In his kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.
– 1 Peter 5:10 (NLT)
If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!
– Proverbs 24:10 (NIV)
Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing. If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking.
– James 1:2-5 (VOICE)
We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.
– Romans 8:28 (VOICE)
You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You. So trust in the Eternal One forever, for He is like a great Rock—strong, stable, trustworthy, and lasting.
**Inspired by my daughter’s prayer march against human trafficking today. We each need to take a look at ourselves and ask what we are doing for someone who cannot do or speak for themselves.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.
– Proverbs 31:8 (NLT)
Learn to do good; commit yourselves to seeking justice. Make right for the world’s most vulnerable – the oppressed, the orphaned, the widow.
– Isaiah 1:17 (VOICE)
Stand up of the poor and the orphan; advocate for the rights of the afflicted and those in need.
– Psalm 82:3 (VOICE)
Real, true religion from God the Father’s perspective is about caring for the orphans and widows who suffer needlessly and resisting the evil influence of the world.
– James1:27 (VOICE)
Jesus said – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.
– Luke 4:18, 19 (NLT)
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
– Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)
Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and who You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?”
And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sister, you were doing it to Me!”
For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver… we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
– Psalm 66:10-12 (NIV)
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
– Isaiah 43:1-3 (NIV)
Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
– Revelation 22:1 (NLT)
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.
– Exodus 3:2 9NLT)
The Eternal went on ahead to guide them during the day in a cloud shaped like a pillar; at night He appeared to them in a fire shaped like a pillar to light their way. So they were able to travel by day and by night.
– Exodus 13:21 (VOICE)
The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, believers) say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take and drink the water of life without cost.
– Revelation 22:17 (AMP)
As evening came, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke Him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.Then He asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey Him!”
– Mark 4:35-41 (NLT)
Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and He won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God Himself is Fire!
– Hebrews 12:28,29 (MSG)
You make Your messengers like the winds; the breeze whispers Your words, Your servants are like the fire and flame.
– Psalm 104:4 (VOICE)
Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?
– Jeremiah 23:29 (NLT)
With joy in each step, you will drink deeply from the springs of salvation.
– Isaiah 12:3 (VOICE)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usualand commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God,come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire,and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants! They trusted in Him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
– 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.
– Hebrews 12:2 (VOICE)
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our Apostle and High Priest.
– Hebrews 3:1 (NIV)
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where He was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—He could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
– Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
– Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.
– Proverbs 4:23-27 (MSG)
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.For I can do everything through Christ,who gives me strength.
– Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)
…godliness, along with contentment, does put us ahead but not in the ways some imagine. You see we came into this world with nothing, and nothing is going with us on the way out! So as long as we are clothed and fed, we should be happy.
– 1 Timothy 6:6-8 (VOICE)
I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:10 (VOICE)
…let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him [for each person is unique and is accountable for his choices and conduct, let him walk in this way].
– 1 Corinthians 7:17 (AMP)
You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You.
…the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
– Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
– Isaiah 43:1-3 (NIV)
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
– Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
You, too, are being completed in Him, the One who has dominion over all rule, all authority.
Is your life invested in bigger, better, and prestigious
or
in the smallest, poor and broken?
Do you know which one God prioritizes?
He is the authority
on what matters
We are given only one life
to invest in the eternal
and in the things He values
May we invest wisely
for we never know
when God will retire our position
for the afterlife
– Susie Stewart
The kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a trip. He called his servants and entrusted some money to them. He gave one man ten thousand dollars, another four thousand dollars, and another two thousand dollars. Each was given money based on his ability. Then the man went on his trip.
The one who received ten thousand dollars invested the money at once and doubled his money.The one who had four thousand dollars did the same and also doubled his money.But the one who received two thousand dollars went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.The one who received ten thousand dollars brought the additional ten thousand. He said, “Sir, you gave me ten thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.”
His master replied, “Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
The one who received four thousand dollars came and said, “Sir, you gave me four thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.”
His master replied, “Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
Then the one who received two thousand dollars came and said, “Sir, I knew that you are a hard person to please. You harvest where you haven’t planted and gather where you haven’t scattered any seeds.I was afraid. So I hid your two thousand dollars in the ground. Here’s your money!”
His master responded, “You evil and lazy servant! If you knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted and gather where I haven’t scattered,then you should have invested my money with the bankers. When I returned, I would have received my money back with interest.Take the two thousand dollars away from him! Give it to the one who has the ten thousand!To all who have, more will be given, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much.…
– Matthew 25:14-30 (GW)
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
– Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)
This is my last gift to you, this example of a way of life: a life of hard work, a life of helping the weak, a life that echoes every day those words of Jesus our King, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
– Acts 20:35 (VOICE)
…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for My holy purpose…
– Jeremiah 1:5 (GW)
…I have called you by name; you are Mine.
– Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence! If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the grave,You are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from You. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to You.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me!
– Psalm 139:1-18 (NLT)
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
– John 10:10 (AMP)
I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
– Jeremiah 29:11 (GW)
I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit.
– Romans 15:13 (VOICE)
The Eternal One will never leave you; He will lead you in the way that you should go. When you feel dried up and worthless, God will nourish you and give you strength. And you will grow like a garden lovingly tended; you will be like a spring whose water never runs out.
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all His goodness.
– Psalm 34:8,9 (MSG)
This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: “Call to Me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”
– Jeremiah 33:2,3 (MSG)
That is why we ought to pay even closer attention to the voice that has been speaking so that we will never drift away from it.
– Hebrews 2:1 (VOICE)
Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
– 1 Kings 19:11, 12 (MSG)
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
– Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
This is what the Almighty Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: You can be saved by returning to Me. You can have rest. You can be strong by being quiet and by trusting Me. But you don’t want that.
Susie Stewart 