Hope

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”

The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.)

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

Romans 4:18 Acts 27:20 Romans 8:24 Romans 5:5 Romans 12:12 Romans 15:4

Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.

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Stronger

There was a strong sense of the fear of God in all the kingdoms around Judah—they didn't dare go to war against Jehoshaphat. Some Philistines even brought gifts and a load of silver to Jehoshaphat, and the desert bedouin brought flocks—7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. So Jehoshaphat became stronger by the day, and constructed more and more forts and store-cities—an age of prosperity for Judah!

Israel is no stronger than its capital … Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.

"Principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life, sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger.

The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.

2 Chronicles 17:10 Isaiah 7:9 Daniel 10:19 Proverbs 24:5 Job 17:9 Acts 9:31

No evil can penetrate the armor of God.

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Guide

You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide. Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you. I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down.

guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.

And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); and let Your right hand guide You to tremendous things.

Psalm 31:3 Psalm 25:5 Psalm 23:1 Psalm 32:8 Psalm 73:24 Psalm 45:4

The Spirit within us, at our invitation, will faithfully guide us.

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Matters

“Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

Give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God's, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures.

In the olden times in Israel, this is how they handled official business regarding matters of property and inheritance: a man would take off his shoe and give it to the other person. This was the same as an official seal or personal signature in Israel.

"If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.

Leviticus 19:15 Deuteronomy 15:10 Ruth 4:7 Luke 12:26 Acts 20:22 Acts 28:30

A life lived for God will count for eternity.

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Meet

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.


When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they're mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that's why I can't wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.

Matthew 28:18 Mark 2:27 Acts 2:46 Acts 9:26 Romans 8:26 Romans 1:13

When you taste God’s goodness, His praise will be on your lips.

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Fill

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings, To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water. You're a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.

Here in this great gathering for worship I have discovered this praise-life. And I'll do what I promised right here in front of the God-worshipers. Down-and-outers sit at God's table and eat their fill. Everyone on the hunt for God is here, praising him. "Live it up, from head to toe. Don't ever quit!"

Proverbs 2:10 Proverbs 8:21 Job 8:21 Psalm 16:11 Psalm 36:7 Psalm 22:25

Let God’s word fill your mind, rule your heart, and guide your tongue.

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Sure

The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, "This is it! You are God's Son for sure!"

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

They couldn't take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus.

That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us.

That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God's promise at that—you can't break it.

Matthew 14:32 Matthew 18:18 Acts 4:13 Acts 16:9 Romans 4:13

God knows the end from the beginning, so we can trust Him with everything between.

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Faithful

photo by Jeanette

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“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.

Moreover, it is [essentially] required of stewards that a man should be found faithful [proving himself worthy of trust].

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault.

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Matthew 24:45 1 Corinthians 4:2 John 8:31 Acts 20:26 1 Thessalonians 5:24 Romans 12:12

Running with patience is perseverance in the “long run.”

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Satisfy

By the power of your hand, O Lord, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones. May their children have plenty, leaving an inheritance for their descendants.

The Lord will not let the godly go hungry, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.

And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not

When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.

Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.

Psalm 17:14 Proverbs 10:3 Isaiah 58:11 Psalm 145:16 Psalm 90:14 Psalm 63:5

In the desert of grief God provides an oasis of grace.

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Move

Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.

So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit.

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.

Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

2 Corinthians 5:1 Romans 8:4 Acts 17:28 1 Thessalonians 5:13 1 Corinthians 15:58

This life is but the childhood of our immortality.

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Accomplish

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Moses said to the people, " Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today

It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ' My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'

You are to celebrate in the Presence of God, your God, all the things you've been able to accomplish.

Genesis 50:20 Exodus 14:13 Deuteronomy 9:5 Psalm 138:8 Isaiah 46:10 Deuteronomy 12:16

What Jesus accomplished for us, the Holy Spirit works out in us.

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Pleasant

The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.

Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions";And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.

"Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God."

Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.

For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].

Isaiah 5:7 Isaiah 30:10 Jeremiah 42:6 Ezekiel 34:14 Matthew 11:30 Colossians 4:6

Keep eternity’s goal in sight by walking daily in God’s light.

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Seed

"Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

"But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."

God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done… This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

Matthew 17:20 Ecclesiastes 11:6 2 Corinthians 9:10 Mark 4:20 2 Corinthians 9:8

We sow the seed (that God gives us), but God brings the harvest.

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Shine

"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

[ Shine Brightly for Christ ] Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

Job 22:28 2 Corinthians 4:6 Luke 1:79 John 12:46 Philippians 2:12 Matthew 13:43

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Prov.16:9

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Decide

"If you decide that it's a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you'd rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you're now living. As for me and my family, we'll worship God."

David answered, "See what I have here? The king's spear. Let one of your servants come and get it. It's God's business to decide what to do with each of us in regard to what's right and who's loyal. God put your life in my hands today, but I wasn't willing to lift a finger against God's anointed.

18 Most of those who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves. But King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were allowed to eat the Passover meal anyway, even though this was contrary to the requirements of the Law. For Hezekiah said, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon those 19 who decide to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not properly cleansed for the ceremony.” 20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.


You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways.

And He shall judge between the nations and shall decide [disputes] for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Joshua 24:15 1 Samuel 26:22 2 Chronicles 30:19 Job 22:28 Isaiah 2:4

What your decide about Jesus will determine your destiny.

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Many

The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

Where there is no counsel, purposes are frustrated, but with many counselors they are accomplished.

God-loyal people don't stay down long; Soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

Proverbs 10:21 Proverbs 15:22 Proverbs 24:15 Romans 4:17 1 Corinthians 1:26

He who waits on the Lord will not be crushed by the weights of adversity.

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Desire

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

Lord, all my desire is before You;And my sighing is not hidden from You.

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

For you have given him his heart’s desire; you have withheld nothing he requested.

Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear and obey.

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

Psalm 1:2 Psalm 38:9 Psalm 20:4 Psalm 21:2 Psalm 40:6 Psalm 40:8

Don’t study the Bible to be able to quote it; study it to obey it.

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