1 Kings 19:11-13

¹¹The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Luke 8:16-18

¹⁶“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. ¹⁷For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. ¹⁸Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

John 10:27-28

²⁷“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Zechariah 7:13

‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty.

The only thing for certain that every human being who has ever lived has to offer God is their time. Do we tithe a tenth of our time? We must offer our time before we offer anything, else we are no different than the Pharisees.

How do we worship God? How do we worship anything? Be aware —beware— the time we spend adoring false idols instead of God does not go unnoticed.

Psalm 90:4, 90:12

A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.

Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Colossians 3:5

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Revelation 14:7

He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Exodus 20:3-6

³“You shall have no other gods before a me.
⁴“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Matthew 15:3, 15:7-9

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

Isaiah 29:13-16

¹³The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
¹⁴Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
¹⁵Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
¹⁶You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?

For I, The Lord Your God, Am A Jealous God.

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

John 15:10

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) does not mention a seed being planted in a pot with fresh soil. But seeds planted this way spring up quickly and grow nicely as long as they get plenty of water, sunlight and fresh air each day.

But if the growing plant remains inside the smaller pot in which is was originally planted, it will struggle as it continues to grow — fighting against the container itself which has not grown.

Our bodies (pots) are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Let us be mindful to never grieve the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us by being unwilling to change our ‘pot’ — our physical body, our physical lifestyle. Let us instead willingly and joyfully embrace whatever physical changes the Holy Spirit is showing us we need to make in our lives, so that we may continue to grow spiritually.

Ephesians 4:30

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Luke 5:37

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.

Isaiah 64:8

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Matthew 7:21-23

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

John 13:34-35

³⁴“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Psalm 103:20

Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.

Psalm 118:22

²²The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
²³the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

Job 38:4-7

⁴“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
⁵Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
⁶On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

2 Samuel 24:17

When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”

Zechariah 3:9

See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

Luke 2:8-15

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

As loving parents, perhaps getting *that* phone call from a child is something to be dreaded – knowing that it means something bad has happened (usually, not always). But the truth is our Father in heaven loves when we call Him – day or night, in joy or sorrow, in trouble or in triumph. Let us always remember to call Him… even if just to say “I love you.”

Jonah 2:2

In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry.

Psalm 145:18

The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.

Matthew 6:9-13

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.”

Mark 10:21

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 14:27

“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

John 10:27

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Hosea 11:10

They will follow the Lord ; he will roar like a lion.

John 8:12

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Galatians 5:24

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Job 12:8

…speak to the earth, and it will teach you…

Matthew 16:2-3

²He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

Psalm 68:28-33

²⁸Summon your power, God; show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.
²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.
³⁰Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
³¹Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush will submit herself to God.
³²Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,
³³to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

Psalm 1:1-3

¹Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
²but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
³That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither —
whatever they do prospers.

Matthew 10:7

⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Revelation 22:1-2

¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.