The Ways of God by Gary Rose

The way God works is amazing! Sometimes they take the form of a grand creation and other times are as simple as looking out for the needs of something as small as a sparrow. Here are some thoughts about the ways of God…

The Ways of God are very good!

  ¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  ² The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 
  ³  God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  ⁴ God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.  ⁵ God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. 
  ⁶  God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  ⁷ God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  ⁸ God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 
  ⁹  God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.  ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.  ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.  ¹² The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.  ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 
  ¹⁴  God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;  ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.  ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,  ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.  ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 
  ²⁰  God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.” ²¹ God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.  ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 
  ²⁴  God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.  ²⁵ God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. 
  ²⁶  God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  ²⁷ God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.(emphasis added) ²⁸ God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  ²⁹ God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.  ³⁰ To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. 
  ³¹  God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (emphasis added) There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. 

God made everything that we can perceive; from the smallest microbe to the most gigantic star. More than just their creation, God made their interaction with one another- the ecosystem, if you will. And God himself proclaimed everything to be very good!!!

At the pinnacle of his creation is the human race, for we are made in the image of God himself. We have dominion over all this world and the freedom to choose God’s ways or whatever we desire. God’s ways are good and ours sometimes are evil. But there is choice, so choose wisely!!!

The ways of God are mysterious

Romans 11 (World English Bible)

 ³³  Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 
  ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
  ³⁵ “Or who has first given to him,
and it will be repaid to him again?”
  ³⁶  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen. 

I do not know exactly how God accomplished creation, but I know that he did it! I am unaware of why God created, but I am glad that he did! And why he made humans in his own image is likewise a mystery!

Perhaps humans are not given the answers to many things because in the grand scheme of things- we just would not understand. Or, if we could know everything, maybe, just maybe we would think too much of ourselves and not give God the glory for being who HE is? I have no doubt that this would lead to rebellion and end in destruction!!!

The Ways of God are eternal

Ephesians 3 (World English Bible)

 ¹ For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,  ² if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you;  ³ how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words,  ⁴ by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;  ⁵ which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;  ⁶ that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,  ⁷ of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.  ⁸ To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,  ⁹ and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ;  ¹⁰ to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,  ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; (emphasis added) ¹² in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 

We are born, we grow up, then grow old and die. This is a FACT! God is eternal and with that status HE views things with anunderstanding that extends from the beginning of creation to an unknown depth of forever.

God worked with the Jews for centuries, with the infant church and within our own lives- from beginning to end. As different as a newborn baby is from a full-grown adult; so is God from his children- and probably even far more than we could everimagine!!!

The Ways of God are revealed through his word

Matthew 3 (World English Bible)

¹⁵  But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.  ¹⁶ Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.  ¹⁷ Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

Hebrews 1 (World English Bible)

  ¹ God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  ² has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. ³ His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;  (emphasis added) ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.  ⁵ For to which of the angels did he say at any time, 
“You are my Son.
Today have I become your father?”
and again, 
“I will be to him a Father,
and he will be to me a Son?”

God spoke to Moses and the prophets in many different ways; but to transform himself into to a human being, to experience everything a mortal can know is the most personal communication I can imagine! And he did it for me; to help me to overcome evil and to realize that I can be.

The Ways of God provide the power to resist evil

Matthew 4 (World English Bible)

¹   Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  ² When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.  ³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

  ⁴  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

  ⁵  Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,  ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

  ⁷  Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”

  ⁸  Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.  ⁹ He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

  ¹⁰  Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me,  Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

  ¹¹  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Jesus was not a figment of some philosophers imagination- HE was a real person, who dealt with real problems in a real world. And from his confrontation with the devil, we see how HE overcame evil- with the word of God! God has given us this power too! Jesus knew what God the Father wanted him to do because he knew the word of God well enough to quote it. I think his example is encouragement enough for all of us to strive to both learn it and do it as well!!!

The Ways of God are a choice

Colossians 3 (World English Bible)

 ¹ If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.  ² Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.  ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.  ⁵ Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;  ⁶ for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. ⁷ You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;  ⁸ but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.  ⁹ Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,  ¹⁰ and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, ¹¹ where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. 
  ¹²  Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;  ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 
  ¹⁴  Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.  ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 

We can be Godly or we can be sinful; we have a choice!!! Actually, it is more than a choice, it is an opportunity to rise above the things in this world that are obviously wrong (what God calls sin) and be the sort of person God wants us to be. Be the best you can be and do with God’s help. Go ahead, open your Bible and listen to what we all need to hear; LISTEN TO GOD!!! You will change- I promise!!!

Bible Reading September 19, 20 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading September 19, 20 

World English Bible

Sept. 19

Psalms 83-85

Psa 83:1 God, don't keep silent. Don't keep silent, and don't be still, God.

Psa 83:2 For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.

Psa 83:3 They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.

Psa 83:4 "Come," they say, "and let's destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."

Psa 83:5 For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you.

Psa 83:6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;

Psa 83:7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Psa 83:8 Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

Psa 83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;

Psa 83:10 who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.

Psa 83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;

Psa 83:12 who said, "Let us take possession of God's pasturelands."

Psa 83:13 My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind.

Psa 83:14 As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,

Psa 83:15 so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.

Psa 83:16 Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Yahweh.

Psa 83:17 Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;

Psa 83:18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.

Psa 84:1 How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies!

Psa 84:2 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Psa 84:3 Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God.

Psa 84:4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah.

Psa 84:5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you; who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.

Psa 84:6 Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.

Psa 84:7 They go from strength to strength. Everyone of them appears before God in Zion.

Psa 84:8 Yahweh, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah.

Psa 84:9 Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed.

Psa 84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psa 84:11 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.

Psa 84:12 Yahweh of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Psa 85:1 Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.

Psa 85:2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.

Psa 85:3 You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.

Psa 85:4 Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease.

Psa 85:5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

Psa 85:6 Won't you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

Psa 85:7 Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh. Grant us your salvation.

Psa 85:8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

Psa 85:9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psa 85:11 Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.

Psa 85:12 Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.

Psa 85:13 Righteousness goes before him, And prepares the way for his steps.

Sept. 20

Psalms 86-88

Psa 86:1 Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Psa 86:2 Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.

Psa 86:3 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.

Psa 86:4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Psa 86:5 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.

Psa 86:6 Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions.

Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me.

Psa 86:8 There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds.

Psa 86:9 All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name.

Psa 86:10 For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone.

Psa 86:11 Teach me your way, Yahweh. I will walk in your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear your name.

Psa 86:12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forevermore.

Psa 86:13 For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.

Psa 86:14 God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don't hold regard for you before them.

Psa 86:15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.

Psa 86:16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your handmaid.

Psa 86:17 Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me.

Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Psa 87:2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.

Psa 87:4 I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: "This one was born there."

Psa 87:5 Yes, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one was born in her;" the Most High himself will establish her.

Psa 87:6 Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, "This one was born there." Selah.

Psa 87:7 Those who sing as well as those who dance say, "All my springs are in you."

Psa 88:1 Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.

Psa 88:2 Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.

Psa 88:3 For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.

Psa 88:4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,

Psa 88:5 set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.

Psa 88:6 You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

Psa 88:7 Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah.

Psa 88:8 You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can't escape.

Psa 88:9 My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.

Psa 88:10 Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah.

Psa 88:11 Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction?

Psa 88:12 Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

Psa 88:13 But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.

Psa 88:14 Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?

Psa 88:15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.

Psa 88:16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.

Psa 88:17 They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me.

Psa 88:18 You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness. 

Sept. 19

1 Corinthians 15

1Co 15:1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

1Co 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

1Co 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

1Co 15:6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

1Co 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

1Co 15:8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.

1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1Co 15:11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

1Co 15:12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

1Co 15:14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.

1Co 15:15 Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn't raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.

1Co 15:16 For if the dead aren't raised, neither has Christ been raised.

1Co 15:17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

1Co 15:18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

1Co 15:19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

1Co 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

1Co 15:21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming.

1Co 15:24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

1Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

1Co 15:27 For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet." But when he says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.

1Co 15:28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

1Co 15:29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren't raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

1Co 15:30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

1Co 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

1Co 15:32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

1Co 15:33 Don't be deceived! "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."

1Co 15:34 Wake up righteously, and don't sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

1Co 15:35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised?" and, "With what kind of body do they come?"

1Co 15:36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.

1Co 15:37 That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

1Co 15:38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.

1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.

1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

1Co 15:45 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1Co 15:46 However that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

1Co 15:48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

1Co 15:49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let's also bear the image of the heavenly.

1Co 15:50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1Co 15:54 But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

1Co 15:55 "Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?"

1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Sept. 20

1 Corinthians 16

1Co 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise.

1Co 16:2 On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

1Co 16:3 When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem.

1Co 16:4 If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.

1Co 16:5 But I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia.

1Co 16:6 But with you it may be that I will stay, or even winter, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go.

1Co 16:7 For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.

1Co 16:8 But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost,

1Co 16:9 for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

1Co 16:10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.

1Co 16:11 Therefore let no one despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.

1Co 16:12 Now concerning Apollos, the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity.

1Co 16:13 Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!

1Co 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.

1Co 16:15 Now I beg you, brothers (you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints),

1Co 16:16 that you also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.

1Co 16:17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus; for that which was lacking on your part, they supplied.

1Co 16:18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge those who are like that.

1Co 16:19 The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in their house.

1Co 16:20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

1Co 16:21 This greeting is by me, Paul, with my own hand.

1Co 16:22 If any man doesn't love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Come, Lord!

1Co 16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

1Co 16:24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.