Diving into the Bible

A couple of days ago, I finished reading through the Bible. I love reading all the way through because I learn new things each time. The Bible truly is alive and active! Today I will share some of the verses near the end of the Bible that stuck out to me. The Bible is full of awesome verses, but today I will just be sharing a few of the ones that stuck out to me. These verses are so good and are either challenges, encouragements, or prophecies of the fallen world. I love them and am so excited to share them with you! 

This blog format will be a little bit different than previous ones. I am going to list off the verses and write the verses out, and then put comments about each verse after. 

Galatians 2:20- “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

-How cool is that!? Christ died on the cross, and with that, our old sinful self. We are new creations in Christ! We get the privilege of living this life trusting in the one that made us and sent His son to die on the cross and take away our sins! God is so amazing!! 

Galatians 5:22-26- “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

-This is what makes Christians look different. We are filled with the Holy Spirit when accepting Jesus into our hearts and from that flow the fruits. Isn’t it so cool that we get to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit? What a blessing! It finishes with a reminder of what we should try not to do since our worldly desires were nailed to the cross with Jesus. Of course, everyone still sins, but as new creations, we don’t have to desire sin anymore, and we don’t want to sin because we have something so much better!

Ephesians 3:14-20- “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

-This is just so good! Being loved by the Lord is so sweet, and we will never fully understand. He loves us at our worst and our best. He is so gracious and wants a personal relationship with everyone. He wants to fill us up with life and power so that we can share with others how good God is. I pray that we will be so full of the spirit that we will overflow and any interaction we have with anyone exemplifies God’s love and character. 

Ephesians 4:2-4- “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.“

-This is a challenge and encouragement to live a godly life. It also talks about the unity that the body of Christ should have. These verses are such good reminders! How awesome that we have been called to hope for the future when Jesus comes back!!

Ephesians 4:32- “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.“

-This is another reminder/challenge and encouragement for how to live. God has forgiven us so much that we can forgive others for what they do to us. It may be hard sometimes, but we must give grace and kindness as the Lord does.

Philippians 4:4-9- “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.“

-We should be joyful, showing others how God changed our lives. He is coming back! Praise God! With God, we don’t have to worry! We can pray about it, and He will be listening. He cares for us so much! This is an excellent reminder to be living in a state of thankfulness all the time for what God has and is doing. With God, we get the blessing of overwhelming peace that surpasses all understanding. We get to live for Christ, and that is so sweet! We are also reminded to be thinking about life, not death, in my favorite Bible verse. It finishes with a challenge to put into practice what we receive from Christ. Such sweet verses! 

Philippians 4:10-14- “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.” 

-With Christ, we can make it through any situation, whether that be a plentiful season or a desert season. I have learned to live with very few things on this trip but also with lots back at home. God is good no matter the circumstance. He gives us the strength to get through whatever situation as we depend on Him. 

Colossians 1:9-10- “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”

-This is a good reminder to pray without ceasing in every situation. This is also an excellent prayer to pray over others and ourselves. I always want to honor and please the Lord with how I live. I want to produce good fruit that is evident to others and points them back to God. I want to know God more and more. 

Colossians 3:12-15- “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.? Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.“

-This is another reminder/challenge to live a godly life. We should look different than the world and should be acting differently. Let them know who we are by our love. Let the peace within us rule every situation we go through. I pray that our character would be strong, not changing based on the situation, and we will be known for our love, peace, faith, and thankfulness. 

2 Thessalonians 3:16-“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.“

-Yes, please! God’s peace is just so amazing! It makes any situation so much better. I pray you will experience God’s overwhelming peace today and in all situations. In the good, bad, stressful, and confusing times, I pray that you will feel his presence and peace.

1 Timothy 2:1-2- “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.“

-This is such a good reminder! We should always be interceding for others and situations. We should be praying for everyone, not just the people we know. We should be thanking God for them and praying that they come to God in all situations. We should be praying for those in authority that they would lead well and be protected. All this so we can live peaceful, godly, dignified, quiet lives. 

2 Timothy 1:7-9- “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.“

-Praise God that we were not given a spirit of fear and timidity! We should not be ashamed of sharing about the Lord because he has given us a spirit of boldness and love. He gave us what we didn’t deserve and has a great plan. We should be willing to give everything to him. Let’s be all in today! 

2 Timothy 3:1-5- “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

-This is a prophecy of the fallen world. All of these things are happening. We live in such a fallen world. This makes God’s goodness even better and makes me so thankful for His peace and heart. This is also a warning of who you spend time with. Whoever you spend time with, you will start to become. This fallen world should give us more confidence and drive to share about the Lord. 

Jude 1:20-23- “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.“

-This is an encouragement to live a godly life and build each other up in a godly community. We should be living in a godly community that is focused on serving and bringing the Lord glory. We should also be going out as a community and sharing about the Lord so others can be saved. Remember, hate the sin, not the sinner. Love them where they are at. 

Revelation 7:12- “They sang, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.’” 

-Oh, what day! When we will be able to worship the Lord forever! This verse reminds me of the song “blessing and honor and glory and power belong to our God who sits on the throne.” When we worship God, we should praise Him for His characteristics, as in the verse above. God is just so unique, complex, and beautiful! We will never know/understand everything about God, which is so cool! What an incredible God we serve!

Revelation 21:2- “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” 

-How sweet is that!? That will be such an incredible time! Bringing heaven to earth will be a beautiful sight. It will be like a bride walking down the aisle as her soon-to-be husband looks at her in awe with a tear down his face. Such a tender moment! The other day I got rebaptized to say that I didn’t want to believe the lies that I had been believing and wanted to believe the life that God was speaking over me. Afterward, people prayed over me and prophesied. One of the prophecies was a picture of me in an old-fashioned puffy long dress, and the explanation was that I was going to learn to be the bride of Christ and that God would lead me so that I wouldn’t trip over the long dress. Also, He is so proud of me and looks at me like a husband on a wedding day. This was so sweet! 

Revelation 22:20-21- “He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”?

-Hallelujah! He is coming soon! What good news! We should spread the word of the Lord everywhere we go!! I pray that we will say, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” What a blessing it is to know the Lord and to be known by him!