Why is it that Christians go running around, measuring the abundance of each other’s fruit as well as their own, reading books on fruitfulness, going to seminars about greater fruitfulness, when it’s really not their concern? Before you start to protest, let me assure you I desire with all of my heart to bear much fruit for the glory of God.
But the fruit in my life is His concern, not mine. My concern is to make sure of three things: that as a potential fruit-bearing branch, I am connected to the Vine and keep that connection clean and unobstructed; that I submit to the cultivation of the Vinedresser, which primarily involves His pruning in my life; and that I communicate with Him my heart’s desire.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. § O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. § The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. § Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. § My blood is drink indeed.
Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones!
John 7:37; Ps. 84:2; 63:1–2; Isa. 55:1;
Rev. 22:17; John 4:14; 6:55; Song 5:1
You are the salt of the earth.
The incorruptible beauty. § Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. § He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. § Sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. § The incorruptible God.
If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. § The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another. § Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Matt. 5:13; 1 Peter 3:4; 1:23; John 11:25; Luke 20:36;
Rom. 1:23; 8:9–11; 1 Cor. 15:42; Mark 9:50; Eph. 4:29
“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. . . . Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life” (Gen. 9:12-16, NIV).
Even as God spoke, the sunlight may have broken through the boiling clouds and pounding rain, producing a breathtakingly beautiful arch of colors stretching from one peak to another. As God explained to Noah the meaning of the rainbow, surely peace and gratitude flooded Noah’s heart as he knew, based on God’s Word alone, that he was safe and secure.
God gave Noah the sign of a rainbow to symbolize His covenant. When the thunder clouds rolled and the rain began to fall and Noah was consciously aware of sin in his life and the lives of others, he was to look up and see the rainbow. The purpose was not for him to remember God’s covenant but to remember that God remembered His commitment to humanity. And God remembers that He is still committed to us.
I have seen his ways, and will heal him.
I am the Lord who heals you.
Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. § You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. § All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” § He is gracious to him, and says, “Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom.” § He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. § He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. § Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.
Isa. 57:18; Ex. 15:26; Ps. 139:1–3; 90:8; Heb. 4:13;
Isa. 1:18; Job 33:24; Isa. 53:5; 61:1; Mark 5:34
The Lord is for me.
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion … We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! … Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright.
When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. § No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
If God is for us, who can be against us? § The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, … and He will deliver us.
Ps. 118:7; 20:1–2, 5, 7–8; Isa. 59:19;
1 Cor. 10:13; Rom. 8:31; Ps. 118:6; Dan. 3:17
The Greek word for “temple” is, in this case, the same word used for the “Most Holy Place,” which was the inner sanctuary of the ancient Israelites’ tabernacle, and later the temple. It was the place where God was said to dwell. The high priest could only enter once a year to sprinkle the sacrificed animals’ blood on the mercy seat in order to make atonement for the sin of God’s people. The Book of Hebrews teaches us that today “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body” (Heb. 10:19-20, NIV). In other words, through the death and broken body of Jesus Christ on the Cross, you and I have been given access to the presence of God when we approach Him by faith in prayer.
In our heavenly home, we will not just have occasional access to the presence of God; we will live in His presence! For all eternity!
