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and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
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...when I am weak, then am I strong.(v10b)
I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.
Paul was making a point that, if they could brag, so could he, but, it is still clear that bragging is fooling.
During the next week, I'll watch out to make sure that I'm not bragging.
Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
We should receive, help, and show the Lord's love, toward the people that we are already very close to, and toward people whom we have not met before.
But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace [be] to thee. [Our] friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.
Greeting people is a good way to start out receiving them, helping them, and showing them Christ's love. I'll make sure to focus on greeting the Lord's people.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Jesus suffered much, and died on the cross, to take upon Himself, the punishment for our wrongdoings. Everybody in the world would have needed to die and suffer punishment for the things that we have done wrong. Jesus, in His great love for us, took our place, so that we can be saved.
Now Jesus has risen from the dead, and all that we have to do to be saved, is to believe in Him. If you are not sure that you have been saved from your sins and received everlasting life, please take a moment to talk to God and ask Him to be your Savior.
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, [and] the tongue that speaketh proud things:
It is ungodly people who speak wrongly like this, and we can see how the Lord will deal with it seriously. If we don't want the Lord to punish us like this, for being ungodly, we need to make sure that we are not speaking wrongly.
I'll remember the warnings in this verse, and beware to not speak like the ungodly.
And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God [home] to me?
So David brought not the ark [home] to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.
And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.
David's house and all that he had, missed out on three months of blessing, because he was afraid of God. We need to have a heart for spending time with the Lord; not dreading that it will be boring, but realizing that, without it, we would miss out on incredible blessing.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
When we're sitting there in the worship meeting on the first day of the week, we shouldn't let our minds wander into thinking about all different kinds of things. We have the mightiness, through God, to keep our minds on Him.
Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.
When I pray, I'll pray in such a way as to focus on prayer and prevent distractions.
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
The enemy tells us that "it is too hard, and you will never get it all done, so you might as well just have fun wasting time, and not even try."
I'll keep in mind that I'll actually end up having more fun by getting what the Lord wants me to do, done.
...be not weary in well doing.
Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: [they were] not of double heart.
When I hear that they were not of double heart,
that makes me think that they did not go back and forth between having some love and desire for what is right, and some for the enemy. They had consistent thoughts and intentions toward what the Lord wanted. That is the way that we should be.
And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.
David's mighty men had risked their lives to bring him a drink of water, but he poured it out on the ground to the Lord. Like David, we should be sensitive to our conscience. Even if something was precious, desirable, and hard to obtain, we should be willing to give it up for the Lord, if it is not something that would please the Lord, for us to do, at the time.
But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Besides for giving money to people, this can also apply to other things, such as preaching the gospel and working for Christ. If we limit our efforts, we limit our outcome. We should serve Christ bountifully, from our hearts.
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Serving the Lord should be our delight, not a drudgery. When I'm tempted to think that spending time with the Lord is boring, I'll arrange it a little bit to be more enjoyable--because there's nothing wrong with enjoying serving the Lord.
Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
If we seek wisdom from the Lord about direction for our lives, then here's an encouraging answer: to be established ...in every good word and work.
All that we have to do, is to stand firm in whatever we can find that is good to say and do. The Lord will take care of the rest.
Next time I have a hard time figuring out what the Lord wants me to do, I'll just be steadfast in the things that I know would be good.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
The things that we long for, actually conform us into the type of people that we become. That is why it is so important that, instead of evil things, we long for holiness.
v15,16But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Whether we are troubled or cheerful, we should pray and sing songs of praise to the Lord. This is not just a suggestion, but, when we are having a hard time, we are commanded to pray. And, when your heart is overwhelmed, and you don't know what to do, the Lord always still deserves our songs of praise.
The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
The Lord's soul hates people who love violence. This is not just about doing violent things. This is about people who love violence in their hearts. We should not entertain ourselves by watching, pretending, or even thinking about, violent things.
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
I'll stop watching a certain TV show.
Now therefore perform the doing [of it]; that as [there was] a readiness to will, so [there may be] a performance also out of that which ye have.
Often, it is easy to get excited about the possibility of doing something for the Lord, and to give much thought to getting ready for it. But, when it comes time to actually do the thing, then there is the temptation to put it off and never really get it done.
When we're thinking about, talking about, or preparing to do something that the Lord wants, let's not delay to take action and do it.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
A brother pointed out how this verse says that we should be Praying... with all prayer...
. It can be easy for me to think about how I should pray for something, and how I am going to pray for it. In that case, I'll make sure to not just do that, but to actually pray for it, too.
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