Giving

God’s hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord.

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Put your hope in the Lord. Travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land.

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
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The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, " For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

2 Chronicles 30:12 Psalm 50:23 Psalm 37:34 Psalm 106:5 Esther 9:19 Ezra 3:11

Giving is the true measure of Love.

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Buy

Buy the truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment and judgment, instruction and understanding.

O Israel, wait and watch for God— with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it—he'll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin.

If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch; if he's thirsty, bring him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness, and God will look after you.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

This time I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean. By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust

Proverbs 23:23 Psalm 130:7 Proverbs 25:21 Isaiah 55:1 Hebrews 8:6 Galatians 4:5

Monitor your heart daily to avoid wandering from God’s wisdom.

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God's love

God's love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.

God makes everything come out right; … God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out … God's love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said.

"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around basic matters of justice and God's love. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required.

Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

My theme song is God's love and justice, and I'm singing it right to you.

Psalm 36:5 Psalm 103:6 Luke 11:42 Romans 5:5 Romans 8:38 Psalm 101:1

We have nothing to boast of but that we’re dearly loved by God.

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Attitude

For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart's attitude toward You.

Do not be conformed to this world , [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]

Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility]

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

Ezra 6:22 Jeremiah 12:3 Romans 12:2 Ephesians 4:23 Philippians 2:5 Colossians 4:2

When the sunshine of God’s love meats the showers of our sorrow, the rainbow of promise appears.

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Sharp

" 'No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

"Don't think I've come to make life cozy. I've come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don't deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don't deserve me

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.

If you seek Him, he'll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he'll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!"

"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. So keep a sharp lookout, for you don't know the timetable.

Ezekiel 28:24 Matthew 10:34 Matthew 11:30 1 Chronicles 28:9 Mark 13:32

If life is a grind, use it to sharpen your character.

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Count

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count.

Count yourself lucky— God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from him.

But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes. Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you. God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin.

He's God, our God, in charge of the whole earth. And he remembers, remembers his Covenant— for a thousand generations he's been as good as his word. It's the Covenant he made with Abraham, the same oath he swore to Isaac, The very statute he established with Jacob, the eternal Covenant with Israel, Namely, "I give you the land. Canaan is your hill-country inheritance." When they didn't count for much, a mere handful, and strangers at that, Wandering from country to country, drifting from pillar to post, He permitted no one to abuse them. He told kings to keep their hands off: "Don't you dare lay a hand on my anointed, don't hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets."

And me? I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse, For you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide. Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you— God, my dependable love.

Psalm 40:5 Psalm 32:2 Psalm 59:8 Psalm 105:7 Psalm 59:16

Praise to God comes naturally when you count your blessings.

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Will do

I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”

I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land."

Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.

The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.

Genesis 18:19 Genesis 26:5 Genesis 41:32 Exodus 9:5 Exodus 15:26 Exodus 19:8

God’s great power deserves our grateful praise.

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Attend to

God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It's up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.

If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.

"Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

" FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS,AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER,BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL."

Deuteronomy 29:29 Proverbs 29:18 Matthew 6:30 Luke 12:25 1 Peter 3:12

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

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Reply

"Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then reply to me.

To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.
All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.


And He will reply to them, Solemnly I declare to you, in so far as you failed to do it for the least [ in the estimation of men] of these, you failed to do it for Me.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”His reply completely amazed them.

I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you.

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word.

Job 13:22 Proverbs 16:1 Matthew 25:45 Mark 12:17 Luke 21:15 Proverbs 15:23

God wants to paint your life with joy.

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Assurance

O Lord; give me understanding (discernment and comprehension) according to Your word [of assurance and promise].

For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.

…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Psalm 119:169 1 Thessalonians 1:5 Colossians 2:2 Colossians 1:27 Hebrews 11:1 Colossians 1:23

The storms of life reveal the strength of our faith

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Reason

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

SEE WHAT [ an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him.

By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature. For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence), And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety), And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

1 John 3:8 1 John 3:1 2 Peter 1:5 1 Peter 3:15

Faith bridges chasms that reason cannot fathom.

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How long?

There's not a sign or symbol of God in sight, nor anyone to speak in his name, no one who knows what's going on. How long, God, will barbarians blaspheme, enemies curse and get by with it? Why don't you do something? How long are you going to sit there with your hands folded in your lap? God is my King from the very start; he works salvation in the womb of the earth. ... With your finger you opened up springs and creeks, and dried up the wild floodwaters. You own the day, you own the night; you put stars and sun in place. You laid out the four corners of earth, shaped the seasons of summer and winter.

When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth

Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God—how long do we have to wait? ...Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long. Make up for the bad times with some good times…. Let your servants see what you're best at— the ways you rule and bless your children. And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

Psalm 74:9 Job 7:4 Revelation 6:10 Psalm 90:12 Ephesians 3:18

The more we think about God’s Word, the less we’ll think about our worries.

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Talk

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. …It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith. Overwhelming grace keep you

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense.

1 Corinthians 9:19 1 Corinthians 12:1 Ephesians 4:29 1 Timothy 6:20 James 2:14

Talk with God – He longs to hear from you.

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Possibilities

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you.

I kept thinking, 'Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.' But I see I was wrong—it's God's Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.

"But if it's by God's power that I am sending the evil spirits packing, then God's kingdom is here for sure. How in the world do you think it's possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out

"'For here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Isaiah 49:15 Job 32:6 Matthew 12:28 Ezekiel 36:24 Matthew 19:26

God’s Spirit makes wisdom possible.

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Conquer

"So here is what you are to tell my servant David: The God-of-the Angel-Armies has this word for you…I'm going to conquer all your enemies.”

In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.

Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

“But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!”

They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them.

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

1 Chronicles 17:7 Nehemiah 9:30 Psalm 5:8 Nehemiah 9:28 Psalm 44:3 Ecclesiastes 4:12

We conquer by continuing our trust in God.

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Answers

Do you remember that time Elijah was agonizing over this same Israel and cried out in prayer? God, they murdered your prophets, They trashed your altars; I'm the only one left and now they're after me! And do you remember God's answer? I still have seven thousand who haven't quit, Seven thousand who are loyal to the finish. It's the same today. There's a fiercely loyal minority still—not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They're holding on, not because of what they think they're going to get out of it, but because they're convinced of God's grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.

[ Freedom with Responsibility ] The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

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].

Romans 11:2 1 Corinthians 8:1 2 Corinthians 1:20 Galatians 3:5 Colossians 4:6

When your world seems to be falling apart, look to Jesus who holds everything together.

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Ordinary

Every word you give me is a miracle word— how could I help but obey? Break open your words, let the light shine out, let ordinary people see the meaning. Mouth open and panting, I wanted your commands more than anything. Turn my way, look kindly on me, as you always do to those who personally love you. Steady my steps with your Word of promise so nothing malign gets the better of me. Rescue me from the grip of bad men and women so I can live life your way. Smile on me, your servant; teach me the right way to live. I cry rivers of tears because nobody's living by your book.

"I, God, will begin by restoring the common households of Judah so that the glory of David's family and the leaders in Jerusalem won't overshadow the ordinary people in Judah. On the Big Day, I'll look after everyone who lives in Jerusalem so that the lowliest, weakest person will be as glorious as David and the family of David itself will be godlike, like the Angel of God leading the people.

Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don't complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple —in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Psalm 119:129 Zechariah 12:7 Matthew 11:25 1 Corinthians 7:29 Romans 12:16 Acts 4:13

God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

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Become

[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

[ Place Your Life Before God ] So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

Thus may the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified and become more glorious through and in you, and may you [also be glorified] in Him according to the grace (favor and blessing) of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Romans 4:18 Galatians 6:9 Romans 12:1 Philippians 2:15 2 Thessalonians 1:12

When we keep our eyes on Christ, obstacles become opportunities.

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Build

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it."

They were indignant: "It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you're going to rebuild it in three days?" But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

You are God's house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ.

Their (our) responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ

So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

Matthew 7:24 Matthew 13:31 John 2:20 1 Corinthians 3:9 Ephesians 4:12 Romans 14:19

When words and actions agree, the message is loud and clear.

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Cyrus

NOW IN the first year of Cyrus king of Persia [almost seventy years after the first Jewish captives were taken to Babylon], that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might begin to be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation…

“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are the Lord’s people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you! (may your God be with you! Move forward!)”

Also, King Cyrus turned over to them all the vessels and utensils from The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had hauled from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia put Mithredath the treasurer in charge of the transfer; he provided a full inventory for Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah, including the following: 30 gold dishes 1,000 silver dishes 29 silver pans 30 gold bowls 410 duplicate silver bowls 1,000 miscellaneous items.

These Cyrus king of Persia directed Mithredath the treasurer to bring forth and count out to Sheshbazzar [who is Zerubbabel, recognized as the legitimate heir to the throne of David] the prince of Judah.

So the Jewish elders continued their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by the God of Israel and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia.

Ezra 1:1 2 Chronicles 36:22 Ezra 1:7 Ezra 1:8 Ezra 6:14

Don’t limit God…accept His ways and means of building His Kingdom. Trust GOD!

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Soul

Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"

Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it." It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. "Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help."

For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power ( moral power and excellence of soul).

So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL " The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Romans 8:6 Romans 10:4 Romans 10:11 1 Corinthians 4:20 1 Corinthians 15:45 Philippians 4:7 Philippians 1:9

Never underestimate the value of a single soul.

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