Approach the Throne

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

~ Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)

Hidden with Christ

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

~ Colossians 3:3-4 (NIV)

This is Love

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

~ 1 John 4:10 (NIV)

Bond of Peace

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

~ Ephesians 4:1-3 (NIV 1984)

Through the Bond of Peace

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV 1984)

Jesus Prays for Us...

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” 

~ John 17:20-26 (NIV 1984)

Works of Service

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ~ Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV 1984)

In His Time...

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time.He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. 

~ Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 (NIV) 

New Creation

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

~ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Saved by Grace Through Faith...

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

~ Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

My Refuge...

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. 

~ Psalm 59:16 (NIV)

Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

~ James 1:2-4 (NIV 1984)

Heart of Flesh

24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ~ Ezekiel 36:24-28 (NIV)

A New Thing

This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,

who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
 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 43:16-19 (NIV)

Above...

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 

~ Colossians 3:2 (NIV)

As White as Snow

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.

~ Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)

Joy & Peace

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 15:13 (NIV 1984)

Present Sufferings Vs. Future Glory

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 

~ Romans 8:18 (NIV)

Simple Math

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 

~ 2 Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)

Run for the Prize

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24

Say No...

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 

~ Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

Seek HIS Face

 

Look to the Lord and His strength;
    seek his face always. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)

No Condemnation

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 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)

By HIS Spirit

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. ~ Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)

 

Christ's Love Compels Us...

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV)

Hope in Him

Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. ~ Psalm 25:5 (NIV)

Keep on Praying

Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. 

(AMPC)

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (NIV)

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. (NLT)

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, (NASB)

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; (KJV)

~ Romans 12:12

Motivate One Another

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. 

~ Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)