“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.   May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the […]

“Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.    There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” Philippians 1:3, […]

“And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.”   1 John 2:28 MSG Live deeply. Live ready. With whom? Christ. See, when you live deeply in […]

The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!    And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the […]

“At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got.   But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence.    You […]

“Here’s how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God.”   1 John 4:2, 3 MSGStraightforward […]

 “Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.    There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”Philippians 1:3, […]

“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.     That means we will not […]

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus.   The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus.   ‭‭John‬ ‭1:40-41 ‭MSG‬‬ What’s the very first thing you do […]

“We look at this Son (Jesus) and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created.     For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels— everything got started in him and finds its purpose in […]