2 Timothy 3:1-9

In the end days, the world will be flooded with sinful men. All focus shall be turned away from God. The world will be shrouded in darkness. We must turn away from them, keeping our sights and minds on the light of the Lord, or will fall to sinful temptations. Through Jesus, we can overcome this world, and enter into eternal life.

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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Here I feel encouraged to follow Jesus closer and closer--just to please him. He wants us to come to him, to be sanctified, but we must first make the decision to fully commit ourselves. God has called us to holiness, and he will always be there for us when we make that decision. When we are judged on judgment day, we want to be able to submit to the Lord honestly with no regrets.

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Collosians 3:1-17

If we give up our sinful ways, we can rejoice in the blessings of God. Peace, forgiveness, and joy will come if we let go of our sinful desires. We can experience God's love. God is love. We can be perfect in him as Christ was perfect. Just by letting him take over your heart, trusting in him, you can experience all the peace, love, grace and satisfaction he has to offer. God is good, thanks be to him! :]

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Philippians 3:12-21

This is quite the motivational writing of Paul. "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded" As Jesus, And if anyone should be mindful of something else, God will reveal that to them, and it is up to them to get back on track to perfection. Some will stray and will not make it to heaven, but those who do follow him will be renewed in a glorious body like him. Forget mistake you have made in the past, and push forward for the glory of Christ.

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ephesians 4:17-32

Without God, we are a darkened spirit led by lusts and our own desires, ignorant and blind. Not until we know and understand the truth of Jesus can our souls be renewed. With our new spirit, we can be righteous and holy. We will sin no more. We will be honest in our work and we shall not go to sleep angry. We will have a tender temperment, forgiving those who do us wrong like Christ forgave us.

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Galations 5:16-26

This is one of the most straight-forward scriptures I have read, which makes it difficult and convicting to read. I know I have struggles with some of these lusts of the flesh. I need to walk closer with the spirit so that I may gain It's fruits. I will not enter the kingdom of God if I am struggling with any of these lusts of the flesh, and that is a scary truth.

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2 Corinthians 2:5-17

We must forgive those who do us wrong. Simply because that's what Jesus did. He forgave everyone in the past, present, and future for their sins against him out of Love. He loves us, and we need to love thy neighbor as well.

"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ"

we either taste like Life or Death. I pray that I can be pleasing unto God--a taste of eternal life, but I can only achieve that if I walk as Christ did.

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Romans 5:1-11

Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be saved. Amen! He has opened that door for us, and it is up to us to walk through into the arms of our creator. Through our faith we are justified, and with faith we have peace in his grace. Just as we turn to God in our troubling times, yet we should also turn to him in our pleasant times--also should we thank God in our troubling times as we do in our pleasant times. Through everything God is teaching us, he is with us, and he is good. Knowing this is my constant, I'll live my life for him the best I can. He loves us so much that all that we deserve he took out upon his spotless son--his own sacrifice for us.... Opening that door so that we may spend eternity with him.

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Acts 4: 23-31

This week we seem to be looking at the power of prayer. As Pastor Jerry spoke about this week, The Lord's will be done. We can pray, but the only fruitful prayer will be in accordance to His will, and in Jesus' name. The Lord really does the miraculous. I had been wondering about prayer, feeling ignorant and ineffective in my own prayers. I didn't know where to start, but I didn't even need to ask. The Lord led Pastor Jerry to give a whole sermon on prayer, and now my questions are answered. Praise the Lord! Here they pray in accordance with God and the place shakes-- anointed, they pray with boldness, or as Pastor Jerry explained, confidence.

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John 17:6-26

Wow. Jesus' prayer of us, his children. He wants us to be one as he and the father are one. We must adhere to these requests. We must be in the world, but not of it. We can be perfect if we are sanctified through truth--his word. We are his children, and what safety and peace I find in those words.

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Luke 6:37-49

40-"The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master."

We can be like Jesus. He says so right here. Perfect--and I do believe it to be sinless, as Jesus our master was. He is the example. He is a point we can reach. The is why he lived and breathed among us and was not kept in the heavens. We are 100% man, but so was Jesus. He just happened to be 100% God too. There's no point in him being 100% man too if we couldn't achieve what he was. He sets the example.

I also love the verse here about building our house on rock or on sand. The Rock is God, the earth is everything worldly. God is permanent. the world will pass away. Our lives must be built on Him so that our houses will remain unshaken.

The fruit metaphor is also powerful. We cannot produce good fruit if we are corrupt. Good fruit comes from good trees and bad fruit from bad trees. "For of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Overall, we must be good through and through-to the foundation of our lives in order to truely produce good fruit. We must be as our master.

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Matthew 27: 32-54

Jesus' crucifixion is a humbling story. He was so humble through all of the horrid torture he endured. A spotless lamb on the cross....the son of God....no one could ever completely understand what he went through. They wanted proof. They wanted him to get down off the cross to prove that he was a King. But he didn't. He had a greater purpose to serve, and that was to give all of those who did him wrong a chance to be with their creator in Heaven. This is the true distinguishing point between proof and faith.

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Malachi 3:6-16

¹⁰Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

God can't give us blessings if we fill up our lives with things that only matter to us. We must give in tithes so that there is room for the blessings God has to over us. I never thought of tithing like this before, and this is a beautiful truth.

Those that are skeptical and turn away from the Lord will perish. Those that fear him and think upon his name will be his jewels--saved. The Lord is steadfast and true. By obeying him, he will grant us eternal life.

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Zechariah 1: 1-6

Here we see how God has been disobeyed in the past and how that has not turned out well for those who do not obey. We must turn away from our evil ways and embrace the Lord. We must trust in him that he will do what is right and just, and not trust our own motivations. He justly dealt with people according to their ways.

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Haggai 1:1-12

The people know that the Lord can provide and the Lord can take away. They know if the Lord says rebuild his house, they better do it. They fear him. He can make all their work meaningless because he is all-powerful God. He is all-knowing and wise, and we are ignorant. He knows what is best and we best not disobey.

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zephaniah 1:14-18

Quite terrifying. This whole week we've been learning about God's wrath and the fire of his jealousy. He, the almighty one, will wreak havoc in this world. Those who have sinned will walked blindly and their blood will be spilled. What's even more distressing- their flesh will be like dung. Dark clouds and gloom. Even the mightiest of men will cry before the Lord.

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Habakkuk 3:1-4

Again we visit the fear God instills in his children. His supreme power is evident. Being that we trust him, we can trust that he will be just, and do to us what we deserve. We can fear what he will do to our loved ones who do not know him. His light will one day cover this word and all will know.

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Nahum 1:2-7

Well this is quite powerful. We have a description here of the Lord's wrath. He is mighty in power and now will get away with opposing him. Although he is slow to anger, he will grow furious and take out his vengeance on his adversaries. Fire, wind, earthquakes-- all to take out on the wicked. But his is good and will be the rock for those who trust in him.

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Micah 2:1-5

Those who practice evil will be punished. If you devise evil, it does not go unnoticed. You drag everyone down. It has negative effects on your family. God will punish your family. As he did here, he took away some of their portion. They realize then how God had been good to them and provided, but he can just as easily take away.

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Jonah 2

Here is the classic story of Jonah and the whale--well actually, he's in a fish. It takes being swallowed by a giant fish for Jonah to realize that he can't run away from God. God is everlasting, ever-present, and ever-right. While in the belly of the fish Jonah turns to God and away from his sin, submitting himself to God. Only after this did Jonah get vomited onto dry land.

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Obadiah 1:15-17

Here it talks about the unquenchable thirst the sinners have. They will drink water and will not be satisfied. They do not realize that God is the only one who can quench their thirst. They must turn front heir sins and embrace the Lord and obey him.

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Amos 5:12-17

Here we see again how sins deceive us and we should turn from them. Sins are evil, and we must turn to good. Hate evil and Love the good. It is sad how many people do not realize what their sins will cost them. The Lord will be with those who love the good. Sinners are missing out.

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Joel 1:13-20

The Lord is all-powerful. Here we get a taste of what destruction he is capable of. This is why we must fear him and love him. The sinners of the world must face this wrath--what a truly horrible future lies before them if they continue in their ways. The Lord describes a place where all if unfruitful--like the people he scorns.

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Hosea 4:1-10

The Lord wants us to learn, to crave knowledge. He doesn't want us to conveniently forget, or he will conveniently forget us. He will destroy those who do not seek him--who reject him. We must know the law of the Lord so we can obey it. He will turn glory into shame of those who sin. We must know what we're doing.

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Daniel 2:17-23

What I get from this passage is that God knows all. you can't keep any secrets for him--every action will be judged. He sees both light and darkness. He can also give insight and understanding to those that desire it. Having understanding is a great blessing because then it is easier to obey the Lord, so there are less secrets.

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Ezekiel 36:24-32

Interesting. As followers of the Lord he will bless us, clean us, and take us away from our sinful ways--Give us a new heart, a new spirit a new land. He will renew our love for him to the point where we loathe our past sinful ways. I wonder if this can come before death. He says he will give us a heart of flesh. I wonder if this is what perfection is.

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Lamentations 5

This is quite a sad chapter with all of Jeremiahs laments. We have done a lot of wrong and the Lord has judged us. But we can still turn to him. the Lord is steadfast. We can always depend on him for ever and ever. We can turn from our sins and he can renew us, because the Lord does love us.

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Jeremiah 25:8-14

Those who do not hear the Lord's word and do his works shall have great destruction brought to them. God is all-powerful. He can bring any man to his knees in the blink of an eye. He can take away any and all joy in our lives if that is what he judges us to deserve. It is so important to fear and obey him. He deserves all glory and respect.

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Isaiah 53:1-8

Here we see a prophesy of Jesus, and how he took our sins upon him so we can be healed. This is truly amazing, and it just re-enforces the power of the bible. All the pain Jesus endured and the sorrow he faced in the world, it was for one purpose and that was so we could be saved. He was the spotless lamb sent to slaughter. Thank You Jesus.

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Song 2:8-13

What incredibly beautiful imagery. I can only imagine this to be what heaven looks like. What a beautiful long song of God and his children. He is our dearest lord, and we should run to him--run away from worldliness. He entices us with the beauty and prospers of his land.

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Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

The preacher is very knowledgeable. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to say, and therefore was gave wise words of upright truth. Words of the wise guide people, but if you are always looked to for advice, it can wear you out. In the end, our soul purpose is to fear the Lord and obey his commandments.

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