“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
~~~Philippians 4:8 (KJV)~~~
“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].”
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
~~~John 16:13 (KJV)~~~
“But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].”
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
~~~Luke 15:25-32 (ESV)~~~
“If the elder son had shown love, he would have been both a wonderful son and a wonderful brother. But he got angry, felt more important, and he didn’t show any love and that’s why we don’t ever remember how good of a son he really was. Love is the right thing to do. If it feels wrong, it’s usually just because our flesh wants to be more important, like was the case with the elder son. The flesh is prideful and self-serving. It wants to take instead of give and it wants all the credit all the time. It is greedy and never satisfied. But, when we sow to the spirit and put our faith in God, we don’t live according to the flesh. When we live by the spirit, we understand that God loves us and is going to take care of us regardless of what others around us do. That’s when our faith in God calms our flesh to the point that we don’t feel the need to cut others down in order to lift ourselves up. That faith in God literally helps us to show love.” Excerpt taken from “DISTORTION: The Vanity of Genetically Altered Christianity” by Jesse Duplantis.
“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”
~~~Jeremiah 29:11-12 (ESV)~~~
“For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.”
Andrew Wommack “But I’m telling you we’ve got to come back to just thanking God for what you have. And if you would just fellowship with the Lord and love Him, I guarantee you the joy of the Lord would be your strength. Praise is strength to still the enemy and the avenger. You abound in faith with thanksgiving (Colossians chapter two, verse seven). And on and on it goes. It’s just a powerful thing. If we would start just enjoying the Lord, fellowshipping with Him, you wouldn’t have as many problems. And the problems that you have wouldn’t be that big of a deal, Just not that big of a deal. In the light of eternity, what does it matter? Most of the stuff we deal with is just not that important. So I encourage you to recognize that the real purpose of prayer is not to get stuff from God, even thought that is a part of it, but the main purpose of prayer is just to worship God, to bless God, to love God, to be a pleasure unto Him. And when you do that, God’ll never let you out give Him. He will bless you back more than you ever bless Him. If you go to thanking Him, He is going to give you so much more stuff to thank Him for because He just loves, He inhabit the praises of His people. He will bless you more than you ever thought of accidently than you ever got on purpose before asking and begging. Man that’s good news! I encourage you today to receive that and to just start making the main thing the main thing. Put prayer as ‘Father, I want to know you. I want to bless you. You’ve given so much to me, I want to bless you.'”
“Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.”
“In like manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives, When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him—to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband]. Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God. For it was thus that the pious women of old who hoped in God were [accustomed] to beautify themselves and were submissive to their husbands [adapting themselves to them as themselves secondary and dependent upon them]. It was thus that Sarah obeyed Abraham [following his guidance and acknowledging his headship over her by] calling him lord (master, leader, authority). And you are now her true daughters if you do right and let nothing terrify you [not giving way to hysterical fears or letting anxieties unnerve you]”.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise”.
~~~Psalm 51:17 (ESV)~~~
“My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise”.My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise”.
~~~Psalm 51:17 (AMPC)~~~
“The fountain of your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before you. You will not despise my tenderness as I bow down humbly at your feet”.
~~~Psalm 51:17 (TPT)~~~
“Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice”.
Former atheist Police Detective J. Warner Wallace* “Faith is not something that’s blind. It’s the step you take at the end of the evidence trail…And I knew two things, that He was who He said He was and…I am in need of who He says He is….And it changed who Jesus was to me….but that doesn’t make you a Christian….I had believed that the Gospels were telling me the truth. You don’t move from belief that to belief in until you stop reading the Bible for what it says about Jesus and you start reading the Bible for what it says about you…You eventually have to come back to the truth”.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
