Be United

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV

My Food

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ~ John 4:34 (NIV)

Dead in Sins...

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ~ Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV)

Keep in Step with the Spirit

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ~ Galatians 5:25 (NIV)

Jesus Gives Eternal Life

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. ~ John 17:1-5 (NIV)

Life

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. ~ Romans 8:11 (NIV)

Let God Be the Builder

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.

~ Psalm 127, NIV

And Self Control

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Live Your Life in Him

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ~ Colossians 2:6-7 (NRSV)

Walk by the Spirit

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ~ Galatians 5:16 (NIV)

Take Up Your Cross Daily

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ~ Luke 9:23 (NIV)

Be Careful

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” ~ Luke 21:34-36 (NIV)

More than Conquerors

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ~ Romans 8:37 (NIV)

Freedom & Confidence

12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. ~ Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)

By the Blood of Christ

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ~ Ephesians 2:13 (NIV)

HE Chose Us

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. ~ Ephesians 1:4a (NIV)

New Has Come

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Holiness and Redemption

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

Called Unto Holiness

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: ~ 1 Corinthians 1:2 (NIV)

Life Through the Spirit

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ~ Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

Justified by HIS Grace

and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:24 (NIV)

Know Him Better

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ~ Ephesians 1:17-20 (NIV)

Stay Away From Idols ~ Crave God

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. ~ 1 John 5:21 (NIV)

Inner Beauty ~ Crave God

3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ~ 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

Fear & Crave God

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ~ Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

Know & Rely on God's Love ~ Crave God

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ~ 1 John 4:16 (NIV)

Don't Love the World ~ Crave God

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ~ 1 John 2:15 (NIV)

Sold Birthright

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

~ Genesis 25:29-31, 33-34 (NIV)

One Can Help the Other

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 (NIV)

Obey God's Word ~ Crave God

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ~ 1 John 2:5 (NIV)

Be Renewed ~ Crave God

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

~ Colossians 3:2-10 (NIV)

Be Transformed ~ Crave God

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~ Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Let God Fill You ~ Crave God

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. ~ Ephesians 1:22-23 (NIV)

Taste and See

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

A New Thing

18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

~ Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Perseverance Produces a Crop

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. ~ Luke 8:15 (NIV)

The BEST Fullness ~ Crave God

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

Flee

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:14 (NIV)