Matthew 5:45,48 [Your Father] makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous … 48 Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete.
Romans 8:26 The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.
Deuteronomy 30:6 Forever the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
May you see, in the capturing of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, how the proud and arrogant, those who rejected God’s word and resisted His ways, lost all the power and riches they trusted in, but the poor in the land, who were disregarded by those in power because they owned nothing, were given the vineyards and fields, inheriting what they could never afford. Jeremiah 39
May you know that, as you trust God’s word and walk in His ways, though you see His promises fulfilled through disaster and not prosperity before your eyes, He will rescue you on that day and you will not be handed over to those you fear, for He will save you from the sword and you will escape with your life because you trust in, and turn to, God the Lord. Jeremiah 39
May you trust God to bring you to the harvest you did not plant so that you may reap that which you did not sow, gathering in the wine, the summer fruit and oil, when those previously appointed for the job cannot meet the responsibility. Jeremiah 40
May you know that God’s judgment will be complete, thorough, and inescapable, for even as the bands of guerilla fighters wreaked havoc on the people who remained in Israel, and returning refugees chased off the Ammonites but fled to Egypt where they found their own destruction, so the only deliverance is obedience, whither so ever God leads. Jeremiah 41
May you serve God with a clear conscience, praying constantly, night and day, giving thanks for the grace, mercy and peace which is yours from God the Father and Christ Jesus the Lord. 2 Timothy 1
May you fan into flame the gift of God which is within you, for God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1
May you not be ashamed to testify about the Lord or those who share in His work, but join them in the suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, Who has saved you and called you to a holy life – not because of anything you have done but because of His own purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1
May you walk in the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but has now been revealed through the appearing of your Savior, Christ Jesus, Who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, of which you are a minister, and for which you know suffering, yet about which you are not ashamed. 2 Timothy 1
May you know Whom you have believed, and be convinced that He is able to guard what you have entrusted to Him for that day. 2 Timothy 1
May you keep, as the pattern of sound teaching, that truth which you have heard from those who have faithfully walked it out before you with faith and love in Christ Jesus, guarding the good deposit that was entrusted to you with the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in you. 2 Timothy 1
My child, know with reassurance that I am at work in your life. You have sought to become pure before Me so that you may be pleasing in My sight. I know your frame, My dear one, and I am working by My Spirit and through My Word to complete that which I have begun in you.
The blacksmith has learned to take the metal and soften it in the fire, shape it on the anvil, and quench it in the water. This does not harm the metal in any way or wear it out, but simply works with the nature of the material. He does not treat copper the same as he does iron, nor does he handle lead the same way he does tin.
The woodworker learns to distinguish between the nature of the different trees and select the right one for the purpose at hand. One tree will have open, porous wood that allows water to flow through it, and cannot be used for containers, but has a beauty to the color and a strength to the grain that adapts it for use as furniture and shelving. Another tree will have a closed, intertwined grain that is resistant to splitting and impervious to moisture, making it appropriate for hard use outside.
The potter understands the differences in the clays that he works with, and does not select a brick clay to use for porcelain or a filtering clay to use for structural needs. He regulates the temperature and the time of the fire to bring out beauty and the strength of pieces he creates, shaping the design for the function he anticipates.
Trust Me, My child, not just as your Creator, but also as your Designer. I do not work according to right or wrong, fair or unfair, but according to what brings life and not death. Submit yourself to My will, My precious one, for I have plans for you, plans that will delight you and bring you hope and joy.
But even as the fire, the hammer, and the anvil are required to fashion a strong, durable instrument of war or tool of agriculture, so the circumstances I lead you through and the conditions I call on you to endure are part of the process that will bring forth rejoicing in eternity.
May you find the Lord to be your dwelling place throughout all your years, for from everlasting to everlasting He is God, and can be relied upon. Psalm 90
May you learn to number your days in the fear of the Lord that you may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90
May you sing for joy and be glad all your days as He satisfies you in the morning with His unfailing love, restoring to you the days taken by affliction and the years taken by adversity, while you show His awesome deeds to His servants and His glorious splendor to His children. Psalm 90
May the favor of the Lord your God rest upon you and establish the work of your hands for you. Psalm 90
May you dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty, saying of the Lord that He is your refuge and your fortress, your God, in Whom you trust. Psalm 91
May you find refuge under His wings as He covers you with His feathers, saving you from the fowler’s snare and the deadly pestilence, for His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart so that you will not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the evil that stalks in the darkness nor the plague that destroys at midday. Psalm 91
May you know that though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you, for you will only see the punishment of the wicked with your eyes. Psalm 91
May you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, Who is your refuge – for then no harm will befall you and no disaster will come near you for He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways, rescuing you because you love Him and protecting you because you acknowledge His name, answering you when you call upon Him, delivering you and honoring you with His presence in your trouble, and satisfying you with long life as He shows you His salvation. Psalm 91
May you rest assured that, like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse goes nowhere and will not rest upon you. Proverbs 26:2
