Category: Scripture

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance go grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waiver, for a person with divided loyalty is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should to expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” James 1: vv. 2-8, NLT)

“Good bless those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it give birth to death.

So don’t be mislead, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation , became His prized possession.” (James 1: vv. 12-18, NLT)

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! ” (Hebrews 13: v1, NLT)

“Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you or abandon you.’

So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have not fear. What can mere people do to me?’

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” Hebrews 13:vv.4-9, NLT)

“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls and they are accountable to God. Give the reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. They certainly would not be for benefit.” (Hebrews 13: vv. 15-17, NLT)

“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.” (Hebrews 12: vv. 14-17, NLT)

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping Him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.” (Hebrews 12: vv. 28-29, NLT)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses to tell the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of al the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as His children? He said,

‘My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.’ (Hebrews 12: vv. 1-6, NLT)

“So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are lame and weak will not fall but become strong.” (Hebrews 12: vv. 12-13, NLT)

“First, Christ said,’You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burn offerings o other offerings for sin, now were You pleased with them’ (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then He said, ‘Look, I have come to do Your will.’ He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the the body of Christ, once for all time.

Under the old covenant , the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering up the same sacrifices again and again, when can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There He waits until His enemies are humbled and made a footstool under His feet. For by that one offering He forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For He says,’This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write then on the minds.’

Then He says,’I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.’

And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.” (Hebrews 10:vv 8-18, NLT)

“Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There He ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. ” (Hebrews 8: vv. 1-2, NLT)

“But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for He is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. (Hebrews 8:vv. 6-7, NLT)

“When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means He has made the first one obsolete. It is out of date and will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13, NLT)

From Hebrews, Chapter 7 (NLT)

“But Melchizedek who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed. ” (vv. 6-7)

“For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he cam was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the high from him.

So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest I the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? ” (v. 11)

“What I mean is, our Lord came from the trip of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirements of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life cannot be destroyed.”(vv. 14-16)

“…but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,
‘The Lord has taken an other and will not break His vow: Your are a priest forever.’ (Psalm 110:4)

Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, His priesthood lasts forever. Therefore, He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” (vv. 21-26)

“For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are gong to inherit God’s promises because or their faith and endurance.” (Hebrews 6: vv. 10-12, NLT)

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
(Hebrews 4: vv. 14-16, NLT)

“And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus who from the living God. you must warn each other every day , whom we declare to be God’s messenger and Hight Priest. For He was faithful to God, who appointed Him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.

But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything was God.

Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. (Hebrews 3: vv. 1-6, NLT)

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today’, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says:

‘Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.’ (from Psalms 95: 7-8)”

(Hebrews 3: vv. 12-15, NLT)