calls this repentance metanoia—a change of mind that turns the life. Peter urged, “Repent and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Repentance means turning away, surrendering quickly and fully. Start in private, bring hidden sins into the light, pray for healing, make restitution, cut sinful patterns, accept correction, and invite accountability. When genuine repentance comes first, personal revival inevitably follows.
REVELATION OFTEN FOLLOWS DEVASTATION
Revelation follows devastation when we yield to Jesus instead of resisting. Isaiah learned this when King Uzziah died — prosperity made him proud, pride brought leprosy, leprosy exposed his weakness. In grief, Isaiah looked up and saw the Lord high and lifted up, seraphim crying, “Holy, holy, holy!” The temple shook. Isaiah broke. “Woe is me! …for I am unclean among unclean people.” A coal touched his lips. His guilt lifted. Sin was released. God revealed his calling. The Lord asked, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.” Devastation exposes our pride. Revelation invites repentance. Say yes to God’s refining expecting, direction and personal revival.

RESCUING OUR LOVED ONES
When love prays and refuses to quit, God can cross oceans in a moment to rescue someone we fear is lost. In 1973, my twin brother Joseph spent a year and a half in India and Nepal, immersed in Eastern religions. Back home, our sisters and brother had surrendered their lives to Jesus. Months passed without a word, and our family grew concerned. My sister Maria’s husband, George, felt holy urgency, fasting and praying for seven days. During those days, Joseph sat in a Delhi room, meditating. A cross of light appeared on his door, and God spoke to his heart, “Jesus is the way.” Soon, he yielded his life, eventually leading Forward Edge missions for forty years, bringing mercy to thousands. Prayer is God’s first bridge to the unreachable; never stop praying.

CHRIST’S LAST TEMPTATION IS OUR FIRST –  

The Last Temptation Jesus faced and overcame may be the first one we need to conquer. He could have called down 12 legions of angels to protect Him. He could have answered His accusers, but he remained silent, suffered, became sin for us, and died in our place. So, the fruit of the Spirit He exercised is the least exercised in America. It’s self-control. It’s why the Book of Revelation promises overcomers eight times, “To him who overcomes, I will give the tree of life, protection from the second death, hidden manna, a new name, authority over nations, white garments, a secure place in God’s temple, the right to sit with Christ on His throne, and the inheritance of all things as a child of God.” All of this is ours if we yield to the fruit of the Spirit, self-control.  

INCREASED COURAGE IS ALWAYS INCREMENTAL

Perhaps the character dimension that needs to increase most in each of our lives is courage. It’s what happened in the life of Daniel. In Daniel 2, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great statue, trusting God for the meaning when his life was at stake. Courage meant stepping forward when all the wise men faced death. In Daniel 4, Daniel’s boldness grew further as he told the king his glory would be stripped away, and he would live like an animal—speaking judgment directly to absolute power. By Daniel 5, Daniel faced Belshazzar, declaring God’s judgment and the fall of Babylon that very night. Each vision required greater courage—moving from explanation to confrontation, to proclaiming imminent destruction. So too in our lives. As Jesus’ greatest test was His last, so too, courageous battles are ahead for each of us.

EXCITED ABOUT MY FUTURE

I’m grateful for being radically born-again, birthed out of gross darkness into my immediate destiny. What Jesus did for me by dying for my sins was the champagne on the hull, but not having a vision beyond the Cross is like having a winning lottery ticket but never cashing it in. I don’t want to be forgiven for my past, and yet indifferent toward my eternal destiny. If I’m more excited about my past than my future, it might be because I need Jesus to fully heal a part of my past. God is not watching reruns or eating leftovers. He’s making all things new, and I don’t want the Devil’s fear of his future to dampen my excitement for the breathtaking future God’s promised me and all of us who have made Him our Lord. 

WHEN DO YOU WANT YOUR REWARD?

We are all offered the same option every day: should I put my time, talents, and treasures and pursue the momentary trinkets of Earth, or should I believe the promise for the eternal reward of Heaven only God could dream of? Which takes more faith, receiving Earth’s temporary reward, or eternities’ eternal blessings? It’s not a trivial question. It’s perhaps one of the most important questions we need to resolve while we are on Earth. Hoping for an earthly reward was one of the biggest cons the devil tried to seduce Jesus with, “…taking Him up on a high mountain…the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world…” (Matthew 4:8-9) So don’t let Satan deceive you, offering the stagnant pond of momentary pleasures, in exchange for the reviving river of God’s eternal blessings. 

FAMILIARITY CAN BLIND US

From the very beginning, God has made Himself undeniable. His creation—the skies, seas, and stars—all shout, “There’s a Creator!” Yet even Jesus’ siblings did not believe in Him until after the resurrection. Miracles, healings, and the feeding of thousands weren’t enough. In Nazareth, faith was so small that Jesus could do few miracles. What does this show us? Familiarity can blind us. The more we see, the easier it is to take for granted, dismiss, or even criticize. Love doesn’t always equal recognition, and inattentiveness can dull our hearts until we treat the extraordinary as ordinary. But gratitude changes everything. Every answered prayer, every protection, every provision is proof that God is near. Say, “Thank You, Jesus!” and watch familiarity turn to awe, and wonder awaken in your heart again.

WHAT GIANTS REALLY THOUGHT

All of us face what feels like overwhelming challenges, but it raises a vital question: how did the giants of the faith handle their greatest internal battles? How did Moses rest the night before the Red Sea, or Esther before stepping into the king’s throne room? What about Daniel on the eve of the lion’s den, or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, knowing they would refuse to bow? Is it possible they slept soundly, at peace in the face of disaster? Perhaps they had already surrendered to the outcome, resigned even to catastrophe, because their trust in God outweighed their fear of the pain they might endure. Could it be their faith brought them to a place of full acceptance—content with whatever God chose, and at peace with the future?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “BELIEVING” & TRUSTING
In the mid-1800s, world-famous French tightrope walker Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Falls—1,100 feet long, 160 feet high—many times: blindfolded, on stilts, carrying a stove, even pushing a wheelbarrow. One day, he asked, “Who believes I can carry a man across on my back?” The crowd cheered. Then he asked, “Who will volunteer?” No one moved. Eventually, he carried his manager across. That moment reveals a powerful truth: there are two kinds of faith—faith that works and faith that doesn’t. James 2:19 says, “Even the demons believe—and shudder.” Belief alone isn’t saving faith. The crowd believed in theory, but not enough to trust him with their lives. We often do the same with God—believing He could act but doubting He will. That’s why many stay “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

IF GOD CAN’T PROTECT US, WE CAN’T BE PROTECTED
In 1977, after the Jesus Movement Revival had ended, 75 people still lived in our Christian community—many recovering heroin addicts and paroled inmates. My wife and I, with twin daughters on the way, felt called to pastor there. With no locks on our doors, we lived 4½ years, trusting, “If God can’t protect us, we can’t be protected.” One day, while counseling a burly ex-con in a room attached to our home, he convulsed, sobbed, and confessed to murdering six people—including his uncle, whom he blew through a window with a shotgun. When I urged him to turn himself in, he raged and punched his fist through the sheetrock inches next to my head. My life was threatened many times, but I stood my ground and told him what I’d told others before: “Because of Jesus, you don’t intimidate me.”

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO KILL 50 TURKEYS
A half century ago, my wife and I pastored a live-in Christian Community of 75 people for 4 ½ years. Our salary was $50 a month plus room and board. I did many things I’d not done before or since. Money was short in our community, so the only meat we ate were road kills from Fish and Game. One day, a turkey farm called us and said they had 50 turkeys we could have. The only problem was, they had giant tumors on their bodies. When I picked them up, no one was willing to kill them. So, I, a kid from Brooklyn killed all 50. It was a horrible experience, and I’ve never killed an animal since, but it prepared me for a life of doing the difficult and unexpected. For many years, most of what I commit to do requires the God of the impossible.

WILLING TO DIE FOR LOVED ONES
On July 4th, 1987, at a church picnic right here on Lake Tahoe, I stood with a couple when the father gasped, “Oh, my God!” His 8-year-old daughter was drifting across the lake, clinging to a raft like a sail. He shouted, “Kathryn, Let go of the raft!”—but she kept floating farther. Just the day before, two people had died of hypothermia. I hesitated— “What if I die trying?” Suddenly, her athletic Mom ripped off her sweats and dove in. She was all in. I pulled off my sweatshirt and followed. The freezing water felt like a hundred daggers. Together, we reached Kathryn and got her back. The thought that pushed me in? “I’ll never live with myself if I don’t act.” Afterward, the mother said she wouldn’t have made it without me. Two things hit me: I might be someone’s only hope. Love acts, no matter the cost.

MY MOTHER’S PRAYER
Here’s the prayer my mother prayed for her five children who each got saved. “I claim Francis as God’s purchased possession, in the name of Jesus Christ, on the basis of Your shed blood. I claim the tearing down of all the works of Satan in Francis’s life, all false doctrine, unbelief, temporal values, hatred, resentment, bitterness, and deceitfulness. I claim that each of Francis’s thoughts will be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ. I claim the complete deliverance of Francis from the power and persuasion of the devil. I pray that Francis will be brought into submission, and that his conscience will be convicted and brought to the point of repentance. I pray that Francis will hear and believe God’s Word, and that God’s will and purpose will be accomplished in and through Francis’s life. Thank you, Jesus, for hearing and answering my prayer!”

HAVE HOPE, BUT DON’T PLAY GOD
All of us have hopes. Dreams that keep us awake at night and wake us in the morning. The question is, are they God-breathed or man inspired? The answer is trickier than you might expect. David had a hope of building God a magnificent temple. Moses hoped to go into the Promised Land. Solomon wanted to finish well. High hopes require unwavering obedience. David killed too many people. Moses struck the rock too many times. And Solomon followed too many wives into idolatry. So, what are you and I hoping for? I hope it’s God-intended and not me-imagined. Proverbs 19:21 affirms this reality. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” For God alone works all things according to His will. (Ephesians 1:11)

EXCHANGING GIFTS WITH MY MOTHER
My mother was a devout Catholic whose prayers were answered by God. Consequently, I received Jesus on Mother’s Day while hitchhiking as a hippie in Northern California. But even after I did and began to read the Bible, she had not yet started reading it. Likewise, there was still an area in my own life that needed to be resolved as well. So, one day, my mother and I met to exchange gifts. I gave her a new Bible, and she gave me a packet of underwear. Each of us committed to using our gifts faithfully. My mother read her Bible every day for the rest of her life, and even as I recall this divinely orchestrated exchange, I am pleased to report that I have remained faithful to my commitment as well. Is there anyone wiser than a good Mom?

THE #1 PERSON I PRAY FOR
Who is the person who has hurt you the most? For many years, I thought it was my father. But the longer I live and look back on the events that have caused the most pain in my life, it’s not. It’s me! Consequently, no one could blow up my life faster than I could. I am the most dangerous person I know. And I’m not alone. Nothing has saddened me more in the past few decades than leaders I look up to bringing a reproach to the name of Jesus, humiliating their spouses, failing their children, and stumbling other believers. It’s the most painful sentence I can even imagine, and frankly, it scares the hell out of me, literally, because I want it to. Since I am most concerned about myself, I pray mostly for me. Perhaps you agree with me. “Jesus, protect me from me.”

TRAIN YOUR SOUL TO TRUST
Have you ever been frustrated that God doesn’t seem to be responding to you? I know I have. Perhaps it’s because He doesn’t react to our dissatisfaction. After all, it’s just “unbelief.” He only responds to our being satisfied with the life He has provided for us while believing in all His promises and the great things He has in store up ahead. Another word for satisfaction is trust. Philippians 4:19 says, “…my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” But He doesn’t supply all our wants. That would spoil us and not bless us. Jesus said, “Take my yoke on you and learn from me… and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29). If we train our souls to trust God, we will experience the blessed life He longs to give us.

GOD’S PRESENCE IS OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE
Are you trying to solve a problem? That’s fine—but please don’t make it your primary focus. The purpose of our lives is far greater than simply fixing problems. We were created for God’s pleasure as eternal sons and daughters designed to live forever in His presence. Therefore, our purpose must be to build altars of relationship with Him—not to live problem-free, but passion-rich. Even before you dig a well, make an altar. Acknowledge God as the Author and Finisher of every hope you carry. Vision will come and go, but our burden must always be to follow Jesus. Only what He intended will endure and come to pass. In His presence—and His presence alone—is there joy overflowing and eternal pleasures that bring peace, not regret. (Psalm 16:11)

Is it possible that one way to find peace is to mix absolute faith and complete indifference? Being fully persuaded to do what God has asked you to do, but comparably apathetic to what happens when you’re obedient. One example of this is found in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Book of Daniel. They calmly shared with King Nebuchadnezzar, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18) They had absolute faith in God’s power to save them but were completely indifferent to their mortal peril. “Jesus, help us to live with that level of ‘pure faith’ and trust!’” 

WHEN NEEDS ARE PREFERENCES 

What if our attachment to a “need” is merely a preference? Paul expressed this conviction in Philippians 4:11-13 when he wrote, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Paul was fully persuaded that his faith in Jesus empowered him to be indifferent to his circumstances. He found strength and contentment regardless of whether he was experiencing abundance or need. “We are grateful, Jesus, that You alone know and will meet our real needs vs. Our wants.” 

SLOW DOWN & LIVE SAFE 

I’ve always been wired to get more done in less time. At times, it’s been divinely inspired. Lately, it’s been more dangerous, walking up and down stairs, handling glassware, and even brushing my teeth, as my right nostril found out at blistering speed. So, I’m getting the message: slow down and live safe. Why should that be so hard? Is it reflecting on my value and usefulness to be more painstaking to experience less pain? An easy sentence to believe, but a harder habit to admit. So, I’m making the confession, I need to slow down to live safely and finish well. Humbling to say, which in itself seems absurd, but necessary to activate the grace required to open my heart and ears and be obedient. There is no clearer definition of pride than feeling awkward saying, “Jesus, help me to slow down.” 

WHEN SORROW IS NOT PUNISHMENT 

Some of those who crucified Jesus assumed He was dying for His sins and not for the sins of the world. Yet, as the Bible says, Jesus was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and was acquainted with our grief. (Isaiah 53:3) Perhaps you think this about yourself, that your sorrows are connected to things you’ve done wrong. That may be true on some level, but it’s just as possible it’s a lie from the enemy. Sorrow is a part of everyone’s life. Job experienced enormous sorrow that the Bible says was not connected to his sin. The Bible says, at times, we should weep with those who weep, empathizing with their pain, while not feeling sorry for them, but believing that God has hope for their future. Let Jesus take your sorrows. That’s why He came. 

DON’T BELIEVE YOUR UNBELIEF 

There’s one thing in life that each of us should never believe. It’s what amazed Jesus the most when people believed it more than the truth, His words, even His miracles. It wasn’t when they lied or believed elaborately conceived deceptions. From Christ’s vantage point, this was far worse. It baffled Him. How could anyone believe in something so absurd? If it amazed Jesus, it should scare us. It’s called “unbelief.” Jesus was so shocked and astonished, the Bible says, “He could not do any miracles there.” (Mark 6:5) So, what’s the takeaway? The next time “unbelief” creeps into your thoughts and tries to dismiss what you know in God’s Word is true, resist it. As James 4:7 promises, “… humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  

One of the silliest and saddest sequences of thought I tend to repeat unconsciously is my over-concern with the fleeting issues of Earth when I should be rejoicing in my life being lavished with the blessings of Heaven. Ephesians 2:6 says, “…God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms…” As followers of Jesus, we are seated with God in heavenly places. If we believe the Bible, we know that’s not an overstatement. In light of that unshakeable truth, how sad for us to be obsessed with Earth when God wants us to live, trust, and be fully persuaded that we are seated with Him in Heaven. So, the next time we freak out about one of the momentary light afflictions of Earth, remember where you are seated and Who you’re seated next to.

GOD NEVER FELT SORRY FOR HIMSELF

If you’re like me, you get a little uptight whenever you’re seriously inconvenienced. At the same time, when you read verses like Matthew 8:20, you see that Jesus, without any sense of being deprived, said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Here is the God who owns the Universe, purposefully writing a script for His life on this planet that says He doesn’t know where He will spend the night. That’s self-inflicted deprivation! Somehow, He knew that how He lived on Earth would set the bar for how we should live. Not the specific details, but the essence that His surrender needs to be our surrender. Jesus also said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” so let’s learn from His example. (Matthew 10:24) 

BUILDING SPIRITUAL MUSCLES

It’s hard to build spiritual muscles, and in this age of easy everything, it’s nearly impossible to produce the grit needed to endure the hardships guaranteed in our Christian lives. That’s why the expression, “Everyone wants to live in a castle, but few want to start out living in a cave,” hits such a nerve. You can’t pull on leaves to make them grow. The patriarch Joseph took 13 years from slavery to nobility; David took over 20 years from the time he was anointed king to ascend the throne. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before God used him to lead his fellow Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. You can’t crush grapes and get fine wine overnight. It takes time, and the longer I live, I realize God’s never in a rush.

THE BREVITY OF LIFE

Perhaps no verse in the Bible illustrates the brevity of our lives more than 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years…” If our average lifespan is 70 years, and a day with the Lord is 1,000 years, then our time on Earth, compared to God’s day, is just one hour and 41 minutes. Likewise, each day beyond that would be about another minute and a half of God’s time. Further emphasizing the exhortation in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time.” Our lives here are truly a vapor, a wind that passes away. (James 4:14) This truly is the shortest season of our everlasting life. May we each live fully awake to our God-intended lives.

FIVE HEALTHY PERSPECTIVES FOR SENIORS

Here are five healthy perspectives for seniors to believe: God has written an equally meaningful script for each of us. The riddle of life is to discern it and then walk it out by faith. Out of all possible options, your God-given script is divinely crafted and is a perfect blend of value, history, giftings, and grace. All of which is received by faith. Every response to life’s challenges is a test that will be repeated in eternity to form the character God intended, if not passed on Earth, all for our good. Comparing yourself to someone else will cause you to lose focus on the one-of-a-kind script God has written just for you. Long life is a gift from God, not a burden. Look forward to it! None of us have been short-changed. We’ve all been lavishly overpaid.

LOSING INTEREST ON EARTH

Are you losing interest in your life and future as you get older? Do you feel like what’s ahead is less valuable or exciting than what’s past? This perspective is not only misguided but unhealthy for your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Nothing God intended for our lives on Earth is coincidental or pointless. It may require more discernment to perceive its value, but we should never lose sight of this biblical principle: God is saving the best wine for last. I can’t lose interest on Earth and hope to go to Heaven expecting God’s original intention for my life to remain unfulfilled. God’s script for each of us is not a random lottery ticket with few winners. Every one of our lives is a winning lottery ticket from God’s perspective, divinely crafted for our good.

One of the universal maxims that people in all cultures share in common is the conviction that “more is better than less.” Whether it’s more money, pleasure, fun, or food, everyone wants more. Yet, when it comes to what pleases God – faith – it’s always easier to believe for less than believe for more. It’s called unbelief, and it was so unlike the heart of God it amazed Jesus. It’s why James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “…the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6). No one’s ever asked God for more unbelief. Instead, they asked Jesus to “…help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). May that be our prayer today. “Jesus, increase our faith because we know it pleases You most.” (Hebrews 11:6)

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING

Lately, the Holy Spirit has been challenging me to pray more for victories in my spiritual battles and more for my loved ones: for those who know Jesus to remain safe and for those who don’t know Him to get saved. I’ve come to the conclusion that the Bible’s challenge in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to “pray without ceasing,” wasn’t a hyperbole or even an overstatement but a supernatural projection of the possibilities of the Spirit-Led life. With that said, there are times of flowing in the Spirit that seem almost conversational, a beautiful exchange of a Father and a son. Even saying this makes me emotional. It’s what I have always wanted with my natural father but never had. Now, my Heavenly Dad is with me all day, every day.

PRIDE VS. CONFIDENCE

There are two attitudinal epidemics that are running rampant across our culture. One shouts, “I’m everything!” and the other whispers, “I’m nothing!” The irony is that these polar opposites were birthed by the same person: the Devil. If the enemy of our souls can’t sabotage you with Pride; he’ll eviscerate you with Insecurity or False Humility. Yet, unless we are confident in who God created us to be, we’ll never fulfill our God-given destiny. Pride scares me. So many of the Bible greats were seduced by Pride, starting with Satan himself. On the other hand, the Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7). It’s not only possible to be humble and powerful; it is absolutely God’s plan for each of our lives.

YOU DON’T NEED SOMEONE TO TEACH YOU

One of the most enigmatic, meaningful, and comforting verses in the New Testament is 1 John 2:27. It says, “…you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know…” Like today, because false teachings were deceiving even sincere believers, God’s Word affirmed the ultimate reality that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to be our ultimate Teacher. In the most spiritually dangerous situations, He will help us discern the truth that God alone knows. If we do as Colossians 3:15 says, to “… let the peace of God rule in our hearts…” He will decide, determine, direct, and control what truth and lies are. You can count on it!

WEAVING INTO GOD’S HEART

Only God provides a supernatural way to gain strength to fly above our troubles and be energized to go forward. Isaiah 40:31 promises, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” The word “wait” here means binding together (like strands in a rope), being intertwined with God, and waiting on Him with enthusiastic expectation. Our waiting on Jesus is not passive; it is an active intertwining of our hearts, minds, and spirits with our Creator—just as strands of a rope are woven together for strength, so our hearts are intertwined with the One who loves us most. Wait on God, renew your strength, and fly. 

GOD’S SECRET PLACE IS HIS SAFE PLACE

Every parent wants their children to be safe, and no One wants that more than God. It’s why Psalm 91 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.'” (Psalm 91:1-2) God’s presence is the ultimate place of safety, a “secret place” of intimate communion with Him where He hides and protects His people. It’s where “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10). A safe place where God keeps us in perfect peace if our minds are steadfast because we are trusting in Him. (Isaiah 26:3) God’s calling us to enter the Safest Place on Earth, His Secret Place.

One of the universal maxims that people in all cultures share in common is the conviction that “more is better than less.” Whether it’s more money, pleasure, fun, or food, everyone wants more. Yet, when it comes to what pleases God – faith – it’s always easier to believe for less than believe for more. It’s called unbelief, and it was so unlike the heart of God it amazed Jesus. It’s why James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “…the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6). No one’s ever asked God for more unbelief. Instead, they asked Jesus to “…help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). May that be our prayer today. “Jesus, increase our faith because I know it pleases You most.” (Hebrews 11:6)

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING

Lately, the Holy Spirit has been challenging me to pray more for victories in my spiritual battles and more for my loved ones: for those who know Jesus to remain safe and for those who don’t know Him to get saved. I’ve come to the conclusion that the Bible’s challenge in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to “pray without ceasing,” wasn’t a hyperbole or even an overstatement but a supernatural projection of the possibilities of the Spirit-Led life. With that said, there are times of flowing in the Spirit that seem almost conversational, a beautiful exchange of a Father and a son. Even saying this makes me emotional. It’s what I have always wanted with my natural father but never had. Now, my Heavenly Dad is with me all day, every day.

PRIDE VS. CONFIDENCE

There are two attitudinal epidemics that are running rampant across our culture. One shouts, “I’m everything!” and the other whispers, “I’m nothing!” The irony is that these polar opposites were birthed by the same person: the Devil. If the enemy of our souls can’t sabotage you with Pride; he’ll eviscerate you with Insecurity or False Humility. Yet, unless we are confident in who God created us to be, we’ll never fulfill our God-given destiny. Pride scares me. So many of the Bible greats were seduced by Pride, starting with Satan himself. On the other hand, the Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7). It’s not only possible to be humble and powerful; it is absolutely God’s plan for each of our lives.

YOU DON’T NEED SOMEONE TO TEACH YOU

One of the most enigmatic, meaningful, and comforting verses in the New Testament is 1 John 2:27. It says, “…you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know…” Like today, because false teachings were deceiving even sincere believers, God’s Word affirmed the ultimate reality that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to be our ultimate Teacher. In the most spiritually dangerous situations, He will help us discern the truth that God alone knows. If we do as Colossians 3:15 says, to “… let the peace of God rule in your hearts…” He will decide, determine, direct, and control what truth and lies are. You can count on it!

WEAVING INTO GOD’S HEART

Only God provides a supernatural way to gain strength to fly above our troubles and be energized to go forward. Isaiah 40:31 promises, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” The word “wait” here means binding together (like strands in a rope), being intertwined with God, and waiting on Him with enthusiastic expectation. Our waiting on Jesus is not passive; it is an active intertwining of our hearts, minds, and spirits with our Creator—just as strands of a rope are woven together for strength, so our hearts are intertwined with the One who loves us most. Wait on God, renew your strength, and fly. 

GOD’S SECRET PLACE IS HIS SAFE PLACE

Every parent wants their children to be safe, and no One wants that more than God. It’s why Psalm 91 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.'” (Psalm 91:1-2) God’s presence is the ultimate place of safety, a “secret place” of intimate communion with Him where He hides and protects His people. It’s where “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10). A safe place where God keeps us in perfect peace if our minds are steadfast because we are trusting in Him. (Isaiah 26:3) God’s calling us to enter the Safest Place on Earth, His Secret Place.

WORST STORY . . . BEST ENDING
We’ve all watched movies that, somewhere in the middle, were so troubling we almost turned them off. But much to our surprise, it had an ending that made all the struggle in the middle more than worth it. Our lives are the same way. They can have the worst beginning, a terrible middle, but a happy, blessed ending. It reminds us of Christ’s first miracle at the Marriage of Cana: He saved the best wine for last. We all, at times, want to give up. Life’s too hard, too confusing, and too painful. But the God of Happy Endings always shows up. And if we stay on the operating table, we’ll see the genius of His perfect script for each of our lives. Love never fails, Hope never hurries, and Joy always comes in some distant morning if we trust God more than what we see or feel.

LONG LIFE IS NOT A BOOBY PRIZE
If living a long life was a booby prize, then the Word of God would never say, “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:2-3) You would think, the way some people live, that they are trying to get off the planet as soon as possible. Doing everything we can in our spirit, soul, and body is the will of God for each of our lives. 1 Corinthians 6 challenges each of us, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God’s.”

FEARING GOD & GOODNESS
Perhaps one of the most head-scratching concepts found in the Bible is that Fearing God is a demonstration of His Goodness. The prophet Hosea prophesied just that, “They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” (Hosea 3:5). WOW! That’s mind-blowing! Yet, hidden in this verse is a life-affirming truth. You could say, “Fearing God is the goodest thing we could ever do.” Romans, in the New Testament, affirms this as well, “…do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) The Bible’s clear: God’s Goodness leads us to fear God, repent and get free! Amazing! That sentence, in itself, should cause us to see fearing God as Good and NOT fearing God as bad and evil.

CONFESSIONS OF AN UNCONSCIOUS LEGALIST
Renowned Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee stated, “Legalism is doing more or less than God asks us to do.” Ouch! I confess I’ve done this; sadly, I still do sometimes. In my efforts to change people’s unhealthy behavior, I’ve canonized statements that were more my opinion and personal conviction than soundly based upon the Word of God. It may seem innocent and optional, but it can lead to deception and heresy. Perhaps I should remember some of the final words in the Bible, “…I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book…” (Revelation 22:18-19) YIKES! Not to make me paranoid, but I don’t want to become a walking plague.

OUT-OF-REACH “FAITH”
What would you rather have, Faith that causes your prayers to be instantly answered or Faith that creates character and fortitude by waiting for God’s perfect timing? Hmm? Is that a trick question? Absolutely! It’s the one the Devil asks us all the time. It’s precisely why I pray, “God, keep what I believe in, reaching for, and praying for always out of my reach. My learning to walk by Faith, trust by Faith, and pray in Faith guarantees I am doing the one thing that always pleases You the most.” If we want mountains to be moved, dead hopes to be resurrected, and our broken hearts to be healed, we must grow up! And there’s only one way for that to happen: Believe in the impossible, grow muscles by Faith, and learn to trust God irrespective of what we see or feel.

What if we believed that God’s blessing came not in response to seeing what we want to see or getting what we want to have but in trusting God regardless of the outcome? What if the true blessing lies in our ability to trust Him, irrespective of whether our prayers seem to be answered or not? Abraham was committed to sacrificing his only son, Isaac, regardless of the outcome. He was attached to God, even raising him from the dead if necessary, but he refused to waver in unbelief by being disobedient. Life is far more a dance than a workout routine. It’s a rhythmic connection to the heartbeat of God. Flowing with His wisdom and plan, not our naïve presumptions based more on feelings than faith. Dance in faith; don’t work out in fear.

A DEAD DOG & A FLEA –

Feeling worthless doesn’t disqualify you and me from receiving the promises of God for our lives. In 1 Samuel 24:14, David said he was as worthless as a dead dog or a flea. That’s pretty worthless! And yet he went on to be a man after God’s heart and one of the Greatest Men of God of All Time! God loves to use people who feel worthless because they have the best chance of looking to Him alone for their value. For many years, my “Life” expression has been, “The more I know me, the less impressed I am!” Because that proclamation makes room for, “The more I know Jesus, the more impressed I am!” God meets us at our lowest moments because He knows exactly how we feel.

DOING WHAT IS HARD & RIGHT –

Have you ever insisted on doing something even though you knew it was wrong and would turn out badly in the long run? I know I have. From two aborted children while in college, to, at times succumbing to temptations that I knew were dead ends and would lead to horrible consequences. No one has hurt me more than me. In a similar way, in 1 Samuel chapter 8, the nation of Israel was told by the prophet Samuel that if they chose to have a king instead of following God alone, the king would require more of them than they would ever want to do. Sadly, the Israelites responded, “Even so, we want a king anyway.“ (1 Samuel 8:19) My prayer every day is, “God, keep me from doing what is easy, but wrong. Help me do what is hard and right for my good, and Your glory. ”

KEEPING COMMITMENTS –

All of us who wholeheartedly follow Jesus have, at some point, proclaimed our commitment to do His will, whatever the cost. In Joshua 24:21, the Israelites promised never to forsake the Lord, as did Peter on the night he would betray Jesus. The irony is that both the Israelites and Peter reneged on their promise in a short time. Their failures prove this. There is no power in merely saying we will do or not do something. It’s all about the follow-through. There is, however, great power in believing that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. We can partner with Him in prayer by developing an intimate, committed relationship with Jesus so that we may truly live a life of integrity and faithfulness, both now and forever.

NEVER STOP PRAYING FOR LOVED ONES –

Do you have loved ones who have walked away from following Jesus? Many of us do. It hurts and is bewildering. Yet, irrespective of their poor decisions, we should never stop praying for them and offering wisdom if they are open to receiving it. When I was an atheist for seven years, from 15 to 22, my mother continued to pray for me, even when I laughed aloud at her as she prayed over her food. She had the last laugh, and I received Jesus on Mother’s Day. Even after the Israelites rebelled in first Samuel 12, the prophet Samuel continued to pray for them and teach them. He said, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.” (1 Samuel 12:23, NKJV) 

PRAYING IN SELFLESS FAITH –            

Do you feel like your prayers aren’t being answered? Not all prayers are created equal. Prayers based on fear are lifeless. None of us have a valid reason for not trusting God. Romans one, verse 20, says the magnificence of the visible creation eliminates any excuse for not believing in the perfection of the invisible God. The creation screams, “Hope in God!” What if our attachment to answered prayer was more connected to us trying to play God than allowing Him to have His way? Discouragement is self-inflicted. It comes when our prayers resemble selfish idolatry more than selfless faith. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!” (Psalm 42:11)

Everything God asks us to do will require great faith; not foolish but stretching. In the counter-intuitive spiritual realm, as faith pleases God the most, it’s no surprise that our Heavenly Father wants to grow that muscle the most. Additionally, as the Word say, “Let the peace of God rule (umpire, direct) in your heart,” there is never a tension between faith and peace. Have no preference in the decision-making process. Be intentionally neutral, seeing the possibility of each option, and not enamored by any. If we are, it usually means we’re inadvertently playing God. Finally, if I desperately want the will of God more than anything else, it is impossible to miss it. God’s a protective Dad, and if allowed, will always guide His sons and daughters to His best.

TRIALS INTO TRIUMPHS –

One of the great surprises that have taken place in our lives if we are followers of Jesus, is that our biggest trials became some of our greatest successes. Since everything in our lives is God allowed, and even God intended, all we could ever experience can work for our good if we follow the conditional warranty found in Romans 8:28: “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” What is God promising? That He will turn our trials into triumphs if in the middle of our struggles we are steadfast in our love for God and remain committed to His will and purpose for our lives. Trials to Triumphs! It’s always been God’s plan for every difficulty in our lives.

COMMITTED TO SLAVERY –

Do you remember the day you signed up to be a slave? Probably not. But I do. I remember the times I gave into pornography. I became a slave to sin. Then there was the time I spent days wallowing in fear and unbelief. I was a slave. 2 Peter 2:19 says, “…you are a slave to whatever controls you.” All have sinned and come short. All of us at times have been a slave to something. Paul wrote, “…you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13) Though none of us like to think about when we were slaves, even for a moment, only by acknowledging when we gave into sin can the conviction of the Holy Spirit have its intended affect: complete forgiveness.

NOT TO DIGNIFIED TO MAGNIFY –

I’ve never been a fan of religion. Frankly, as a teenager, the disingenuousness of religious leaders was a significant part of driving me to atheism for seven years. So, it made me feel better when I found out that Jesus had the most trouble with religious leaders as well – the Scribes and Pharisees. He said they were “…beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.” (Matthew 23:27). They were dignified, yet deceitful, distinguished, and dishonest. After being criticized for dancing before the Lord, King David said, “I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight.” He’s saying, “I’m not too dignified not to magnify.” Jesus did the same. On the night He was betrayed, He washed the disciple’s feet. I never, ever want to be too dignified to magnify the Lord.

MOTIVES FOR MIRACLES –

At times, we all need a miracle, and there’s nothing wrong with asking God for one. Yet, our motive for asking may very well determine if we receive it or not. In Matthew 12 the religious leaders said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” It’s evident, asking Jesus for a miracle can be birthed in faith or unbelief. Since God knows our needs before we ask, trusting Him completely is the greatest act of faith we can ever demonstrate. The Bible says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15, NIV) Ask, but want God’s will more than having your prayer answered. 

GOD’S GREATEST TEST –

The most significant test God will give us is whether we love Him more than anything else. It will repeated, consistently, at strategic times, throughout our lives. That’s why the first commandment is by far the greatest. Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” This reality is affirmed by the fact that sacrifice is the number 1 verification of someone’s commitment to God over anything else. It is God’s greatest test for all of us. Are we willing to sacrifice what is most important to us: the firstborn, the first fruits, the best of the best? That’s why Father God sent His Son to die for the world. The death of Jesus would cost the Father the most. God responds to sacrifice! That’s why it is still our greatest test: Is Jesus number one in our lives?

A DEAD DOG & A FLEA –

Feeling worthless doesn’t disqualify you and me from receiving the promises of God for our lives. In 1 Samuel 24:14, David said he was as worthless as a dead dog or a flea. That’s pretty worthless! And yet he went on to be a man after God’s heart and one of the Greatest Men of God of All Time! God loves to use people who feel worthless because they have the best chance of looking to Him alone for their value. For many years, my “Life” expression has been, “The more I know me, the less impressed I am!” Because that proclamation makes room for, “The more I know Jesus, the more impressed I am!” God meets us at our lowest moments because He knows exactly how we feel.

DOING WHAT IS HARD & RIGHT –

Have you ever insisted on doing something even though you knew it was wrong and would turn out badly in the long run? I know I have. From two aborted children while in college, to, at times succumbing to temptations that I knew were dead ends and would lead to horrible consequences. No one has hurt me more than me. In a similar way, in 1 Samuel chapter 8, the nation of Israel was told by the prophet Samuel that if they chose to have a king instead of following God alone, the king would require more of them than they would ever want to do. Sadly, the Israelites responded, “Even so, we want a king anyway.“ (1 Samuel 8:19) My prayer every day is, “God, keep me from doing what is easy, but wrong. Help me do what is hard and right for my good, and Your glory. ”

KEEPING COMMITMENTS –

All of us who wholeheartedly follow Jesus have, at some point, proclaimed our commitment to do His will, whatever the cost. In Joshua 24:21, the Israelites promised never to forsake the Lord, as did Peter on the night he would betray Jesus. The irony is that both the Israelites and Peter reneged on their promise in a short time. Their failures prove this. There is no power in merely saying we will do or not do something. It’s all about the follow-through. There is, however, great power in believing that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. We can partner with Him in prayer by developing an intimate, committed relationship with Jesus so that we may truly live a life of integrity and faithfulness, both now and forever.

NEVER STOP PRAYING FOR LOVED ONES –

Do you have loved ones who have walked away from following Jesus? Many of us do. It hurts and is bewildering. Yet, irrespective of their poor decisions, we should never stop praying for them and offering wisdom if they are open to receiving it. When I was an atheist for seven years, from 15 to 22, my mother continued to pray for me, even when I laughed aloud at her as she prayed over her food. She had the last laugh, and I received Jesus on Mother’s Day. Even after the Israelites rebelled in first Samuel 12, the prophet Samuel continued to pray for them and teach them. He said, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.” (1 Samuel 12:23, NKJV) 

PRAYING IN SELFLESS FAITH –            

Do you feel like your prayers aren’t being answered? Not all prayers are created equal. Prayers based on fear are lifeless. None of us have a valid reason for not trusting God. Romans one, verse 20, says the magnificence of the visible creation eliminates any excuse for not believing in the perfection of the invisible God. The creation screams, “Hope in God!” What if our attachment to answered prayer was more connected to us trying to play God than allowing Him to have His way? Discouragement is self-inflicted. It comes when our prayers resemble selfish idolatry more than selfless faith. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!” (Psalm 42:11)

There are two great temptations in life that, if yielded to, will cause us to drift away from Him. The first is giving into immoral pleasures that turn our hearts away from God. Equally dangerous is allowing our hearts to become bitter and choosing to abandon God due to unmet expectations related to excessive pain. Joseph, the patriarch, experienced these temptations and refused to allow them to seduce his heart. When Potiphar’s wife tried to draw Joseph into adultery, he refused to succumb to this momentary pleasure and ran away. Likewise, Joseph protected his heart from becoming resentful when the king’s cupbearer did not remember him before the king, even though Joseph’s interpretation of a dream revealed his life being spared. “Jesus, protect my heart from temptations and help me to run from anything that would destroy my destiny and relationship with You.”

WHEN TO BUILD AN ALTAR

Is God revealing Who He is to you? It would be best if you built an altar of remembrance. It wasn’t just a pattern in the Old Testament; God commanded it. When God revealed one of His names in the Bible, it provided insight into His character, attributes, and nature. Each name reflected a different aspect of who God is: Yahweh refers to His Lordship; El Shaddai, He’s Almighty God; Jehovah Jireh (the Lord will provide); Jehovah Rapha (the Lord Who Heals); and Abba (He’s our Heavenly Father). Each name reveals God’s nature. What’s the principle: whenever God reveals a part of Who He is to us: His nature and character. Build an altar of worship and remembrance. Each name deepens our understanding of Who God is and is worth building an altar.

CALLING ALL ANGELS

When was the last time you invited thousands of angels to come and fight a spiritual battle on your behalf? Like me, I’m sure it’s been a while. Yet, in John 14:12, Jesus said, “…whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things.” The truth is, God has never asked us to limit Him but to trust and believe Him; to believe for more and not less. He also said, “…if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done.” Jesus promised it. To be sure, saying something outrageous that requires a miracle won’t make it happen. On the other hand, if you have a burden to pray for the impossible, the miraculous, go for it. 

YOU DON’T NEED ANOTHER SIGN

In Matthew 26, the Jewish high priest’s encounter with Jesus reveals the danger of seeking signs without true belief. When the high priest asks, “Are You the Son of God?” (Matthew 26:63), Jesus affirms the truth, but instead of believing, the high priest reacts in anger, tearing his clothes and symbolizing his rejection of the truth. Those around Jesus mock Him, further showing how a lack of faith blinds us to God’s revelation (Matthew 26:67-68). This passage warns against asking God for confirmation when our hearts are closed to His truth. Like the high priest, we can fall into the trap of seeking signs not to understand but to accuse or condemn. True faith requires accepting God’s revelation without demanding further signs. We must trust His Word and align our actions with that trust rather than seeking additional validation.

PROCESSING BEING CALLED “JUDAS”

I recently discovered that Judas grew up with an older brother named Jesus. No, not that Judas. Jesus, the Son of God we know and love, had a younger brother named Judas. (Matthew 13:55) It made me wonder. Did Jesus know the person who would betray him would be named Judas? If he did, did He have to make any psychological adjustments because of that fact? Or perhaps, like me, when I meet someone with the same name as one of my brothers or sisters, I’m always excited to tell them, “I have a brother or sister with your name.” Did Jesus say this to Judas Iscariot? How did Jesus feel when He realized his brother’s name would be forever tarnished? Lastly, how did Judas, the brother of Jesus, feel when he found out another Judas would betray Jesus? Many are the unexpected, emotional hurdles in life. 

DO YOU HAVE FAVORITES?

One encouraging quality of God is His commitment to love all His children equally. Not only is this perspective the high ground for God, but it’s also for us. I have a twin brother and twin daughters. Consequently, equity and fairness have impacted my life since I was born and since my wife and I had identical twin daughters. The end of Matthew 12 affirms that even in the heart of Jesus, unhealthy favoritism is never God’s will. When Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters were outside, wanting to get into a crowded meeting He was having, Christ’s response was shockingly revealing. When told His family was outside requesting entrance, Jesus said, “Who is My mother, and who are my brothers?” “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50)

All faith on Earth has a shelf life. At one point, all two million of the children of Israel had faith to walk through a parted Red Sea. Giant walls of water surrounded them. A vengeful Egyptian army followed hard behind. It was a good day for BIG faith. But over time, their fearless faith faded. They’d just witnessed one of the greatest miracles of all time, but it wasn’t enough to keep them living by faith. It’s sad to say and even harder to imagine. But that’s exactly what happened. I don’t want to live on the fumes of MY ONE-TIME FAITH. I don’t want to be ready one day, and incapable the next. I want to cast my bread upon the water, in Jesus’ name, until my final breath. Eternal faith has no shelf-life. I resolved to walk by that eternal faith fifty years ago and I refuse to draw back.

WHY DO YOU KEEP IT?

Pastor John Wimber told the story of a missionary in a very remote tribe that he had, for years, tried to reach for Jesus. On one occasion, the chief of the tribe asked for a private meeting, which was in itself unusual. When the missionary showed up, the chief asked, “Why do you keep it?” The missionary had no idea what he was referring to, and so answered, “Keep what?” The chief raised a small cloth next to him and  said, “You know when you sneeze, why do you keep it?” It’s a funny story but always makes me think about the words that ruminate in my head that need to be discarded and not allowed to obsess my thinking. The Bible says, “Whatsoever things are true and just and pure, think on these things…” (Philippians 4:8)

WANTING TO BE A BIRD

Have you ever wanted to be a bird? Perhaps not. But I guarantee, there are situations where we all would wish to be a bird. Recently, I watched a video of the giant earthquake in Nepal a few years back, and as they showed cities and hundreds of people being overwhelmed by the quake, and running for their lives, every bird in sight took flight and flew away. They were the only ones who could. It reminded me that in my own life when there are significant shakings, I have to live ready to fly above the carnage and chaos to be safe mentally, emotionally and spiritually. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)  

WHY PEOPLE GIVE UP ON LIFE

At 22, I spent six months contemplating killing myself every day. By the grace of God, I didn’t. So, when considering the reasons people take their lives, you realize for every bad option they chose, others embraced the opposite. When overwhelmed by pain and suffering, many turned to God for comfort and lived. When fatalistic about their future, they trusted that Jesus held their future in His hands. When a doctor told someone an Illness was terminal, the Word of God offered them healing and everlasting life instead. While severe depression overwhelmed one, another was led to the Rock that was higher than the pit they were in. And lastly, when the quality of someone’s life was diminished and they gave up on life, another surrendered to the Author of life, Jesus Christ. 

FEAR OF PERSECUTION

Are you afraid of being persecuted because you love Jesus? It’s understandable. Why would someone not battle fear when faced with that option? Yet, despite any trepidation you and I might have about the struggles ahead, the Bible says unequivocally, “…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) When some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” Jesus freaked out and went into hiding. Right? Wrong! He responded, “Tell that fox…” (Luke 13:31-32) and then Jesus fearlessly proclaimed that only God could determine when His life would be taken, not Herod. Bold as a Lion! Just like we need to be. “The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1)

BEING DIMINISHED BY OTHERS

Insecurity and insignificance had its beginning with a couple in a garden. Yep, that couple. And everyone born after them has struggled with it. So, even though it’s a universal issue, don’t let how others view you diminish you… Someone really famous was once mocked and critiqued, “’Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at Him.” (Mark 6:3) What a miss: to consider the most significant Person of all time “insignificant.” And if they could say that about Jesus, what could others think and say about any of us? Proving this principle: whatever you don’t recognize, you can’t celebrate. Don’t let how others see you keep you from celebrating the marvelous person God created you to be!

How should you respond if you feel like you’re being consistently bombarded by one devastating experience after another? In Acts 27, after barely surviving a shipwreck, Paul is bitten by a poisonous snake while warming himself by a fire. How does Paul react to this series of disasters? He calmly shakes off the snake and remains unshaken. His response shifts the onlookers’ perspective—from thinking he deserved to die, to believing God was protecting him. Though they overreact, Paul’s calm, trusting demeanor profoundly impacts them. His Christlike response leads to people being healed and set free. What happens to us is far less important than how we respond. Trusting in God will transform even the worst situation into an opportunity for His power to be revealed.

YOU ARE SOMEONE’S BEST HOPE

What if I said, you may be the best hope for someone else ever being saved? Would you think it was an overstatement? In Acts 25, Paul the Apostle was on a ship as a prisoner. When the ship is wrecked on a rocky shore, the soldiers plan to kill all the prisoners. The only reason they didn’t was because the centurion in charge wanted to spare Paul’s life. So, the only reason every prisoner on board was spared was because of Paul. One man’s life saved many others. Who needs your prayers, presence, and love to surrender their life to Jesus? The Bible says, “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

WHEN LOSS IS GAIN

Perhaps the hardest thing we overcome in life is the grief of losing someone we love. The disciples grieved when Jesus was taken from them, yet Jesus rejoiced that the result of His death would be sending the Holy Spirit to fill each of their hearts, propelling them to a whole new level of spiritual authority and power. The “turning our morning into  dancing” proclamation in Psalm 30:11, is not a lofty concept but a promised experience if we can see our trials of life from God’s perspective. Sure, the “all things working together for the good” promise of God in Romans will take believing for the faith that moves mountains, but once embraced, it is a far better way to live. Jesus, help me to see my loss as gain, and my pain with purpose. Shake me fully awake to believe for all the good you died to give me.

PRESUMING TO KNOW GOD’S MIND

Many times, in our naiveness, we think we know what God is going to do because of what He’s already done. Presumption can be defined as “God will do a second thing because of how He did the first.” I’ve found that more often than not, God has a different plan. In John 11, when Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him,” the disciples thought that he was sleeping, and would wake up and get better. Yet, Lazarus was physically dead. The assumption of him waking up from a nap would have been significantly less of a miracle than Jesus raising him from the dead. The point? Don’t presume you know what God is doing. In the end, His plans are always infinitely better.

WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?

In John 5, Jesus asks a man who has been sick for 38 years if he wants to be healed. While some might see it as a silly question, it was necessary. Though most people would say, “Yes,” when asked if they wanted to be healed?” I’ve been stunned over the years to find, upon questioning, that many people are more attached to what’s making them sick than what would make them well. More often than not, when the level of commitment of both is offered, many people choose to live with their dysfunctional crutch rather than humbling themselves and yielding to Jesus and the Cross. As Joshua challenged, “…choose this day whom you will serve…” (Joshua 24:14) this question is always relevant. If it weren’t, then everyone in the world would follow Jesus.

WITH PERSECUTIONS

Generally speaking, the fine print in contracts prepares the signee for the unexpected and potentially unwanted. That’s why we should never be naïve about the fine print. So, in Mark 10, when Jesus promised those who left their families and homes for the sake of the gospel, a hundred times as much, we have to make sure we’ve read the fine print. At the end of the verse, He added,  “…with persecutions.” The Bible says it is an honor to suffer for the sake of the gospel. (Philippians 1:29) And that the, “…sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Though persecution is something to be aware of and prepare for, Psalm 72 says, “God only does wondrous things.” In eternity, the short-term burdens of persecution become long-term blessings. 

My best friend’s first name is Holy. So, when I hear someone change His last name, often to something inappropriate or vulgar, it offends me. Think of your last name. How would you like someone to add one of the hurtful words you’ve heard people use to your first name? I doubt you’d want it to become your nickname. But you say it’s just an expression. Do you mean like a racial slur? Would you use it as the last name of a police officer as he was giving you a traffic ticket? I doubt it. You say, “It’s just unconscious!” Perhaps the first time, but if there’s no conviction that it’s improper, you’ll repeat it until it becomes habitual. A person’s first “F-bomb” is always memorable until it’s not. What’s your best friend’s last name?

STICK THE LANDING – 

We’ve all known people who had great promise and exceptional gifting, but in the end they were shooting stars. They never became who God created them to be. Even in the Bible, there were many notables who had great starts: King Solomon, King Saul, King Uzziah and even Judas. Initially Solomon was brilliantly wise, Saul was very humble, Uzziah was incredibly successful, and Judas had the best mentor who ever lived. But great wisdom, humility, success and mentoring doesn’t guarantee a fabulous finish. That’s why the Bible says, “A good reputation is better than precious perfume;  likewise, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1) The last words of a person are the most memorable. In sports it’s the final out, the last point and sticking the landing. Whatever you achieve in life, make sure you stick the landing.

WORTH A THOUSAND LIFETIMES – 

Have you ever questioned the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? Probably not. Why? Because you’ve seen pictures that were beyond description. A thousand words would barely capture the magnificence of a majestic image. So, what would be the value of eternal wisdom? That wisdom must be worth a thousand lifetimes. Peter said to Jesus, “Only You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68). Those words weren’t just priceless, but unparalleled. Have you received these eternal words, these unprecedented words, the unequaled promises from a trustworthy God? Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Believing these words today will indeed be worth a thousand lifetimes.

THE MOST IDOLATROUS THOUGHT – 

One of the most idolatrous thoughts any of us ever have is thinking we know what God is going to do next. It’s man playing God. After living a long life, I’ve come to believe that whatever we are hoping for won’t START as we expect, GO as we desire, or END as we wish. God saying, “My thoughts aren’t your thoughts…” isn’t overstated. (Isaiah 55:8) The moment we think we know what God will do; we stop depending on Him. We’re saying, “I’ll take it from here, Lord.” What a joke! It would be far better to trust God and leave all expectations behind, other than believing all things will work for my good if I love God more than anyone or anything and if I am more committed to His will than my own. (Romans 8:28)

FADING INTO OBSCURITY –

We all understand that as we age, we gradually lose some physical strength, sharpness of mind and even a measure of visibility. The truth is each of us is preparing for obscurity. I’m happy to fade into obscurity; but I refuse to accept fading into oblivion, not even for a moment. That would be a betrayal of the one-of-a-kind, from the foundation of the world, “all that we could ask or think” calling on my life. The Bible says, “…we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10). From God’s perspective, from my first breath, every minute of my eternal life has consequences. I refuse to put myself out to pasture. Instead, I will wake up daily, training my soul to be excited about all God has in store. 

THE DISTRACTED LIFE –

Would you believe it if I said that a distracted life is an unattractive life? It’s true. No one is attracted to someone lazy or irresponsible. No one’s hoping for a shiftless son or a directionless daughter. Diligence is applauded, and focusing is essential. David was focused at Ziklag and when everyone wanted to kill him, he worshipped. Yet, on the balcony of his home, his distractedness ended a life and a marriage. My best day is not the day I resist a nudge from God to get up and roll over and play dead. That’s the day I wonder what I missed. What inspiration from God would have taken my life to the next level? I know it’s true because I got up when I was tired and didn’t want to, and Heaven moved. It branded me. Jesus, help me to live fully awake!  

As a young Christ-follower, I coined the phrase, “If it’s boring, it’s not of God.” It was a bit overstated, but it made a good point: the God who makes galaxies is not predictable, unexciting, and repetitious, and so, if we are authentically representing Him, neither should we be. Recently, the #1 golfer in the world was so good and so rarely made mistakes that one of his competitors referred to his golf as “boring.” Implying that he was so predictably excellent, it was less exciting to watch. It made me think. Do I want my relationship with God to be “faithful or erratic?” Should my spiritual and physical disciplines demonstrate consistent self-control or laziness? And does my commitment to my wife need to be 100% faithful? Hmm. Perhaps “boring” Christianity would be OK after all. 

IMMATURITY & INSECURITY –

Sad to say, even after following Jesus for over fifty years, I’m often saddened by my immature responses to pressures in my life. I know better! It caused me to reflect that immaturity and insecurity are conjoined twins. Growing up or growing anxious is always my choice. Feeling good or bad is often a reflection of Who I trust. The Bible provokes us to be strong in Jesus, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) If I am not secure in my faith and trust in Jesus, then my insecurity will sadly lead to immature responses.  

SURROUNDING TRUTH –

I heard a Bible verse recently that surrounded two marvelous qualities of God with a word that God promises will set us free. It’s the word “truth.” Proverbs 3 says, “Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you]; Bind them [securely] around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3, AMP) Many voices are proclaiming their truth, which is not just false but misrepresents the heart of God because they entirely lack the mercy and kindness of God. As there is no greater responsibility for those of us who profess to have a relationship with God, may the truth we proclaim will set people free, always be immersed in the merciful kindness of the God who alone is Love. 

BE LIKE GOD: BLESS! –

Would you like to live blessed? I’m certain you would! Thankfully, it’s God’s nature to bless, and that’s why He encourages each of us to be a blessing and bless others. We are only walking in the character of God when we are blessing others. Believe in the power of blessing! As “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), so are blessing and cursing. While many in our society believe that cursing makes them powerful, it’s a blessing that demonstrates true strength. Many scriptures affirm this life-giving principle: Acts 20:35 says, “Greater is he who gives a blessing than he who receives a blessing.” And Ephesians 1:3 says, God has blessed each of us with every spiritual blessing.” While Psalm 133 affirms, “For there the Lord commands the Blessing: Life forevermore.”

THE GOD OF ABUNDANCE –

All of us, at times, struggle with the pressures of lack: lack of finances, lack of peace of mind, and lack of hope. Yet, everything good that God is and has for each of us is in abundance. Whether it’s love, joy, peace, grace, or mercy, God’s blessings are abundant to each of us. So, how do we access these blessings? We need faith, obedience, and a close relationship with God. Trusting in God’s promises, following His commandments, and seeking His will through prayer and meditation on His Word can help us align our lives with His plans. Practicing gratitude, serving others, and living a life of love and compassion also attracts God’s blessing and favor. Ultimately, having a humble and open heart, surrendering our will to God’s will, and seeking His guidance and direction are vital to experiencing His abundant blessings. 

“IF YOU ARE NOT A STRONG SWIMMER, YOU WILL DROWN!” –

Recently, when the temperature in our northern California town was 113, I went to a waterpark with six grandsons and a son-in-law. The final ride in our four-hour water-thon was so intense that the lifeguard looked at each of us and said, “This ride is disorienting. Unless you are a strong swimmer, you will drown. So, I need to look each of you in the eye, ask you a question, and hear your response. ‘Are you a strong swimmer?’” After being propelled down a winding shaft, we were violently thrown into the bottom of eight feet of water. It was no joke! The next day, when the assassination attempt took place, I couldn’t help connecting that chilling sentence, “If you are not a strong swimmer, you will drown!” to the season we are in. Let me say to each of us, “Be strong spiritually, or you will drown!”  

BEGGING JESUS TO GO AWAY –
It is impossible to read the Bible without realizing that following Jesus will cost us, especially if we do what’s right. In Matthew 8, Jesus delivered a town with a severe problem. Two demon-possessed men, living in a cemetery, were so violent that no one could go through that area. (Matthew 8:28) Jesus passes through the town and graciously delivers the demonized men from their bondage. For His kind, loving efforts, the Bible says, “…the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.” (Matthew 8:34, NLT) Did it cost the town’s people something? Yes, the demons had rushed into a herd of pigs who then jumped into a lake and drowned. It made me wonder: when I do the right thing and lose something important, will I trust Jesus or ask Him to leave me alone?

ELECTION FATIGUE –
Finding anyone without an opinion or preference in the upcoming election is getting harder and harder. This predicament is understandable and even essential since each candidate supports many moral and biblical issues. Regardless of the election outcome, there is something more important than who wins or loses. During this election season, we must keep our hearts trusting in the eternal incumbent–the God of Heaven who sits upon the Throne and makes all things eventually work for our good and His glory. So, as emotions heat up and tensions are inflamed, may each of us respond with the fruit of God’s Spirit, which will sometimes require love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

WAKING UP TOO LATE –
One of the most terrifying questions I consider is, am I cooperating with promoting lies and, even worse, am I hosting deception in my character? Many people wake up too late regarding their response to lies and deception. They come riding over the hill after the battle’s been fought and lost. I pray every day that I would not be ignorant of the devil’s devices and naïve to the lies I believe and protect. If, as Jesus said, “truth will set you free,” then lies will keep you in chains, chained to deception, lulled to sleep by dead religion, and unable to discern truth from lies and fact from fiction. Either we live awake, or we die asleep. The Bible challenges each of us: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

WE ARE ALL IN PROCESS –
We are all in process. In the process of our maturity, our character, and our healing. When I was I pastor, I stood before our congregation and said, “I have been healed, I am being healed, and I will be healed.” It leveled the playing field, and transparently shared that I had not arrived at some lofty place, high above the struggles they face. James 5:17 says, “Elijah was as human as we are.” And Hebrews 4:15 affirms as well, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” When you think you’ve arrived at some elevated place, watch out. “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) I don’t teach what I’ve learned, I teach what I’m learning.

LIVING A LONG LIFE –
The other day, I sensed the Holy Spirit was asking me to commit to living a long life. He wasn’t asking if I wanted to live long but to prepare for, focus on, and have faith to live for a very long time. I’m 75, and it wasn’t a five- or ten-year recommendation; it was trusting God for 20-plus more years. It was such an unconventional perspective I wondered if it was an appropriate thought—allowable or presumptuous. Contrast that with many people who, as they age, stop believing in the impossible, trusting for the exceptional, and asking God to do the remarkable. Sure, I’ll need to continue to eat right, exercise regularly, and dream often. Living significantly longer will not only stretch me, but it will also grow faith muscles I will take into eternity.

15 Bible Verses About Living Without Prejudice

James 2:1 ESV / 6 helpful votes 

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

Galatians 3:28 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Acts 10:34-35 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

James 3:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Colossians 3:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Romans 12:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Romans 2:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

For God shows no partiality.

John 7:24 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Luke 6:37 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Matthew 7:1-2 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Zechariah 7:9-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Isaiah 56:3-7 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Proverbs 24:23 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

15 Bible Verses about Living Whole-heartedly

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes 

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Psalm 119:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,

1 John 4:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

James 1:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Ephesians 6:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Romans 12:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Matthew 22:37 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Psalm 9:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

23 Bible Verses About Living For Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Romans 8:18 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Philippians 1:21 ESV / 7 helpful votes 

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

James 1:22 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Romans 1:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Mark 12:1-44 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. …

Galatians 6:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

2 Corinthians 6:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

Acts 17:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Matthew 10:1-42 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, …

Matthew 5:1-48 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. …

Isaiah 9:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

1 John 5:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

James 5:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Hebrews 6:1-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, …

Ephesians 5:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Acts 5:1-42 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. …

John 14:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 8:1-59 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” …

John 7:37-39 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 6:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

19 Bible Verses About Next Generation

Psalm 78:4-6 ESV / 37 helpful votes 

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,

Psalm 71:18 ESV / 23 helpful votes 

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Psalm 145:4 ESV / 19 helpful votes 

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

Psalm 145:3-4 ESV / 13 helpful votes 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Psalm 22:30 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

Jeremiah 1:6-7 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

Matthew 24:34 ESV / 7 helpful votes 

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Psalm 48:12-14 ESV / 7 helpful votes 

Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

Deuteronomy 32:7 ESV / 7 helpful votes 

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Deuteronomy 29:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick—

1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

Revelation 22:1-21 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. …

1 Timothy 1:9-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Joel 1:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Acts 28:1-31 ESV / 1 helpful vote 

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. …

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

100 Bible Verses About Godly Leaders

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Romans 8:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Exodus 18:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

1 Peter 3:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Timothy 3:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

Galatians 3:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 11:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

Romans 12:6-8 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Acts 21:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.

Matthew 28:20 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

1 John 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

1 Timothy 4:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

1 Timothy 3:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

1 Timothy 3:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

1 Timothy 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

1 Timothy 3:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

1 Timothy 2:13-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

1 Timothy 2:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

1 Timothy 2:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

1 Timothy 2:11-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

1 Timothy 2:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

1 Timothy 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

1 Timothy 2:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

1 Timothy 2:1-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, …

1 Timothy 1:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

1 Timothy 1:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

1 Timothy 1:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

1 Timothy 1:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,

1 Timothy 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 Thessalonians 3:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Abstain from every form of evil.

Colossians 2:11-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

Colossians 2:11-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 1:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Philippians 4:2-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Philippians 4:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Philippians 3:21 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Philippians 2:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Philippians 2:7-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Ephesians 6:5-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 5:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

Ephesians 4:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Ephesians 4:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Ephesians 2:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Ephesians 1:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Ephesians 1:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Galatians 5:2-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

Galatians 2:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Galatians 1:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:6-9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

2 Corinthians 12:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.

2 Corinthians 11:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:13-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged,

2 Corinthians 8:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you.

2 Corinthians 8:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,

2 Corinthians 4:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 1:1-9:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. …

1 Corinthians 16:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!

1 Corinthians 16:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

1 Corinthians 16:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—

1 Corinthians 15:54 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:50 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

1 Corinthians 15:45 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:44 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:39 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

1 Corinthians 15:38-41 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

1 Corinthians 15:37 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

1 Corinthians 15:35-44 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. …

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Corinthians 15:29-30 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour?

1 Corinthians 15:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

1 Corinthians 15:25-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

1 Corinthians 15:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

1 Corinthians 15:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:22-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

10 Bible Verses About MLK March For The Dream

Amos 5:24 ESV / 6 helpful votes 

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Micah 6:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Isaiah 1:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

1 John 3:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Ephesians 2:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Galatians 3:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Luke 4:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Matthew 5:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Proverbs 31:8-9 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

34 Bible Verses About Celebrating Jesus

Luke 22:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Mark 7:6-9 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

Ecclesiastes 7:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

Revelation 18:1-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

1 Corinthians 16:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

1 Corinthians 11:23-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Romans 14:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Romans 14:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Romans 10:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Acts 20:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 20:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Acts 18:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Acts 17:1-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

Acts 13:44 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

Acts 13:42 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

Acts 12:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

Acts 2:1-4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

John 15:18-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

John 14:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 13:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

John 4:23-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Matthew 12:39-40 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 2:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: …

Ezekiel 8:12-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lorddoes not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.” Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.” And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. …

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

Leviticus 23:1-44 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places. “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover. …

Exodus 12:1-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, …

64 Bible Verses About Living Courageously

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Acts 4:31 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

John 16:33 ESV / 4 helpful votes 

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Hebrews 11:1-40 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. …

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Corinthians 7:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Mark 15:43 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Proverbs 28:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

1 John 4:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 3:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 1:1-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. …

Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 6:1-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, …

1 Timothy 1:1-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. …

1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. …

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 1:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Ephesians 5:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. …

Ephesians 4:1-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, …

Ephesians 1:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, …

2 Corinthians 1:1-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. …

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; …

Romans 15:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. …

Romans 4:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, …

Acts 17:1-34 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. …

Acts 5:29-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 5:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Acts 4:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

Acts 4:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,

John 14:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” …

John 13:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

John 10:1-42 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” …

John 3:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Mark 10:1-52 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. …

Matthew 19:1-30 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? …

Matthew 11:1-30 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. …

Matthew 10:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Matthew 6:1-34 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. …

Matthew 5:1-48 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. …

Malachi 3:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Daniel 6:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Ezekiel 3:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

Isaiah 54:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Isaiah 50:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Isaiah 41:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 26:1-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. …

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. …

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. …

Psalm 31:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Esther 4:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Esther 4:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

2 Chronicles 19:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”

1 Chronicles 28:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:1-9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. …

Exodus 3:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” …

Genesis 6:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. …

33 Bible Verses About Laying Down Your Life

1 John 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

John 15:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes 

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Ephesians 5:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

John 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 19:1-30 ESV / 3 helpful votes 

Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? …

1 John 4:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Philippians 2:9-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Ephesians 5:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. …

Romans 3:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

John 17:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

John 11:45 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,

John 6:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

John 4:48 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

John 3:36 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 3:21 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Matthew 24:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 19:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Matthew 18:1-4 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Ezekiel 36:26-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. …

Ezekiel 36:22-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Ezekiel 36:9-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:1-38 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. …

Isaiah 26:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.

Isaiah 6:1-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” …

Psalm 103:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. …

Psalm 40:1-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. …

Exodus 14:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes 

Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

1 Peter 3:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote 

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

John 3:1-36 ESV / 1 helpful vote 

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. …