He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world …
That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you … for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. § Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. § Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. § God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
Eph. 1:4; 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13–14; Rom. 8:29–30;
1 Peter 1:2; Ezek. 36:26; 1 Thess. 4:7
If the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?
Have faith in God. § Without faith it is impossible to please Him. § With God all things are possible.
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” § “Try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. § Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power.
We should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
2 Kings 7:2; Mark 11:22; Heb. 11:6; Matt. 19:26; Isa. 50:2;
55:8–9; Mal. 3:10; Isa. 59:1; 2 Chron. 14:11; 2 Cor. 1:9
Jill Briscoe, noted author and international speaker, was once asked what she saw as her life’s greatest mission. She answered that her life’s greatest mission is “to figure out what to do every day in my life – as ordained by God – and then to do it.” Jill knows there are many things to do in life that are not ordained of God, which is why we must be single-minded.
To be single-minded as I embrace God’s purpose for my life means that there are times I have to just say no . . .
to an invitation to join my friends for coffee,
to an offer for a lucrative job,
to a long weekend . . .
To be single-minded as I embrace God’s purpose for my life means there are times I have to just say yes . . .
to less sleep and more prayer,
to less TV and more study,
to less work and more worship.
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness.
Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. § Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. § The commandment is a lamp, and the law a light.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Ps. 112:4; Isa. 50:10; Ps. 37:24;
Prov. 6:23; Mic. 7:8–9; Matt. 6:22–23
He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom, and gently
lead those who are with young.
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. § We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.
Then they brought little children to Him … And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant. § The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. § You were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. § “I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God.
Isa. 40:11; Matt. 15:32; Heb. 4:15; Mark 10:13, 16;
Ps. 119:176; Luke 19:10; 1 Peter 2:25; Luke 12:32; Ezek. 34:15
Has your entire life been a series of struggles? Have you been . . .
More sick than well?
More defeated than successful?
More tired than rested?
More empty than satisfied?
More sad than happy?
Do you feel defeated because after a lifetime of struggle, all you have to look forward to is death and a cold grave? Look up! . . .
Regardless of our circumstances or condition, we can look forward with hope as we glimpse Heaven, My Father’s House, which is being prepared as an eternal home for you and for me!
Let us therefore come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. § You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
I did not say to the seed of Jacob, “Seek Me in vain.” § Therefore … having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. § We may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Heb. 4:16; Phil. 4:6–7; Rom. 8:15;
Isa. 45:19; Heb. 10:19–22; 13:6
You shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. § The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. § If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. § Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. § Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
John 8:32; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:2;
John 8:36; Gal. 4:31; 2:16; James 1:25; Gal. 5:1
