The Lord weighs the hearts.
The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. § The Lord will show who is His and who is holy. § Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. § There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.
Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. § When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. § He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
Prov. 21:2; Ps. 1:6; Num. 16:5; Matt. 6:4; Ps. 139:23–24;
1 John 4:18; Ps. 38:9; 142:3; Rom. 8:27; 2 Tim. 2:19
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
No one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation. § In Me you … have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. § The night is far spent, the day is at hand. § He shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.
He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. § There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. § We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air … Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Ps. 30:5; 1 Thess. 3:3–4; John 16:33; Ps. 17:15;
Rom. 13:12; 2 Sam. 23:4; Isa. 25:8; Rev. 21:4; 1 Thess. 4:17–18
“The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:12, NIV).
Through the power of His Word, God brought beauty to the barrenness and added color to the drabness. God did not create anything new. He just called it forth from what was already present, because apparently that which was necessary for plant life was in the soil.
It doesn’t matter if your life has always been dry, barren, bleak, desolate, and ugly, or if it has become that way because of some tragedy or crisis. If you submit your life to the skillful touch of the Creator, He has the power to transform you into someone who is beautiful – beautiful not because of a toned physique or a perfect figure or manageable hair but because the life of Christ radiates from within you: His joy sparkling from your eyes, His love lighting up your face.
Sin shall not have dominion over you,
for you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! § My brethren, you … have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. § Not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ. § The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. § Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Rom. 6:14; 6:15; 7:4; 1 Cor. 9:21; 15:56–57;
Rom. 8:2; John 8:34; 8:36; Gal. 5:1
A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. § Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. § Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
No longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love … grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.
Abide in Me. § Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
James 1:8; Luke 9:62; Heb. 11:6; James 1:6–7;
Mark 11:24; Eph. 4:14–15; John 15:4; 1 Cor. 15:58
As children of God, we are the primary recipients of His blessing. Regardless of our past failures or present shortcomings, our relationship with Jesus Christ ensures that “from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.”
When the Mediterranean Sea evaporates or runs low, the Atlantic Ocean rushes in at the Strait of Gibraltar to replenish it and keep it full. When you and I are related to Jesus Christ, our strength and wisdom and peace and joy and love and hope may run out, but His life rushes in to keep us filled to the brim – not because of anything we have or have not done, but just because of Him we are showered with blessings.
I, even I, am He who comforts you.
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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. § As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. § As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. § [Cast] all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
He will give you another Helper … the Spirit of truth. § The Spirit … helps in our weaknesses.
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Isa. 51:12; 2 Cor. 1:3–4; Ps. 103:13–14; Isa. 66:13;
1 Peter 5:7; Ps. 86:15; John 14:16–17; Rom. 8:26; Rev. 21:4
You were called into the fellowship of His Son.
He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” § Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
Be imitators of God as dear children. § If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
The brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. § Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. § These things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. § As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Peter 1:17; 1 John 3:1; Eph. 5:1;
Rom. 8:17; Heb. 1:3; Matt. 5:16; Heb. 12:2; John 17:13; 2 Cor. 1:5
