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Friday, March 13

Pure Religion

I thought this verse from James was a good complement to the verses from my February 25th post. I highly recommend reading the whole chapter as the rest of it goes well with the verses in my March 4th post. Enjoy!

James 1:27
(NIV) 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Friday, March 6

Spring draws near

Here are some more flower photos to celebrate the arrival of spring:

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24 (NIV)


Wednesday, March 4

Everything we need

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 (NIV)

Wow! This verse never ceases to amaze me. It spells things out so clearly. How do I love God? Obey Him. AND His commands are not burdensome to obey. So now I ask myself, what are these commands? They aren’t hard to find when you’re looking, and I’ve included several of them below (I italicized parts that really stood out to me). Initially all of these instructions were a little overwhelming, but guess what?! “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness…” 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

Praise be to God for His infinite wisdom!

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)

…make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 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.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 (NIV)

Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

Galations 5:22-26 (NIV)

…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV)

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.

Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


I hope you were as encouraged as I was by these scriptures. My prayer for each one of you is that "God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:23-34 (NIV)