Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Isaiah 31

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Isreal or seek help from the Lord. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked, against those who help evildoers. But the Egytians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together. This is what the Lord says to me:

"As a lion growls, a great lion over his prey - and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against him, he is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor - so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights. Like birds hovering overhead the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will 'pass over' it and will rescue it."

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

John 12:44-50

    Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

    "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Isaiah chapter 29 1-12

Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on. Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an alter hearth. I will encamp against you all around; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you. Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.

But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flame of a devouring fire. Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night - as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

Be stunned and amazed, blind yourself and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger but not from beer. The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets) ; he has covered your heads (the seers)

    For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please, "he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please, " he will answer, "I don't know how to read."

Friday, August 3, 2012

Psalm 119:33-40

Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you, o my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress;  be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Offer right sacrafice and trust in the Lord.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"  let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell safety.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Psalm 60

You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry - now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it quaking. You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.

Save us and help us with your right hand, that thoses you love may be delivered. God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Deuteronomy 34th Chapter

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land- from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Issac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peoria, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Isrealites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid hands on him. So the Isrealites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Since then, no prophet has risen in Isreal like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt - to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Isreal.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Deuteronomy 31:14-23

The Lord said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourself at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him. "So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

Then the Lord appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. And the Lord said to Moses: "You are going to the rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask,'Have not these disasters come upon us because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Isrealites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath. So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Isrealites.

The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Isrealites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."

Monday, June 11, 2012

Proverbs 26:18-19

Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

John 8:42-47

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reasons you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

Thursday, May 17, 2012

2 Thessalonians Chapter 1

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growin more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believe our testimony to you.

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Psalm 126

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great thing for us and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O Lord like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Psalm 108

God, my heart is steady. I will sing and praise you with all my being. Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up dawn. Lord, I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations. Your great love reaches to the skies, your truth to the heavens. God, you are supreme above the skies. Let your glory be over all the earth.

Answer us and save us by your power so the people you love will be rescued. God has said from his Temple, "When I win, I will divide Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead and Manasseh are mine. Ephraim is like my helmet. Judah holds my royal scepter. Moab is like my washbowl. I throw my sandals at Edom. I shout at Philistia."

Who will bring me to the strong, walled city? Who will lead me to Edom? God, surely you have rejected us; you do not go out with our armies. Help us fight the enemy. Human help is useless, but we can win with God's help. He will defeat our enemies.

Friday, February 10, 2012

King David's Psalm 51

God, be merciful to me because you are loving. Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs. Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again. I know about my wrongs, and I can't forget my sin. You are the only one I have sinned against; I have done what you say is wrong. You are right when you speak and fair when you judge. I was brought into this world in sin. In sin my mother gave birth to me. 

You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom. Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you crushed be happy again. Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt.

Create in me a pure heart, God and make my spirit right again. Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach your ways to those that do wrong, and sinners will turn back to you.

God, save me from the guilt of murder, God of my salvation, and I will sing about your goodness. Lord, let me speak so I may praise you. You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don't want burnt offerings. The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.

Do whatever good you wish for Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices and whole burnt offerings, and bulls will be offered on your alter.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Psalm 117 & Proverbs 7

All you nations, praise the Lord. All you people praise him because the Lord loves you very much, and his truth is everlasting.

Praise the Lord!


My son, remember what I say, and treasure my commands. Obey my commands, and you will live. Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes. Remind yourself of them; write them on your heart as if on a tablet. Treat wisdom as a sister, and make understanding your closest friend. Wisdom and understanding will keep you away from adultery, away from the unfaithful wife and her pleasing words.