Your sins are forgiven you.
I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. § Who can forgive sins but God alone?
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. § Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. § Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity?
God in Christ forgave you. § The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. § Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace … Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Mark 2:5; Jer. 31:34; Mark 2:7; Isa. 43:25; Ps. 32:1–2;
Mic. 7:18; Eph. 4:32; 1 John 1:7–9; Ps. 103:12; Rom. 6:14, 18
We wish to see Jesus.
O Lord, we have waited for You; the desire of our soul is for Your name and for the remembrance of You.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. § Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. § I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. § Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. § Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. § Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. § Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
John 12:21; Isa. 26:8; Ps. 145:18; Matt. 18:20; John 14:18;
Matt. 28:20; Heb. 12:1–2; 1 Cor. 13:12; Phil. 1:23; 1 John 3:2–3
Often, when I arrive in a city to participate in some conference or seminar, the organizers will take me aside and tell me privately about the various people who will be attending. They describe the multitude. People with broken hearts and broken homes and broken dreams and broken hopes. And then they say, “Anne, we want you to know about someone in particular because we’re hoping you will say something that will meet his or her needs.” If I accepted that burden, I would be crushed under it! There’s no way I can meet all those needs, so I usually respond with something like, “That’s impossible! There are too many diverse needs. I can’t address them all individually. But I can just give them Jesus.” And again and again, I have seen Jesus personally meet the spiritual needs of the multitude – one by one.
Jesus has given me ample resources to meet the spiritual needs of others because He has given me Himself and He has given me His Word.
We do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Here we have no continuing city. § You have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. § There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
We who are in this tent groan, being burdened. § 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.
The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. § Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
2 Cor. 4:18; Heb. 13:14; 10:34; Luke 12:32; 1 Peter 1:6;
Job 3:17; 2 Cor. 5:4; Rev. 21:4; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17
He Himself is our peace.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them … For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. § [He] made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless. § And you … He has made alive … , having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. § Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Eph. 2:14; 2 Cor. 5:19, 21; Col. 1:20–22; 2:13–14; Eph. 2:15; John 14:27
C. S. Lewis, in his testimony Surprised by Joy, described his growing awareness of the capacity within himself to respond with joy and delight in such a way that it gave him an insatiable desire for more joy and delight. The things he found so deeply satisfying left him with a craving for more and more satisfaction. He concluded that nothing in this world could ever give him lasting satisfaction, so therefore he must have been created for another world. And C. S. Lewis was right. Our very beings are created for God. We will never experience permanent, personal satisfaction and fulfillment apart from Him because, as Saint Augustine so eloquently stated, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee.”
Be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord.
Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. § As you … have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. § He who endures to the end shall be saved. § The ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
By faith you stand.
I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
1 Cor. 15:58; 15:58; Col. 2:6–7; Matt. 24:13;
Luke 8:15; 2 Cor. 1:24; John 9:4; Gal. 6:8–10
He is also able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God through Him.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. § Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. § He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. § Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Heb. 7:25; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 10:27–28;
Phil. 1:6; Gen. 18:14; Jude vv. 24–25
