Monday, 1 February 2016
Sunday, 31 January 2016
important of sex in chriastian marriage
Counselor Waylon Ward offers an insightful way to understand the problem, which he calls “the Pickle Principle.” In order to make pickles, we put cucumbers in a brine solution of vinegar, spices, and water. After a cucumber soaks in the brine long enough, it is changed into a pickle. Most of us are like pickles. We sit in the brine of a sex-saturated culture, absorbing its values and beliefs, and it changes the way we think. Even most Christians are pickled today, believing and acting exactly like everyone else who has been sitting in the brine of a culture hostile to God and His Word.
The world’s sex-saturated brine includes the belief that sex is the ultimate pleasure. The message of much TV, movies, and music is that there is no greater pleasure available, and that it is the right of every individual, even teenagers, to have this pleasure.{1} Another aspect of this pickling process is the belief that no one has the right to deprive anyone else of this greatest of all human pleasures, that no one has the right to tell anyone else what is right or wrong about the expression of his or her sexuality.{2}
If the purpose and goal of sex is primarily pleasure, then other people are just objects to be used for sensual gratification. Since people are infinitely valuable because God made us in His image, that is a slap in the face whether we realize it or not. The Christian perspective is that the purpose of sex is relational, with pleasure as the by-product. The Bible teaches that sex welds two souls together.{3} It is so powerful that it is only safe within a committed, covenant marriage relationship. It’s like the difference between the wild energy of lightning compared to the harnessed power of electricity. God knew what He was doing when He limited sex to within marriage!
God wants to get His “pickled people” out of the world’s brine and into an intimate relationship with Him. He wants to change our thinking and beliefs to be in alignment with His.
Sex is God’s Invention! The Purpose of Sex
Sex is God’s idea. He made it not only efficient for making babies, but pleasurable and deeply satisfying. He designed men’s and women’s body parts to complement each other. He created hormones to make everything work right and make us want to be sexual. Unlike animals, whose mating behavior is purely instinctive for the purpose of reproducing, human sexuality has several wonderful purposes. God means for all of them to be contained within marriage.In a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between husband and wife, we can express and enjoy God’s two major purposes to sex: fruitfulness and intimacy. His first command to Adam and Eve was to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28); one very foundational purpose of sex is to create new living beings. Fruitfulness is not limited to having children, though. A mutually loving and serving sexual relationship between husband and wife can produce emotional and personal fruitfulness as well. Both people are nurtured to grow, develop, and soar, becoming more of what God means them to be.
The other big purpose for sex, emotional and physical intimacy, is only possible within marriage. In his little gem of a book called What God Says About Sex,{4} Eric Elder says that intimacy really means “into-me-see.” It is only safe to reveal the fullness of who we are, “warts and all,” to someone who loves us and has committed to be faithful and supportive “till death do us part.” The fullest experience and freedom of sex is found within the marriage bed, which God says to keep holy or set apart.{5} God says that we are to use self-control to keep all expressions of sexuality limited to marriage.{6}
Sex also builds oneness, a mystical union of two lives and souls into one life together. The one-flesh union of sex is a picture of the way two souls are joined together into a shared life. In fact, we could say that sex is like solder that is used to fuse two pieces of metal together. Once they are joined, it is a strong bond that helps keep marriages and families intact, which is God’s intention for our lives. Another purpose of sex is the pleasure that comes from being safe in another’s love. The entire book of Song of Solomon is gorgeous poetry that glorifies married sexual relations.
God also says that an important purpose of sex is to serve as an earthbound illustration of the mystical but real unity of Christ and the church, where two very different, very other beings are joined together as one. This spiritual component to sex is what helps us see more clearly why any and all sex outside of marriage falls far short of God’s intention for it to be holy and sacred—and protected.
So . . . What Does God Actually Say?
A lot of people believe the Bible says, “Sex is fun and it feels good, so don’t do it.” Nothing could be farther from the truth! Sex was God’s great idea in the first place! But God’s view of sex as a sacred and private gift to married couples, as well as a gift each spouse gives to the other, is at great odds with the world’s perspective of sex as simply a pleasure no one should deny him- or herself.The overarching statement God makes is that sex is to be completely contained within marriage.{7} As I said above, sex is so powerful that it’s like the difference between the wild, uncontrollable power of lightning compared to the safety of harnessed electricity in our buildings. God wants us to harness the power of sex within marriage. This means that all other expressions of sexuality are off-limits, not because God is a cosmic killjoy, but because He loves us and knows what’s best for us, namely, not playing with lightning! So God says not to engage in sex with anyone before marriage, with anyone else once we are married, with anyone of the same sex; or with prostitutes, or with family members, or with animals.
God says that sexual purity is a treasure to be guarded and valued. It is a reflection of God’s own character, which is what makes it so valuable. In our culture, many people have been deceived into thinking that their virginity is worthless, something to get rid of. But God says it is special,{8} a gift that can we can only bestow on one person, one time. God calls us to purity after marriage as well by remaining faithful to our spouse. Purity before and during marriage prevents “ghosts” in the marriage bed; comparisons are nowhere as deadly as in the intensely intimate realm of sex. We glorify God in our sexuality by using self-control to stay pure if single, and by loving our spouse sexually if married.
The good news is that purity can be restored if we confess our sin and put our trust in Jesus to forgive us and give us a new, holy quality of life. The Bible promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”{9} God stands ready to forgive and cleanse us, and restore our purity the moment we ask.
God says that sex is to be reserved for adults only. Three times in the Song of Solomon, a beautiful book extolling the glory of married sex, it says, “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires,” which means “until the time is right.”{10} As I minister to sexually broken people,{11} most of them bear the still-painful scars of childhood sexual abuse from people who never should have opened a door to sexual experience. Their entire view of sex has been warped and skewed. God never meant for children to be introduced to sex. It’s for adults. Married adults.
God wants us to actively fight sexual temptation. The battle is harder than it’s ever been because of our sex-saturated culture. He says to flee immorality.{12} In fact, God says to offer not even a hint of sexual immorality.{13} That means that it is a violation of His intentions to engage in phone sex with strangers, or virtual sex in chat rooms and porn sites. The fact that you’re not physically touching another person’s body doesn’t mean it’s not sin, because Jesus said that sexual sin happens in the mind first.{14}
Eric Elder suggests asking a powerful question to help clarify the battle against sexual temptation: will this lead to greater intimacy and fruitfulness with the husband or wife God has created for me?{15} This filter is helpful for both married people and singles. If an action doesn’t build intimacy or fruitfulness, it probably destroys them. Another question to ask is, Can I glorify God in what my flesh wants to do? Can I invite Jesus into what I’m about to do? If the answer is no, God invites us to meet the struggle with His supernatural energy instead of our own puny human strength.{16}
Outside of the safety of marriage, sex is wounding and hurtful, but God created it for our pleasure and delight. In the Song of Solomon, God enthusiastically invites the newlyweds to enjoy His good gift of sex, where He says, “Eat, friends, and drink, o lovers!”{17} In fact, God wants married couples to bless each other by enjoying sex often and regularly.{18}
Are you surprised by what God says about sex?
Why Sexual Sin Hurts So Much
Pastors and counselors will tell you that there is a greater intensity of shame and pain in the people they counsel when the issues involve sexual sin.{19} Paul says that all other sins are outside our bodies,{20} but sexual sin touches you deep in your heart and soul.As mentioned above, it may be helpful to think of sex like solder. God created it to make a strong, powerful bond that creates healthy, stable families into which children are welcomed. But when people fuse their souls through sexual sin without the safety and commitment of marriage, it causes tremendous pain when the relationship rips apart. (Have you ever seen a broken weld? It’s pretty ugly.) When sex is disconnected from love and commitment, it also disconnects the body from the soul. This inflicts deep wounds of shame and guilt on a heart that has been used for gratification instead of love.
Waylon Ward says that sex sins expose and exploit our deepest emotional and spiritual vulnerabilities. He writes, “In the counseling office, individuals rarely if ever weep scalding tears about any other sense of loss like they do for a sexual relationship when it ends. There are soul ties that bind two partners together in unseen ways and there is a sense that part of you has been stolen. There is a hole in your soul where the connection was ripped from you.”{21}
The pickling brine of our culture’s increased sensuality says, “If it feels good, do it. You’re entitled.” But while this belief about sex may feel good, it is most definitely not good for us. Note the runaway epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, and the resulting increase in infertility. Note the number of broken hearts and broken families. Note the alarming amount of sexual abuse. Note the soaring rates of depression, especially in teens, much of which is related to sexual activity outside of marriage.
God invented sex for His glory and our benefit. His basic rule—keep sex inside marriage—isn’t meant to be a killjoy, but to protect our hearts and bodies and relationships and families. He knows what He’s doing, and we do well to follow.
Notes
1. Waylon Ward, Sex Matters: Men Winning the Battle (McKinney, Texas: Allison O’Neil Publishing Company, 2004), 7. This book can be ordered through Waylon’s Web site, www.mercymatters.com.
2. Ibid., 8.
3. Gen. 2:24;1 Cor. 6:15-16.
4. Eric Elder, What God Says About Sex (Inspiringbooks.com, an imprint of Eric Elder, 2006). Contact www.WhatGodSays.com for more information.
5. Hebrews 13:4.
6. 1 Corinthians 6:18.
7. Forty-four prohibitions of porneia (sexual expression outside of marriage, usually translated “sexual immorality”).
8. SoS 4:12.
9. 1 John 1:9.
10. SoS 2:7, 3:5, 8:4.
11. I have the privilege of serving with Living Hope Ministries (www.livehope.org), a support group for those dealing with unwanted same-sex attractions, and the families of those who struggle. (Or who don’t struggle because they are just fully immersed in a gay identity.) I mainly minister to women, for whom a history of sexual abuse is a common denominator.
12. 1 Cor. 6:18.
13. Ephesians 5:3.
14. Matthew 5:28.
15. Elder, What God Says About Sex, 37.
16. Colossians 1:29, Ephesians 6:10.
17. SoS 5:1.
18. 1 Corinthians 7:5.
19. Ward, Sex Matters, 16.
20. 1 Corinthians 6:18.
21. Ward, Sex Matters, 17.
© 2007 Probe Ministries
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Saturday, 16 January 2016
WHAT IS LOVE BY JESUS
Love
Two main postulates of Jesus’ Teachings are the following:
The first one is God-Centredness, i.e. perceiving not
oneself but Him as the principal Foundation of the world, as the Goal
and Meaning of the existence of everything, dedicating one’s own life to
Him, preparing oneself for Mergence with Him, aspiring to this Mergence
and helping others on this Path.
The second one is the preparation of oneself for
realization of the first point through developing emotional love in
relationships with other people, first of all. When this love is
developed, it can be directed to God-the-Father. This will ensure a
quick advancement to Him and Mergence.
It is very important to understand that Mergence with
God-the-Father is Mergence with Him in love, because He Himself is Love,
the state of Love. And in order to achieve this Mergence, we have to
transform ourselves into Love.
The degree of transformation of oneself (as a
consciousness) into the energy of emotional love is the measure of one’s
spiritual advancement (given that one possesses also wisdom and the
consciousness is large enough). (Sternness and emotional severity of
many “pastors” is an indication of the opposite).
Love is not thoughts about good deeds and even not doing deeds that we believe to be good.
Love is emotions, emotional states of the energy of the consciousness.
If one wants to do the deeds of love but is not capable
of loving cordially, then it often results in absurdity: in egocentric
and pertinacious imposing of oneself, in violence against others, and
even in resentment about their reaction: they “don’t understand my
love”, “don’t want to accept my care”…
True love is incompatible with violence (except for
cases when one needs to protect someone from violence, sometimes by
sacrificing oneself, and except for some situations of guiding children
and correcting the behavior of mentally ill people); otherwise it
becomes not love but ravishment. And no normal person wants such an
attitude.
The true love is also not the “stormy” emotions of sexual passion. This is passion, not love.
And, of course, love is not the sheer technique of reaching sexual satisfaction.
The true love is emotions that originate initially in
the spiritual heart. The deeds of true love are done under the control
of the developed intellect against the background of these emotions.
Emotions are not a product of the brain as materialists
taught. Emotions are states of the consciousness. They originate in
special energy organs of the consciousness, not of the body.
The brain indeed reacts to emotional states by changing
its bioelectric activity, because the consciousness interacts with the
body through the brain. For example, under the influence of certain
emotions the blood pressure changes, sweat stands out, the countenance
changes. But these are not emotions, despite the fact that one may find
such statements in textbooks on physiology written by materialists.
These are just bodily reactions to emotional states of the consciousness
mediated through the brain.
In the human multidimensional organism, there are special energy centers (they are called chakras or dantians) responsible for regulation of the states of the consciousness.
For example, thinking activity is the “duty” of the head
chakras. The emotions of anxiety, anger originate in the energy
structure of the upper part of the abdomen. And the emotions of love —
in the spiritual heart. It is located in the chest and occupies (if
developed) almost all its volume.
“Opening the spiritual heart” is the main point on the
initial stage of spiritual development. For the majority of people it is
the first opportunity to experience what love is, and not just to talk
about it. Not before we come to know it, can we understand “on what
language” we should talk to God and to those who are close to God. Only
since that moment, we become capable of finding harmony in relationships
with the world of living nature, with other people. Only then that
which is called “spirituality” may arise in us; without it, there can be
no spiritual Path.
In old times in the Christian movement a method of “opening the spiritual heart” was developed. It is called Jesus prayer. Some seekers achieved the due result with its help [75].
But the effectiveness of this method was low because of the lack of
knowledge about the nature of consciousness and about the structure of
the human organism. This is why only a few of those practicing Jesus prayer achieved success with its help, and even if they did — it was only after years of working with it.
Possessing the necessary knowledge and methods, one can achieve the result after a few sessions [6,8,13].
About cordial love, Jesus and His Apostles said the following:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!” (Matt 5:8)
“Enter into your temple, into your heart. Illumine it
with good thoughts and the patience and immovable confidence which you
should have in your Father.
“And your sacred vessels, they are your hands and your
eyes. See and do that which is agreeable to God, for in doing good to
your neighbor you accomplish a rite which embellishes the temple wherein
dwells He Who gave you life.
“If you wish to accomplish works marked with love or
piety, do them with an open heart and let not your actions be governed
by calculations or the hope of gain!” (The Life of Saint Issa,
9:12,13,16)
“Our mouths are opened to you, … our hearts have been enlarged!” (2 Cor 6:11)
“Do not look to your own interests but let each of you look to the interests of the others!” (Phil 2:4)
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another! As I have loved you, you should also love one another!” (John 13:34)
“And above all things have fervent love for each other, for love will cover a multitude of sins!” (1 Peter 4:8)
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or
sister is a liar. For they who do not love brothers and sisters, whom
they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God,
and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. The one who
does not love has not known God. For God is Love!” (1 John 4:7-8)
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one
another… If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His perfect Love
is in us!” (1 John 4:11-12)
“God is Love, and they who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them!” (1 John 4:16)
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Rom 13:8).
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not love, I have become as sounding brass… And though I have
prophecies, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I
have all faith, so as to move mountains, and do not have love, I am
nothing. And though I give out all my goods to feed the poor, and though
I deliver my body to be burned, but if I have not love, it profits me
nothing.
“Love has patience, is kind, love is not envious, is not
puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not seek her own, is not
easily provoked, thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. … Love never fails, though
prophecies will be abolished and tongues will cease…” (1 Cor 13:1-8)
“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good
to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and
persecute you!…” (Matt 5:44)
“… For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” (Matt 5:46)
“… If you have bitter jealousy and strife (instead of
love) in your minds, do not glory and lie against the truth. This is not
the wisdom coming down from above, but… devilish (‘wisdom’).” (James
3:14-15)
“They who claim to be in the light but hate their brothers or sisters are in the darkness!” (1 John 2:9)
“Let your love be without hypocrisy! Shrink from evil, cleave to good! Be brotherly loving to one another!…” (Rom 12:9-10)
“… You shall love your neighbor as yourself!…” (Matt 22:39)
“Love your friends!… Protect them like the pupil of your eye!” (The Gospel of Thomas, 25)
“There is no greater love than this: to lay down your life for your friends” (John 15:13).
“… Let My joy remain in you, and let your joy be full!
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you!”
(John 15:11-12)
“These things I command you, that you love one another!” (John 15:17).
Friday, 8 January 2016
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Age Differences In Marriage
1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV / 19 helpful votes Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ...
James 1:5 ESV / 14 helpful votes If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Matthew 19:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Genesis 17:17 ESV / 10 helpful votes Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
1 Corinthians 7:39 ESV / 9 helpful votes A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:28 ESV / 8 helpful votes But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.
Romans 7:2 ESV / 8 helpful votes For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.
Ephesians 5:25 ESV / 7 helpful votes Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
John 3:16-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:6 ESV / 6 helpful votes That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Genesis 29:20-28 ESV / 6 helpful votes So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ...
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Colossians 3:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians 5:31 ESV / 4 helpful votes “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Revelation 17:1-18 ESV / 3 helpful votes Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ...
Philippians 4:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Matthew 5:32 ESV / 3 helpful votes But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Deuteronomy 7:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
Colossians 3:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Matthew 24:1-51 ESV / 2 helpful votes Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...
Proverbs 21:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
Jude 1:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Ephesians 5:22 ESV / 1 helpful vote Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
John 8:44 ESV / 1 helpful vote You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Malachi 2:16 ESV / 1 helpful vote “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Genesis 1:27 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not HelpfulSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
James 1:5 ESV / 14 helpful votes If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Matthew 19:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Genesis 17:17 ESV / 10 helpful votes Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
1 Corinthians 7:39 ESV / 9 helpful votes A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:28 ESV / 8 helpful votes But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.
Romans 7:2 ESV / 8 helpful votes For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.
Ephesians 5:25 ESV / 7 helpful votes Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
John 3:16-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:6 ESV / 6 helpful votes That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Genesis 29:20-28 ESV / 6 helpful votes So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ...
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Colossians 3:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians 5:31 ESV / 4 helpful votes “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Revelation 17:1-18 ESV / 3 helpful votes Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ...
Philippians 4:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Matthew 5:32 ESV / 3 helpful votes But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Deuteronomy 7:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
Colossians 3:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Matthew 24:1-51 ESV / 2 helpful votes Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...
Proverbs 21:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
Jude 1:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Ephesians 5:22 ESV / 1 helpful vote Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
John 8:44 ESV / 1 helpful vote You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Malachi 2:16 ESV / 1 helpful vote “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Genesis 1:27 ESV / 1 helpful vote Helpful Not HelpfulSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU
I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You
Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV / 897 helpful votes It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 597 helpful votes Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lordyour God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 476 helpful votes Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Joshua 1:9 ESV / 425 helpful votes Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 351 helpful votes Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Isaiah 41:10-13 ESV / 335 helpful votes Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV / 288 helpful votes Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Matthew 28:20 ESV / 256 helpful votes Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 236 helpful votes Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 13:6 ESV / 232 helpful votes So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Joshua 1:5 ESV / 183 helpful votes No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Psalm 55:22 ESV / 179 helpful votes Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Romans 8:28 ESV / 171 helpful votes And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 142 helpful votes For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Hebrews 4:16 ESV / 118 helpful votes Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 Chronicles 28:20 ESV / 118 helpful votes Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
Psalm 73:23-26 ESV / 99 helpful votes Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Micah 7:7 ESV / 95 helpful votes But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
Hebrews 13:1-25 ESV / 84 helpful votes Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ...
Psalm 23:1 ESV / 76 helpful votes A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Micah 7:8 ESV / 75 helpful votes Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
Luke 21:34-36 ESV / 67 helpful votes “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 66 helpful votes No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 62 helpful votes But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
John 14:1-31 ESV / 62 helpful votes “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ...
Revelation 3:10 ESV / 60 helpful votes Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
Acts 20:35 ESV / 53 helpful votes In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Proverbs 1:33 ESV / 53 helpful votes But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
Luke 21:28 ESV / 51 helpful votes Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Genesis 28:15 ESV / 49 helpful votes Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Psalm 23:6 ESV / 47 helpful votes Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV / 39 helpful votes “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Jeremiah 31:1-40 ESV / 39 helpful votes “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lordappeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. ...
Psalm 91:1-16 ESV / 39 helpful votes He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...
Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 36 helpful votes But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Isaiah 44:1-28 ESV / 34 helpful votes “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says theLord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” ...
1 Chronicles 29:11-13 ESV / 33 helpful votes Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
Haggai 1:13 ESV / 32 helpful votes Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
Psalm 73:26 ESV / 32 helpful votes My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Luke 12:15 ESV / 28 helpful votes And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Isaiah 3:10-11 ESV / 28 helpful votes Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
Isaiah 3:9 ESV / 28 helpful votes For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
Revelation 12:14 ESV / 26 helpful votes But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
Matthew 24:21-22 ESV / 26 helpful votes For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Revelation 20:4 ESV / 25 helpful votes Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
James 1:18 ESV / 23 helpful votes Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Philippians 4:3 ESV / 22 helpful votes Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Daniel 12:1 ESV / 21 helpful votes “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Isaiah 60:1-22 ESV / 21 helpful votes Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ...
Revelation 5:10 ESV / 20 helpful votes And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 20 helpful votes Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Psalm 139:1-24 ESV / 20 helpful votes To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ...
2 Timothy 3:1-4 ESV / 18 helpful votes But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 18 helpful votes In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Matthew 24:15-21 ESV / 18 helpful votes “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ...
Matthew 24:9 ESV / 18 helpful votes “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
Revelation 17:1-18 ESV / 17 helpful votes Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ...
Galatians 5:1-26 ESV / 17 helpful votes For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ...
Zephaniah 2:3 ESV / 17 helpful votes Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
Matthew 22:14 ESV / 16 helpful votes For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 16 helpful votes The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...
Hebrews 11:35-40 ESV / 15 helpful votes Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ...
Romans 8:7 ESV / 14 helpful votes For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV / 14 helpful votes Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 24:20-22 ESV / 14 helpful votes Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes 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.
Genesis 31:3 ESV / 14 helpful votes Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Acts 6:1-7:60 ESV / 13 helpful votes Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ...
Luke 6:1-49 ESV / 13 helpful votes On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” ...
Matthew 28:1-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ...
Isaiah 33:14 ESV / 13 helpful votes The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
Hebrews 12:29 ESV / 12 helpful votes For our God is a consuming fire.
Exodus 20:17 ESV / 12 helpful votes “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
Romans 12:1 ESV / 11 helpful votes I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Isaiah 43:1-2 ESV / 11 helpful votes But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 41:8-16 ESV / 11 helpful votes But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. ...
John 3:16 ESV / 10 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Genesis 24:1-67 ESV / 9 helpful votes Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ...
Isaiah 45:1-25 ESV / 8 helpful votes Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, ...
John 3:3 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not HelpfulJesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV / 897 helpful votes It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 597 helpful votes Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lordyour God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 476 helpful votes Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Joshua 1:9 ESV / 425 helpful votes Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 351 helpful votes Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Isaiah 41:10-13 ESV / 335 helpful votes Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV / 288 helpful votes Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Matthew 28:20 ESV / 256 helpful votes Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 236 helpful votes Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 13:6 ESV / 232 helpful votes So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Joshua 1:5 ESV / 183 helpful votes No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Psalm 55:22 ESV / 179 helpful votes Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Romans 8:28 ESV / 171 helpful votes And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 142 helpful votes For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Hebrews 4:16 ESV / 118 helpful votes Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 Chronicles 28:20 ESV / 118 helpful votes Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
Psalm 73:23-26 ESV / 99 helpful votes Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Micah 7:7 ESV / 95 helpful votes But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
Hebrews 13:1-25 ESV / 84 helpful votes Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ...
Psalm 23:1 ESV / 76 helpful votes A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Micah 7:8 ESV / 75 helpful votes Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
Luke 21:34-36 ESV / 67 helpful votes “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 66 helpful votes No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 62 helpful votes But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
John 14:1-31 ESV / 62 helpful votes “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ...
Revelation 3:10 ESV / 60 helpful votes Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
Acts 20:35 ESV / 53 helpful votes In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Proverbs 1:33 ESV / 53 helpful votes But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
Luke 21:28 ESV / 51 helpful votes Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Genesis 28:15 ESV / 49 helpful votes Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Psalm 23:6 ESV / 47 helpful votes Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV / 39 helpful votes “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Jeremiah 31:1-40 ESV / 39 helpful votes “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lordappeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. ...
Psalm 91:1-16 ESV / 39 helpful votes He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...
Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 36 helpful votes But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Isaiah 44:1-28 ESV / 34 helpful votes “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says theLord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” ...
1 Chronicles 29:11-13 ESV / 33 helpful votes Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
Haggai 1:13 ESV / 32 helpful votes Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
Psalm 73:26 ESV / 32 helpful votes My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Luke 12:15 ESV / 28 helpful votes And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Isaiah 3:10-11 ESV / 28 helpful votes Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
Isaiah 3:9 ESV / 28 helpful votes For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
Revelation 12:14 ESV / 26 helpful votes But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
Matthew 24:21-22 ESV / 26 helpful votes For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Revelation 20:4 ESV / 25 helpful votes Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
James 1:18 ESV / 23 helpful votes Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Philippians 4:3 ESV / 22 helpful votes Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Daniel 12:1 ESV / 21 helpful votes “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Isaiah 60:1-22 ESV / 21 helpful votes Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ...
Revelation 5:10 ESV / 20 helpful votes And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 20 helpful votes Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Psalm 139:1-24 ESV / 20 helpful votes To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ...
2 Timothy 3:1-4 ESV / 18 helpful votes But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 18 helpful votes In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Matthew 24:15-21 ESV / 18 helpful votes “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ...
Matthew 24:9 ESV / 18 helpful votes “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
Revelation 17:1-18 ESV / 17 helpful votes Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ...
Galatians 5:1-26 ESV / 17 helpful votes For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ...
Zephaniah 2:3 ESV / 17 helpful votes Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
Matthew 22:14 ESV / 16 helpful votes For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 16 helpful votes The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...
Hebrews 11:35-40 ESV / 15 helpful votes Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ...
Romans 8:7 ESV / 14 helpful votes For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV / 14 helpful votes Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 24:20-22 ESV / 14 helpful votes Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes 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.
Genesis 31:3 ESV / 14 helpful votes Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Acts 6:1-7:60 ESV / 13 helpful votes Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ...
Luke 6:1-49 ESV / 13 helpful votes On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” ...
Matthew 28:1-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ...
Isaiah 33:14 ESV / 13 helpful votes The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
Hebrews 12:29 ESV / 12 helpful votes For our God is a consuming fire.
Exodus 20:17 ESV / 12 helpful votes “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
Romans 12:1 ESV / 11 helpful votes I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Isaiah 43:1-2 ESV / 11 helpful votes But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 41:8-16 ESV / 11 helpful votes But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. ...
John 3:16 ESV / 10 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Genesis 24:1-67 ESV / 9 helpful votes Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ...
Isaiah 45:1-25 ESV / 8 helpful votes Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, ...
John 3:3 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not HelpfulJesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
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