Psalm 105(ESV) 105 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV) 13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. There comes a time to stand and be counted. There are a couple of ways to do […]
Read more "To build or not to build? Psalm 105:1 1 Corinthians 16:13"Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV) 10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. John 3:5-8The Message (MSG) 5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism […]
Read more "Wasting space Ecclesiastes 5:10 John 3:5-8"Hebrews 11:3 (NIV) 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. At the end of all the arguments, we all have faith. It’s impossible not to for this simple reason. As we move higher and higher in […]
Read more "We all have faith in something Hebrews 11:3, 6 Luke 21:1-4"Lamentations 3:22-24 (ESV) 22 Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 1 John 3:11 (NIV) 11 For […]
Read more "The only way forward Lamentations 3:22-24 1 John 3:11"Deuteronomy 9:13(ESV) 13 “Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. James 1:22 (NIV) 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Intransigence. Intransigence is a stubborn refusal to change your views. The word describes us pretty […]
Read more "Intransigence Deuteronomy 9:13 James 1:22"Let’s see if I have this right: 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 We’ve heard that, seen it displayed in the endzone, blah, blah, blah. But what does it mean? What’s behind it? What’s […]
Read more "Lets see if I have this right John 3:16"Genesis 1:1-2 (GNT) 1 In the beginning, when God began to create the universe, 2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. Quite a start. The Spirit of God was moving across the water. The […]
Read more "Dry land, raging oceans Genesis 1:1-2"John 14:15 (ESV) 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. So, why is that so hard to do? Christ isn’t talking about keeping the original version of the 10 Commandments, he’s talking about the amped up version of the 10 Commandments that he gives us in the Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matthew […]
Read more "Radical Good John 14:15"Luke 24:48-49 (ESV) 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Ephesians 3:14-19 (MSG) 14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent […]
Read more "Inner strength Luke 24:48-49 Ephesians 3:14-19"Psalm 91:1-13 (MSG) 91 1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly […]
Read more "Eternity changes everything Psalm 91:1-13"James 1:21(MSG) 21 So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. Luke 18:27-30 (ESV) 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have […]
Read more "Soul garden James 1:21 Luke 18:27-30"Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (ESV) 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had […]
Read more "Chasing wind Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 Matthew 26:39"Malachi 2:2-3 (MSG) 2 1-3 “And now this indictment, you priests! If you refuse to obediently listen, and if you refuse to honor me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, in worship, then I’ll put you under a curse. I’ll exchange all your blessings for curses. In fact, the curses are already at work because you’re not serious about honoring […]
Read more "Defying expectations Malachi 2:2-3 Matthew 23:25-26 James 5:16"Matthew 18:7-9 (NLT) 7 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.” James 5:13-15 (MSG) 13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with […]
Read more "Prayer or Anti-Prayer? Matthew 18:7-9 James 5:13-15 1 John 4:17-18"Leviticus 26:43-45 (MSG) 43-45 “The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they’re gone. They’ll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won’t reject or abhor or destroy them completely. […]
Read more "Helper Leviticus 26:43-45 Luke 6:46-47 John 14:26"James 5:11 (MSG) 10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all […]
Read more "Hangry James 5:11 Matthew 4:1-15"Psalm 121:7-8 (NLT) 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— watches over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever. John 14:27 (NLT) 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world […]
Read more "Energy surging Psalm 121:7-8 John 14:27"Luke 4:41 (ESV) 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. John 10:16 (NIV) 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring […]
Read more "Your own Luke 4:41 John 10:16 Hebrews 4:12-13"James 3:17-18 (GNV) 17 But the wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of [a] mercy and good fruits, without judging, and without hypocrisy. 18 [b] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, of them that make peace. Footnotes: [a] James 3:17 He setteth […]
Read more "Come, lets discuss Oxyblah James 3:17-18"John 4:23-24 (MSG) 23-24 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being […]
Read more "A good place to finish John 4:23-24 Matthew 24:48-51"Joshua 1:9 (NIV) 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Mark 11:24 (NIV) 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it […]
Read more "Moving mountains with faith Joshua 1:9 Mark 11:24"Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV) The Parable of the Wedding Banquet 1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but […]
Read more "How to decline an invitation Matthew 22:1-14 Luke 23:34-35"John 15:1-3 (NIV) The Vine and the Branches 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because […]
Read more "Nothin’ to say John 15:1-3 James 4:11-12"John 1:1-5 (ERV) Christ Comes to the World 1 Before the world began, the Word was there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was there with God in the beginning. 3 Everything was made through him, and nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life, and […]
Read more "Walk humbly and change the world. John 1:1-5 Micah 6:8"Luke 1:41-44 (NIV) 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my […]
Read more "Presence and Awe Luke 1:41-44 Isaiah 53:10"Luke 12:49-53 (MSG) 49-53 “I’ve come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt […]
Read more "To Start a Fire with Fruit Luke 12:49-53 Isaiah 55:6-13 John 12:26"Matthew 19:25-26 (MSG) 25 The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all [to get into Heaven]?” 26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” James 4:8-10 (ESV) […]
Read more "Birthmark or Birthright Matthew 19:25-26 James 4:8-10 John 11:25-26"John 12:24-26 (MSG) 24-25 “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as […]
Read more "Wheat, bread, and life John 12:24-26 Luke 16:10-13"Isaiah 53:7-9 (MSG) 7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn’t say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off— and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought […]
Read more "The anti-Elite Isaiah 53:7-9 Matthew 11:25-30"Luke 13:10-17 (NIV) Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath 10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, […]
Read more "A radical and much more than a great man. Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)"Luke 11:9-10 (NIV) “9 ‘So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’”Mark 7:17-23 (MSG) […]
Read more "Either/Or Luke 11:9-10 Mark 7:17-23"Psalm 133:1 (ESV) “1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Matthew 12:48-50 (MSG) “48-50 Jesus didn’t respond directly, but said, “Who do you think my mother and brothers are?” He then stretched out his hand toward his disciples. ‘Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker […]
Read more "Psalm 133:1 Matthew 12:48-50 Galatians 6:2 Unity"John 13:12-17 (ESV) “12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and […]
Read more "John 13:12-17 Glacier or Earthquake?"John 12:25-26 (NIV) “25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Colossians 3:13 (NLT) […]
Read more "John 12:25-26 Colossians 3:13 Hating life to really live???"1 Samuel 19:23-24 “23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is […]
Read more "1 Samuel 19:23-24 Matthew 10:1 Spirit calling"To live you have to love. To love you have to be vulnerable. Mark 12:30 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Love the Lord with your heart, that makes sense. Love the Lord with your mind, that’s […]
Read more "Mark 12:30"What do you do when a celebrity knocks at your door? 1 John 2:28 “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” If Jesus came knocking at your door, what would you say or do? “Um, wait right here Jesus […]
Read more "1 John 2:28"
Just broken 