Christ, who is the image of God.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. § No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. § He who has seen Me has seen the Father. § The brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. § God was manifested in the flesh.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. § Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
2 Cor. 4:4; Isa. 40:5; John 1:18, 14; 14:9; Heb. 1:3;
1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 1:14–15; Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49
You have armed me with strength for the battle.
When I am weak, then I am strong.
Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” § Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him.
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. § No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. § We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God.
Ps. 18:39; 2 Cor. 12:10; 2 Chron. 14:11; 18:31;
Ps. 118:8–9; 33:16–17; Eph. 6:12–13
Believers of every generation have triumphed over their suffering as they placed their faith in God, trusting Him even when they didn’t understand why. And every generation has suffered to a greater or lesser degree.
My generation has not been exempt. There has been unfathomable hopelessness and helplessness in the killing fields of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, in the massacres under the vicious anarchy of the Red Guard in China, in the senseless slaughter between tribes in Rwanda, in the torture chambers supervised by the butcher of Baghdad. . . . Sometimes it’s just so hard to understand!
Yet God is bigger than our suffering. We can have hope as we place our trust in Him – in His faithfulness and in His ability to work out in our lives His purposes that will be for our ultimate good and His eternal glory. So . . . when you suffer, just trust Him!
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called
to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
He will choose our inheritance for us. § He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go. § Who teaches like Him?
We walk by faith, not by sight. § Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. § Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. § Arise and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is defiled, it shall destroy, yes, with utter destruction.
Heb. 11:8; Ps. 47:4; Deut. 32:10–12; Isa. 48:17; Job 36:22;
2 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 13:14; 1 Peter 2:11; Mic. 2:10
Give thanks at the remembrance of his Holy name.
The heavens are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water! § The stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is a maggot?
Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness? § Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” § Be partakers of His holiness. The temple of God is holy, which temple you are. § What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? … Without spot and blameless.
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification … And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ps. 97:12; Job 15:15–16; 25:5–6; Ex. 15:11; Isa. 6:3;
1 Peter 1:15–16; Heb. 12:10; 1 Cor. 3:17; 2 Peter 3:11, 14; Eph. 4:29–30
“So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; . . . Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out” (Gen. 12:4, NIV). There is no record of any hesitation, fears, or even tears! It was as though Abraham had been waiting all his life for the call from God, and when he received it, he responded immediately with steadfast faith, and hope.
Through Abraham, God began the long process of accomplishing His plan to provide the Redeemer Who would take away man’s sin and bring him back into a right relationship with his Creator. Abraham’s family became the chosen nation of Israel that provided the audiovisual aid of the sacrifices and ceremonies that pictured for the world God’s terms for man to have a right relationship with Himself. It was also Abraham’s descendants who recorded the revelation of God through the written prophecy, history, biography, and poetry that we call the Bible. And it was Abraham’s descendants who provided the human lineage for Jesus Christ.
I’m so grateful Abraham answered God’s call! My life is eternally blessed. I wonder . . . who will be blessed because I have answered God’s call?
We know that we have passed from death to life.
He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. § He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. § By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him … Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. § We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. [He] made us alive together with Christ. § He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
1 John 3:14; John 5:24; 1 John 5:12; 2 Cor. 1:21–22;
1 John 3:19, 21; 5:19; Eph. 2:1; 2:5; Col. 1:13
You will show me the path of life.
Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.” § I will teach you the good and the right way. § I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. § Follow Me.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. § Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. § Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Ps. 16:11; Jer. 21:8; 1 Sam. 12:23; John 14:6;
Matt. 4:19; Prov. 14:12; Matt. 7:13–14; Isa. 35:8; Hos. 6:3; John 14:2
