Let him take hold of My strength,
that he may make peace with Me.
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil. § “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace.
It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself … having made peace through the blood of His cross. § Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness … over the sins that were previously committed … that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. § If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
Isa. 27:5; Jer. 29:11; Isa. 48:22; Eph. 2:13–14;
Col. 1:19–20; Rom. 3:24–26; 1 John 1:9; Isa. 26:4
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself … As the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
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. § I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep … I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. § No one comes to the Father except through Me. § He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. § For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
1 John 5:11; John 5:26, 21; 11:25–26;
10:11, 17–18; 14:6; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:3–4
Jesus stands ready to help us, but His help is contingent on our absolute, total obedience to His Word, whether or not we agree with it or understand it.
In some way, God requires more than our intellectual faith – He requires our total trust as demonstrated by our obedience to His Word in order to release the miracle. Jesus gave sight to a man born blind, but in order to receive it he had to trust and obey by going to the pool of Siloam to wash. (John 9:1-7) Jesus gave strength to a paralyzed man who had been lying on his pallet for thirty-eight years, but he had to trust and obey by getting up and picking up his mat before he could walk. (John 5:1-9) Jesus healed a man with a withered hand, but before it could be straightened, the man had to trust and obey by stretching it out. (Luke 6:6-10)
What miracle are you waiting to receive? Could it be that God also is waiting – waiting for you to simply trust and obey?
Your work of faith.
This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.
Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. § Faith working through love. § 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. § We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. § [He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other … Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good plea- sure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. § It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
1 Thess. 1:3; John 6:29; James 2:17; Gal. 5:6; 6:8;
Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14; 2 Thess. 1:3, 11; Phil. 2:13
Where is the promise of His coming?
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all.” § Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:4; Jude vv. 14–15; Rev. 1:7;
1 Thess. 4:16–17; Titus 2:11–13
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he gave her the startling announcement that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” When you and I place our faith in Jesus Christ and invite Him to come live within us, the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and the power of God overshadows us, and the life of Jesus is born within us. We do not conceive a physical life, but the spiritual life of Jesus in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
It is the indwelling powerful Person of the Holy Spirit Who sets me free from the habits of sin. But the power I possess to live a life pleasing to God is directly related to how much control of my life I give to the Holy Spirit.
The days of your mourning shall be ended.
In the world you will have tribulation. § The whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. § We who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Isa. 60:20; John 16:33; Rom. 8:22–23; 2 Cor. 5:4; Rev. 7:14–17
Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. § While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. § God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.” … Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” … For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. § Trust … in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Mark 4:38; Ps. 145:9; Gen. 9:3; 8:22; Nah. 1:7;
Gen. 21:17, 19; Matt. 6:31–32; 1 Tim. 6:17
