And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
– Romans 12:1 (NLT)
If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer!
– Job 11:13 (NLT)
That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
– Romans 6:12-14 (MSG)
If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.
– C.T. Studd
Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow You,” he said.
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:19 (NLT)
I could lose everything in life. There’s not anything I have here on earth that is guaranteed. If I lost it all though, I’d be okay because no one can take away my identity in Christ. Whether I live in a mansion on a hill or a shack in the swamp, I have my Jesus. Whether the world is for me or against me, I have my Jesus. When I am knocked down, I get on my knees and there I find my Jesus. His Word is planted deep in my heart and I believe it all.
– Melissa Taylor
His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue.
– 2 Peter 1:3 (VOICE)
For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives. And there is one Lord—Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King; through Him all things were created, and by Him we are redeemed.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
– John 10:11 (NIV)
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.
– John 10:10-13 (MSG)
I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,
– John 10:14 (NLT)
And when the Chief Shepherd (Christ) appears, you will receive the [conqueror’s] unfading crown of glory.
– 1 Peter 5:4 (AMP)
For there was a time when you were like sheep that wandered from the fold, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your lives.
– 1 Peter 2:25 (VOICE)
Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, His heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” He said to His disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”
– Matthew 9:35-37 (MSG)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
O my soul, come, praise the Eternal with all that is in me—body, emotions, mind, and will—every part of who I am— praise His holy name.
– Psalm 103:1 (VOICE)
Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
– Psalm 103:1 (NKJV)
Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.
– Psalm 146:1,2 (NLT)
I was privileged to hear Joni Eareckson Tada speak Saturday night at the Desiring God Conference. Most of you know Joni, a quadriplegic, was paralyzed 38 years ago in a diving accident. She gave a great and convicting message but as the time of worship began, I saw something that was more impressive than anything I heard. I saw Joni dance.
Joni handles her wheelchair as deftly as any Nascar driver on a racetrack. No sooner had the music begun than Joni began to “dance”. As much as a quadriplegic can dance, she danced. Joni has just enough movement and strength in her hands and shoulders to grip the controls on her chair and maneuver herself without the aid of others. Suddenly the chair began to move with the music. She thrust forward, then backward, then forward, then backward. Smoothly, and yet with obvious passion, she turned to the right, then the left, then the right again.
Suddenly, the forward and backward and side to side movements gave way to spinning. Well, as much as a paralyzed person can spin. Joni began to turn her chair in circles, first clockwise, then back again. If she ceased her movements, if was only so that she could lift her contorted hands as high as her paralysis would allow. It wasn’t very high, but who’s measuring!
I had to ask myself why I often stand like a vertical cadaver. I have the glorious gift and privilege of being able to celebrate God and honor Him with my body. I can kneel, lift my hands to heaven, fall prostrate, clap, and yes, move to the right and left and dance.
I went home thinking about Joni and thinking about her God. What kind of God is this who can inspire such freedom and joy in one who, from a human point of view, would appear to have very reason to hate Him? What kind of God is this who has the qualities and characteristics and attributes and beauty and glory that He can be found worthy of the praise and gratitude and “dancing” of a woman who’s spent the last 38 years in a wheelchair? Wow! Now that’s some God!
– Dr. Sam Storms
I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!…
I was inspired to write this piece after listening to a interview my cousin, Kathy Gray, did on her new book “Light in Our Darkness”. In the interview Kathy said, “We were never created to perform. We were created for relationship.” Amen. Thank you, Kathy
– Susie Stewart
Don’t be mistaken; in and of ourselves we know we have little to offer, but any competence or value we have comes from God. Now God has equipped us to be capable servants of the new covenant, not by authority of the written law which only brings death, but by the Spirit who brings life.
– 2 Corinthians 3:5,6 (VOICE)
But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
– John 1:12,13 (NLT)
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…
– Galatians 3:26 (NIV)
See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is.
– 1 John 3:1,2 (NLT)
And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.
What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The Lord can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
– Isaiah 29:15 (NLT)
Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.
– Ephesians 5:10-14 (NLT)
Hidden things will always come out into the open. Secret things will come to light and be exposed.
– Luke 8:17 (VOICE)
Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
– Matthew 6:14,15 (NLT)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
– 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
But You, O Lord our God, still show us compassion and forgiveness even though we have openly rebelled against You.
– Daniel 9:9 (VOICE)
You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them. As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Susie Stewart 