Thursday, July 21, 2016
1st Peter ~ The Position of Believers (2:4-12), Submission to Authority (2:13;3:7)
1 Peter 2 NLT
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the
living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was
chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is
building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.
Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that
please God.
6As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a
cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the
honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the
builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
8 And, “He is the stone that makes
people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do
not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you
are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own
possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called
you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a
people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have
received God’s mercy.”
11 Dear friends, I warn you as
“temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that
wage war against your very souls.
12 Be careful to live properly among
your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they
will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he
judges the world.
13 For the Lord’s sake, submit to all
human authority—whether the king as head of state,
14 or the officials he has appointed.
For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who
do right.
15 It is God’s will that your honorable
lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against
you.
16 For you are free, yet you are God’s
slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
17 Respect everyone, and love the family
of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.
18 You who are slaves must submit to
your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind
and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.
19 For God is pleased when, conscious of
his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.
20 Of course, you get no credit for
being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing
good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
21 For God called you to do good, even
if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and
you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived
anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was
insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands
of God, who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins in his
body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By
his wounds you are healed.
25 Once you were like
sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian
of your souls.
1 Peter 3 NLT
1 In the same way, you wives must
accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the
Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be
won over
2 by observing your pure and reverent
lives.
3 Don’t be concerned about the outward
beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.
4 You should clothe yourselves instead
with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and
quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
5 This is how the holy women of old
made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the
authority of their husbands.
6 For instance, Sarah obeyed her
husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do
what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.
7 In the same way, you husbands must
give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live
together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in
God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be
hindered.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
1st Peter 1 ~ Greetings, Praise to God for His Grace and Salvation (1:3-12), The Requirement of Holiness (1:13;2:3)
1 Peter 1 NLT
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as
foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
2 God the Father knew you and chose you
long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him
and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and
more grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great
expectation,
4 and we have a priceless
inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And through your faith, God is
protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to
be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful
joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
7 These trials will show that your
faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though
your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains
strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor
on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have
never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice
with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
9 The reward for trusting him will be
the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was something even the
prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious
salvation prepared for you.
11 They wondered what time or situation
the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance
about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12They were told that their messages were not
for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you
by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is
all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
13 So prepare your minds for action and
exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will
come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
14 So you must live as God’s obedient
children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own
desires. You didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be holy in
everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be
holy because I am holy.”
17And remember that the heavenly Father to
whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what
you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as
“temporary residents.”
18 For you know that God paid a ransom
to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was
not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
19 It was the precious blood of Christ,
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
20 God chose him as your ransom long
before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for
your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust
in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ
from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when
you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as
brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not
to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it
comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24 As the Scriptures say, “People are
like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and
the flower fades.
25 But the word of the
Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
1 Peter 2 NLT
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be
done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
2 Like newborn babies, you must crave
pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment,
3 now that you have had a taste of the
Lord’s kindness.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
James 5 ~ Warning to Rich Oppressors (5:1-6), Miscellaneous Exhortations (5:7-20)
James 5 NLT
1 Look here, you rich people: Weep and
groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your
fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded.
The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This
corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of
judgment.
4 For listen! Hear the cries of the
field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who
harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
5 You have spent your years on earth in
luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day
of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and killed
innocent people, who do not resist you.
7 Dear brothers and sisters, be patient
as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for
the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable
harvest to ripen.
8 You, too, must be patient. Take
courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Don’t grumble about each other,
brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at
the door!
10 For examples of patience in
suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the
name of the Lord.
11We give great honor to those who endure
under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance.
You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of
tenderness and mercy.
12 But most of all, my brothers and
sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a
simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.
13 Are any of you suffering hardships?
You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
14 Are any of you sick? You should call
for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil
in the name of the Lord.
15Such a prayer offered in faith will heal
the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins,
you will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a
righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
17 Elijah was as human as we are, and
yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a
half years!
18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky
sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, if
someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back,
20you can be sure that
whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death
and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
Monday, July 18, 2016
James 4 Warning against Worldliness
James 4 NLT
1 What is causing the quarrels and
fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within
you?
2 You want what you don’t have, so you
scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t
get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have
what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
3 And even when you ask, you don’t get
it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you
pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize
that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If
you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
5 Do you think the Scriptures have no
meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within
us should be faithful to him.
6 And he gives grace generously. As the
Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God, and God will come
close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your
loyalty is divided between God and the world.
9 Let there be tears for what you have
done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of
laughter, and gloom instead of joy.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up in honor.
11 Don’t speak evil against each other,
dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are
criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to
judge whether it applies to you.
12 God alone, who gave the law, is the
Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have
to judge your neighbor?
13 Look here, you who say, “Today or
tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do
business there and make a profit.”
14 How do you know what your life will
be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while,
then it’s gone.
15 What you ought to say is, “If the
Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
16 Otherwise you are boasting about your
own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
17 Remember, it is sin
to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
James 3 ~ Taming the Tongue (3:1-12), Two Kinds of Wisdom (3:13-18)
James 3 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many
of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged
more strictly.
2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes.
For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control
ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever
we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.
4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship
turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.
5 In the same way, the tongue is a
small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest
on fire.
6 And among all the parts of the body,
the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting
your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by
hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals,
birds, reptiles, and fish,
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is
restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and
Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of
God.
10 And so blessing and cursing come
pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not
right!
11 Does a spring of water bubble out
with both fresh water and bitter water?
12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a
grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty
spring.
13 If you are wise and understand God’s
ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility
that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you are bitterly jealous and
there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting
and lying.
15 For jealousy and selfishness are not
God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
16 For wherever there is jealousy and
selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of
all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to
others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism
and is always sincere.
18 And those who are
peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Friday, July 15, 2016
James 2 ~ Favoritism Forbidden (2:1-13,) Faith and Deeds (2:14-26)
James 2 NLT
1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can
you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some
people over others?
2 For example, suppose someone comes
into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another
comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
3 If you give special attention and a
good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over
there, or else sit on the floor”—well,
4doesn’t this discrimination show that your
judgments are guided by evil motives?
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and
sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t
they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love
him?
6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it
the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
7 Aren’t they the ones who slander
Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey
the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
9 But if you favor some people over
others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
10 For the person who keeps all of the
laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s
laws.
11 For the same God who said, “You must
not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder
someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
12 So whatever you say or whatever you
do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free.
13 There will be no mercy for those who
have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be
merciful when he judges you.
14 What good is it, dear brothers and
sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that
kind of faith save anyone?
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister
who has no food or clothing,
16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a
good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food
or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t
enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people
have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith
if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 You say you have faith, for you
believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and
they tremble in terror.
20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith
without good deeds is useless?
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor
Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son
Isaac on the altar?
22 You see, his faith and his actions
worked together. His actions made his faith complete.
23 And so it happened just as the
Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because
of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
24 So you see, we are shown to be right
with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
25 Rahab the prostitute is another
example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those
messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.
26 Just as the body is
dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
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