Praying Pint

 

 

 

 Ezekiel 18:31    Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

 John 15:5    I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 John 15:16    You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

 Jeremiah 17:8    He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

 Romans 6:22    But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

 Romans 7:4    Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

 Ephesians 5:9      (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

 

 Luke 13:6-9     And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’  And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

 James 4:8      Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 Matthew 3:8-10    Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 Luke 8:14-15      And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

 Luke 13:9     Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

 

 

 Romans 8:10    But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

 1 Corinthians 15:45    Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

 2 Corinthians 3:6    who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

 Ephesians 2:3-5    among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

 Psalms 1:3     He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

 Psalms 92:14    They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

 Hosea 14:8   O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.

 Matthew 12:33    “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

 

 

 

Gal 5:16  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Gal 5:25  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

 Galatians 6:8   For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

 Romans 8:4-5    in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

 Romans 8:12-14    So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

 1 Peter 4:6     For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

 John 6:63     It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

 

 

 

 Isaiah 27:11     When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.

 Hebrews 6:8     But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

  Jude 1:12    These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;

Jude 1:18-19      They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

 1 John 3:9-10     No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:  whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

 Mat 7:21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

 

 

Gal 5:16-23  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 Revelation 14:18    And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

 

 

Matthew 11:28-30     Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. ()

These are among the most beautiful words spoken by Jesus. It’s an invitation to all burdened humanity to find relief and rest in Jesus.

In this invitation, Jesus invited all who labor and are heavy laden. He called those who sensed they must come to Him to relieve their need instead of living in self-sufficiency. According to one commentator, labor implies the burdens we take upon ourselves, and heavy laden implies the burdens others put upon us. Jesus used the idea of heavy laden again in Matthew 23:4 speaking of the spiritual burdens religious leaders lay on their followers.

To all those burdened, Jesus simply said: Come unto Me. That is an invitation; Jesus didn’t tell us to “go” to Moses or anyone else. He invited us to first come to Himself, not to a doctrine, a ceremony, a minister, but to Jesus Himself as a personal Savior.

This was a declaration of authority – only God can say, come unto Me. The prophets pointed to God, but Jesus points to Himself.

Yet this call to those who are burdened also includes some kind of burden, in the sense that as part of the invitation, Jesus said take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. We must come as disciples to learn, willing to be guided by His yoke – not merely to receive something. We are ready to bear whatever burden He appoints for us.

According to Adam Clarke, the ancient Jews commonly used the idea of yoke to describe someone’s obligation to God. There was the yoke of the kingdom, the yoke of the law, the yoke of the command, the yoke of repentance, the yoke of faith, and so on. In this context, it is easy to see Jesus simplifying and saying, “Forget about all those other yokes. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.”

This isn’t a call to a lazy or indulgent life. There is still a yoke to bear and burden to carry. Yet with and in Jesus, they are easy and light. When training a new animal (such as an ox) to plow, ancient farmers often yoked it to an older, stronger, more experienced animal who bore the burden and guided the young animal through the learning process.

That’s what makes the yoke of Jesus easy and His burden light – because He bears it with us. Borne alone, it might be unbearable; but with Jesus it can be easy and light.

If your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, then either it isn’t His yoke or burden, or that you aren’t letting Him bear it with you. Come, find rest for your soul. (Guzik)

 

Genesis 16:13     Thou God seest me.

Violet Liddle was a remarkable Christian maid who served the likes of Churchill, Eisenhower, Lady Astor, and George Bernard Shaw. Growing up, she came downstairs every day beneath a framed Bible verse on the wall, which read: “Thou God seest me.” As a result, some of her first memories involved knowing that God watched her wherever she was. “Still,” she wrote, “I don’t really regret this introduction to God because it did instill in me an understanding that God is always around us, and I’m glad that over the years I’ve come to recognise that the verse is a promise of God’s loving care.”

God’s Word was an important part of life for the people of Israel. God gave leaders, kings, and everyone else specific instructions for the ways to remember His words by placing them in places they would see each day. Deuteronomy 6 tells us to write God’s Word “on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (verse 9).

Look around you today for places to post Scripture so it stays at the forefront of your mind. A verse on the wall may reside in your children’s minds for decades to come! (Jeremiah)

 

Jonah 1:2      “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it” .

We live in a sin-sick and dark world. This statement shouldn’t come as a surprise to you, especially if you’re reading it as a follower of Jesus Christ. All around us are people—from family to co-workers to celebrities—trying to push a sin-filled, post-Christian worldview.

I have a friend who says that sin will take you where you don’t want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you can afford to pay. When we stay in sin, sin tightens its grip on us and makes it harder for us to get away. Consider this: If we never have our sins forgiven, then it will be our sins that will take us to hell—a place where no one wants to go.

Sadly, many in our churches are also falling for the lie that there are no consequences to our sin. After all, if Christ died for our sins, why can’t we just go on sinning? The price has been paid.

Of course, sin does matter. Our sin—yours and mine—is what drove Jesus to the cross. It’s hard to consider the suffering He endured on our behalf and not recognize the gravity of sin.

The first chapter of Jonah is a prime example of the consequences of our sin. We all know the story:

God commanded the Prophet Jonah: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it” (Jonah 1:2).

Nineveh was at one time considered the largest city in the world. However, it is not called “great” simply because of its size, but also because of its sin. The city was notorious for its violence. It’s no wonder that when Jonah got the message, he went in the opposite direction.

Was he scared? Maybe, but we also know that he did not want Nineveh to experience God’s forgiveness (Jonah 3:10, 4:1-2). Instead Jonah ran away from Nineveh, ultimately ending up on the sea and being tossed overboard, finding himself in the “belly of the fish” (Jonah 1:17).

What can we learn from Jonah’s tumultuous journey?

First, sin causes us to flee from the Lord. Twice in verse 3 alone, we are told plainly that Jonah was trying to escape the “presence of the Lord.” It is alluded to again in verse 10. Jonah went to Joppa, paid the fare, and got on the boat.

It’s interesting that this prophet, who conversed with Almighty God, thought he could escape the presence of the Lord by physically moving from one place to another. How often, however, do we do the same thing spiritually? Sin causes us to spend less time studying the Bible and less time in prayer, moving away from the presence of God in our lives.

Second, our sin will affect others. Jonah’s sin so impacted the experienced sailors that they were scared to death. They had never seen a storm such as this, and they were forced to throw their cargo (i.e. their income) into the sea as the ship was breaking apart. Further, when they learned that Jonah was the cause of the storm, they were forced into the position of having to make a heartbreaking life-or-death decision.

Similarly, you may think that your sin isn’t harming anybody, but that’s not the case. Your spouse, children, colleagues, or church are likely being impacted, whether you or they realize it.

Third, sin can bring a false sense of peace. Even in the midst of the huge storm—as the sailors frantically unloaded their ship and cried out to pagan gods—Jonah slept soundly in the bottom of the boat.

One of the worst things we can do is to use “peace” as a determining factor in judging if we are in the middle of God’s will. You may feel like you’re getting away with sin, or that it’s no big deal, but it will eventually rear its ugly head.

Finally, sin will take us where we don’t want to go. Because Jonah disobeyed God, he found himself in the midst of a storm in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Ultimately he was thrown overboard into the sea, and—by verse 17—he was in the belly of a fish. Not good.

The city of Nineveh was infected by sin, but once Jonah proclaimed God’s message, they immediately repented and cried out to God. “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).

The same can happen for us. Rather than taking pride in our sin or minimizing its impact, we must see the gravity of it and repent as well. When that happens, the chains and bondage of sin can and will be broken through Jesus, our Savior. (Graham)

 

 

 

These things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

–John 17:13

A person who is content has learned that inner peace isn’t determined by external circumstances. He doesn’t tie his happiness to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, his children’s SAT scores, or the model of his car. Instead, a content person has learned to look inward for satisfaction in life. He has learned to be satisfied with what God has already provided.

Since the garden of Eden, humans have been tempted to be discontent. God gave Adam and Eve all kinds of trees with delicious fruit, while only one tree was off-limits. What did Adam and Eve do? Instead of focusing on the many trees God gave them to enjoy, they zeroed in on the one they didn’t have. They chose to believe Satan’s lie that said, in essence, “Eat from that tree, and you will be satisfied.”

Satan continues the same lie with us today. He says, “What you don’t have is keeping you from being happy.” The temptation to be discontent sometimes results in overt sins such as sexual immorality, dishonest financial gain, or substance abuse. But other times, our insatiable desire for something more or different than what God has given us manifests as a general sense of unrest.

The life of Jesus Christ demonstrates the possibility of contentment. Jesus had no possessions, no financial margin, and no cushion in every sense of the word. In Matthew 8:20, He said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Not only that, but Jesus was also constantly dogged by His critics. His family didn’t understand Him. His enemies tried to kill Him. Yet despite His outward circumstances, Jesus had an inward joy. In John 17:13, He said, “These things I speak in the world so that [My followers] may have My joy made full in themselves.” In the life of Jesus, we see contentment in spite of external circumstances.

We also see contentment demonstrated in the life of the apostle Paul. When he wrote his letter to the Philippians, Paul was in prison, awaiting the outcome of his trial. Meanwhile, his enemies were trying to tear apart the Philippian church. Yet in Philippians 4:4, Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” How was Paul able to separate his inward emotions from his outward circumstances? He gave us the answer in verse 11: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” Notice the word “learned.” Contentment doesn’t come naturally, but it’s something we can learn. (Jeffress)