15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.Living the life with God will cause total peace to rein (and rain) in your life. This is but one benefit of the whole sozo package!
“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.”This scripture basically states that God does not do things the way we would do things or think things should be done. That doesn't mean we won't understand it after He does it, just that we need to let Him do it!
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”Let's not forget that God already sent Jesus to the earth to teach us, set an example for us to follow, and to suffer and die for our sins! He was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father. He has already poured out His love once and continues to do so. Let's not resist or turn away from the Holy Spirit, for He only has good to give us! He does not harm us, but rather is our Helper.
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed...”And
“While the earth remains,seedtime and harvest...Shall not cease.”God's law, once in effect, does not change. Seeds are planted, time passes (growing period), then the harvest is ready. All seeds will sprout and grow, good and bad. What seeds are you sowing? And you ARE sowing seeds whether or not you understand it. You sow hatred, you will reap hatred. You sow lust, you will reap lust. You sow finances, you will reap finances, You sow love, you will reap love. Again, what are you sowing? Remember that God multiplies the seed some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold! Your return is great, both good AND bad!
The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:Do not be scared about reading the book of Revelation. For the believer, this is the fruit of our faith walk!!
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.Forgive always, for not doing so ONLY hurts youself, not the other person!
7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,And whose hope is the LORD.8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,Which spreads out its roots by the river,And will not fear when heat comes;But its leaf will be green,And will not be anxious in the year of drought,Nor will cease from yielding fruit.(!)
"1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."With this in mind, from what had God made you free?
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!”
5 But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."[Sometimes we can feel so worthless and ashamed when we simply fall apart from circumstances and things we really can't control. But God says that He is our deliverer and that we need to trust and believe Him!
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD.
“ Prepare for war!Let us not sleep [to be silent and complacent and indifferent] anymore! Jesus will return sooner than we think, and we need to be right with God! Let us repent our ways and seek God more than the things of this world, which will perish!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,I've always wondered why this proverb was worded so strangely, specifically "lean not"?
And lean not on your own understanding;
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead...
39 ...on the fifteenth day of the seventh month... you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:What are the comparisons of these two scriptures?
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’
The King of Israel!”
23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
"23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."The key here is to love everyone more and hear God carefully so we don't miss what He has to tell us.
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.The Word says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Without faith, we can not please God. (Hebrews 11:1, 6) The just [one who solely relies upon God] will live by faith in God. (Habakkuk 2:4, Hebrews 10:38). So...believe by faith!
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Let your life be ruled by love! (for God is Love, God=Love, be ruled by God!)
8 Love never fails...
22 So Samuel said:This means that God takes no delight in the forgiveness of the sin that you should have never done, but rather that you should have obeyed God's laws instead which would have eliminated doing the sin. (God will still forgive you, but He would rather have you simply be obedient instead!)
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5...He saved us... 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
