A new week with new verses! This past week, we have contemplated the cross and rejoiced in His resurrection ๐๐ผ And so moving into this week, I gathered together verses to encourage us to continue testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the power of God’s grace. As we put our hand in the hand of Jesus, we are given His peace to walk out our faith and continue to boldly move in His love.
What a sweet reminder that we have been made new! And that we, being those filled with His Spirit, can continue being His witnesses. We will read this week the great commission along with a great promise, that He will be with us to the end of the age ๐ค what comfort in this, what joy! Also, our hearts will be reminded that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. This is deeply and beautifully reassuring.
He is our joy, our strength, our peace, our purpose. May He fill us all this week with greater insight and understanding of the scriptures and may He fill us with His peace, strength and love to continue walking out our purpose in Him. ๐๐ผ
A prayer of gratitude to Jesus ๐ค for He is worthy, so very worthy ๐๐ผ What love, what grace, what mercy.
Our Good Shepherd has laid down His life. In so that we would be reconciled to God, made into a new creation and given a heart for eternity with our King.
And thank you, Father, for sending Your Son. I am brought to my knees with thanksgiving, praise and love. I cannot properly put into words how I feel, so I offer this prayer. Thank You for my salvation, thank you for what awaits! ๐๐ผ
In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Revelation 5:12
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:8-11
We are witnesses and ambassadors of Christ, and so it is important as we move through this life and have discussions about our faith or contend for the faith, that we study and know the Word of God. That we seek the Holy Spirit to continue guiding us and teaching us, that we would have a heart and compassion towards others who doubt or don’t believe as we do, and that we share the gospel out of genuine love.
Learning the Word of God grows our wisdom and discernment, and I was just saying to my husband excitedly, how I will be studying the Word until my last breath. There is so much to learn, so much to uncover within the Bible, so many treasures to find.
In addition to studying the Word, I find it fascinating and helpful to look at the evidence that corroborates scripture. This post is specifically diving into some of the medical events surrounding the crucifixion. I have been reading a wonderful little book filled with great points to make a strong, clear case for Christianity, called The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel. He also wrote The Case for Christ, which was also made into a movie. It’s one of my favorite movies - highly recommend the movie as well!
In these slides, we are covering some of the medical evidence paired with scripture references. The details of the crucifixion are so incredibly difficult to read and to write about; therefore, I didn’t include many details but the book does go into greater explanation. Again, this post does not include all of the observations and evidence, it simply could not cover it all. But these are some of the points that significantly impacted my heart. Also, these points I pulled are from this one resource that includes multiple sources, however, there are thousands of additional great articles and resources as well. ๐ค
I pause this week to feel - to feel and to contemplate what it means to love Christ and acknowledge His death and the purpose of His death.
I am stirred by Christ’s suffering and pain, and I don’t want to rush through to the resurrection just yet. I plan to be still this week, silent before the Lord, in the seriousness of the cross and sacrifice, realizing the seriousness of sin, my sin. And the vast magnitude of His mercy and grace.
I think sometimes we may not want to sit in the thoughts of suffering or grief but how this invitation to do so brings a depth, a refinement of character, a partaking in the suffering of Christ, a reverence of who He is. It allows a greater perspective of God’s holiness, a greater appreciation of His mercy, and a greater gratitude of His love.
Yes, the rejoicing is coming. Oh how the rejoicing is coming! I prepare to walk through this week holding both mourning and joy.
These verses for the week include some of Jesus’ final moments and words along with prophecies on His death. This week is often referred to as Holy Week or Passion Week. It’s called “passion” after the Greek verb ฯฮฌฯฯฯ "to suffer" and also in Late Latin passio which means "passion; suffering". A beautiful and fitting title for the week. ๐ค
Jesus, we walk through this week alongside You. Please open our eyes and hearts to what You would like to teach and reveal to us. I pray we would understand greater the significance of Your love, sacrifice, mercy and grace. We praise and honor and thank You! In Your Name, amen ๐๐ผ
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Bedtime reminders from God’s Word ๐ซ๐
Heavenly Father, thank you for these promises found in Your Word. Thank you for what these verses tell us about Your faithfulness, goodness and character. Thank you that we are not alone and that You watch over our coming and going. You watch over us when we’re awake and as we sleep. We surrender our worries and anxieties and rest in Your steadfast love. You are absolutely beautiful, God. We love You, amen ๐ค
For reference, I’ve included the verses from the slides below:
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe. Psalm 4:8 NLT
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Psalm 73:26 NLT
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV
The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16 ESV
Prepare our hearts, oh Lord. Prepare our hearts. As we walk through these next two weeks deeply contemplating Your life, death and resurrection Jesus, may our minds, hearts and souls grasp deeper what You did for us on the cross. May we be brought to our knees with thanksgiving and gratitude. In Your name I pray, amen ๐๐ผ
Friends, this week I have gathered verses, mainly from the gospels, that will walk us through significant moments early in Jesus’ ministry and then also words spoken by Jesus, foretelling His death. Then we come to one of the prophecies of Jesus in Zechariah and end the week with the fulfillment of that prophecy, on Palm Sunday.
I definitely encourage you to read the additional verses and passages around the verses for each day to help give greater context and understanding.
This week will lead us into Passion Week (the time from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday). Take note of the love and praises of Jesus on Palm Sunday and then prepare to see the stark contrast between that day and then what unfolds shortly thereafter.
I’m looking forward to learning with you more about our Savior, our Redeemer, our Good Shepherd who laid down His life. ๐ค
Standing here looking out over the ocean always leaves me in awe of God. I cannot adequately comprehend His power, His love, His majesty. For how can I? It overwhelms my soul in a deep, comforting, joyful way.
How great is our God! The Maker of all things, the most beautiful, the most glorious, the most wonderful Gift of this life. There is no One more worthy of our praise. This song stirs my heart to worship and has been on repeat for me ๐๐ผ Amen amen ๐ค
There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Jeremiah 10:6
There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. 1 Samuel 2:2
You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You. Nehemiah 9:6
God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name. Jeremiah 31:35
A prayer for the new month ๐ค May He renew our strength and refresh our hearts for the new month ahead ๐ท๐๐ผ May we see Him in all things and rejoice in Him.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me. Song of Songs 2:12-13
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
It’s a new week with a new set of verses ๐ This week we don’t have a particular theme or focus, as I felt led to share a variety of verses - something we haven’t done in awhile! I love doing both, some weeks with a clear theme and some with a variety.
Although there is not a theme, these verses most certainly connect with one another, and build upon the other, not something I intentionally did, but as I read them and organized them, I realized how they weave together beautifully. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for Your help guiding me to these verses.
These verses are powerful and thought-provoking, convicting and strengthening. And truly wonderful, as is all of scripture. I found myself in awe of God as I worked on these verses, they bring my heart to a humble acknowledgement that there is indeed a glorious God who is mighty. His works are far beyond human comprehension, the evidence is clear.
The Lord is sovereign, holy, righteous and pure. May we be silent before Him this week. Bowing in reverence and love, seeking His presence and will. Remaining rooted in truth, firm in Christ. He is the one who will keep us from stumbling. What great assurance! All glory and honor to our God in His holy temple ๐๐ผ
This prayer is based on Psalm 23:1-3 ๐
I find a deep comfort in praying scripture and found myself saying and then writing out this prayer as I thought about the verses throughout this past week that focused on the Lord as our Shepherd.
It’s incredible to think that our Lord is our Shepherd. There is no greater honor than to be His. What joy to depend upon Him. Contentment, true contentment, is found in Him, in His character, in His goodness, kindness, majesty, power and love. There is nothing we need outside of Him.
In Him is peace, nourishment, rest, strength, guidance, safety and righteousness. We flourish under His mighty and tender care. We are under His sovereign, never-ending protection. What a beautiful Lord we have.
This psalm, prayer and revelation brought my heart peace and courage to continue on, and I pray the same for your heart. ๐๐ผ
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:1-3
This prayer is a prayer that never goes unanswered. Never will our cry to the Lord “I need You!” go unheard. For it is written:
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:18-19
He knows we need Him. We cannot survive this life without Him. Our deepest needs are met within His care. And His ear is attuned to the cries of His people.
A heart that longs for Him and recognizes its need for Him can rest assured that He will be near.
Throughout scripture it is clearly evident that He is a God who is not far off, but One who constantly and consistently watches over us, One with an attentive ear to hear the prayers we cry that rise up to His throne.
This song has been in my head for the last week or so, and it’s been a comfort as my grief lately has been extra painful. I’ve been acutely aware of my loss and all the losses that are tied with it. So I go to Him over and over again in my desperate need for Him. And without fail, I know He is there.
Friend, may your soul feel comforted remembering that when you say to the Lord “I need You”, He is near. He is your Helper, Comforter, Shield and Peace. ๐ค
"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 1 Peter 3:12
Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:2
This is one of the most significant illustrations of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. This reveals much about His character, His tenderness and concern, His care and His heart towards those who are His.
This has been a theme I’ve wanted to do for awhile so I’m really looking forward to meditating on these verses each day this week.
Let’s take a deeper look at the word Shepherd. Shepherd means to protect sheep, to keep them from wandering, to take care of them with food, drink and shelter. And taking a look at the original Hebrew word, it reveals even more to us!
“In the original Hebrew of the Bible a shepherd is ro’eh-tzon ืจืืขื-ืฆืื, which is comprised of two words: ro’eh ืจืืขื “herder” and tzon ืฆืื “sheep.” The first word ro’eh comes from the root RAH ืจืขื which throughout the Bible is connected to companionship and affection.” - Israel Institute of Biblical Studies
How wonderful Shepherd, within its root, is connected to companionship and affection. How beautifully incredible this is. As His flock, we are under His sovereign care. And He fulfills every need, we shall not want.
One of the names of the Lord found within the Old Testament is Jehovah-Raah found in Psalm 23. Jehovah-Raah means “The Lord My Shepherd”.
What I didn’t realize before gathering these verses is how many references to Jesus as our Shepherd was in the Old Testament! So we will be walking first through the Old Testament seeing the Lord Jesus as our Shepherd. Reading the prophesies of Him being our Shepherd to come, and then forever and into eternity. Jesus confirms for us in the New Testament that He is the Promised Shepherd, He tells us: “I am the good shepherd”. He connects the past verses in the Old Testament, that we may clearly see it was Him all along. From beginning to end, He is our Good Shepherd. ๐ค
Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Psalm 46:10-11
I am feeling this so deep in my spirit.
To be still and know that He is God.
To be still. To be still before Him.
To be still with Him.
To remember that He is God.
He is above all, He will be exalted.
To take time to learn about Him, to know Him deeper as my God.
To know that the Lord of hosts, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is with us. To take courage that He is our fortress, our refuge, our protector.
May we rest and remember that He is God. May we reflect on His glory, and in stillness, awe and reverence, know that He is God, the God of all creation, the Almighty God, the wonderful One we love, honor & worship. ๐ค
I know sometimes the call can feel overwhelming. But God is so worth it. And it is so worth it to live a life listening to God’s voice and living by His Word and every word He says. It’s the most beautiful act, to place your hand in His and say “okay God, here I am. Lead me in whichever way You would have me go.”
When we obey His call, we learn to rely on and trust in His wisdom, not ours; in His strength, not ours; in His power, never ours. We submit and surrender and give Him all the glory, praise and honor. ๐ค
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๐ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:11-12
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
We continue on this week learning the promises of God. I was so thankful for and encouraged by the reminders last week of His promises and am excited to be focusing on these additional promises this week.
Friends, these promises are incredibly wonderful. I honestly think too wonderful to fully comprehend, but I pray this week we would be able to grasp their significance and beauty even greater.
We will be reading and reflecting on His promises of forgiveness, mercy, salvation, heaven, and eternal life with Him. The promise that death and sin will be no more, pain will be no more. We truly cannot imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him.
These are some of the most profoundly encouraging promises of God, may they sink into our hearts. May they give us radical hope and a deep peace of what’s to come. This isn’t all there is.
Eternal life with Him - I find my words are falling short of my gratitude of this promise. When we understand the magnitude of this promise, we fall to our knees with thanksgiving- because it truly isn’t anything we’ve done, but by His love and mercy and grace, He has gifted us the Promised Redeemer, the One who made a way. The One who walks us down the narrow path into eternity with God.
God, thank you for Your precious promises. ๐๐ผ๐ค
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 1 Corinthians 2:9
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
A prayer that was on my heart tonight for those who need it. ๐ค So many hidden hurts we carry at times through this life, but the beautiful thing is we don’t carry them alone. In fact, they are not hidden from the One who can tend to them. The One who promises to be with us, to give us strength and peace. He is the God who keeps track of all your sorrows. ๐๐ผ
I pray this would remind you to keep going to Him, keep leaning on Him, keep drawing near. For He is faithful and good and entirely trustworthy.
What are the promises of God? That is the journey I’m grateful to take with you this week (and next!) as we focus on different promises found within His Word.
When I began gathering these verses I initially had about 30 verses. And I could have kept adding! So many promises from God woven throughout scripture, truly it’s amazing. As I was telling my husband he said, “Makes sense! Because His promises are all throughout the Bible”. It was so beautiful to see just how many there are and what they are.
Given I started with about 30, it was so hard to narrow down which is why I decided to do this topic over two weeks. And I reallocated the additional verses for future topics!
The promises I began to see are His promises of: salvation, peace, comfort, strength, His presence with us, to take care of us, rest, the gift of the Holy Spirit, redemption, His help (we focused on this a few weeks ago), Jesus our Messiah, to hear our prayers (we just focused on this topic last week), wisdom, to forgive our sins, heaven and eternal life.
All absolutely wonderful, incredible promises of God! He is so good to us, so loving. More than I think we can fully comprehend.
This first week we will read scripture on God’s promises of being with us, giving us strength and peace, holding our hand, the promise of the Holy Spirit, all things working together for good, and rest in Him.
God, thank you for Your beautiful, gracious and wonderful promises. Promises that are powerful, because they come from You and Your sovereign and merciful heart. How can we not see the love You have for us within each and every promise You’ve made? You are so good to us, I’m so very grateful. May we be comforted this week remembering Your promises, Oh Lord. We love You, amen. ๐ค
Let us stop for a moment. I hope this sinks in deeply for both of us. The Creator of the Universe has created us to be able to communicate with Him. To speak words aloud and to speak words within the heart, and He hears them all. Every word. In His sovereignty and grace, He determines the outcome and the answer - truly, thank goodness for this truth!
I certainly do not know the end from the beginning, I do not have His grand perspective of all things throughout all of history. The deep mysteries of it all, He knows. He sees all things, past, present, future. I am extremely limited in my understanding, His understanding is limitless. So I trust Him. And I pray to Him.
Prayer draws us into His heart, it deepens our relationship with Him, and it transforms us. It is a great gift to commune with the Lord, to talk with the God who created us and who loves us. ๐ค
Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! Psalm 116:2
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! Psalm 141:2
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8
Prayer is a beautiful, astounding gift. A gift to never take for granted. It is a gift to commune with the Lord, to talk and cry to the God who loves us. The God who holds every moment in time in His sovereign hand. The God who inclines His ear to our voice (Psalm 116:2). The God who holds all the power, wisdom and glory. The God who is our Father, our Redeemer, our Protector, our Defender.
He wants us to pray to Him, how incredibly wonderful is that? So we must not hold back or worry we don’t have the right words. He desires a heart who seeks Him and draws near to Him. Prayer is an acknowledgment of our desperate need for Him and our dependency upon Him.
When we go to Him in prayer, we pray for His will to be done and pray as the Spirit leads each one of us. We pray for others, for our brothers and sisters all around the world, for those suffering, for the gospel to be shared, strength and peace, for salvations to come forth, for so many things we come to Him. We continually ask Him to search our hearts and transform us, to refine us into the likeness of Christ. We also come to Him in prayer to worship Him, thank Him, praise Him, and adore Him. May God be loved and glorified through our prayers.
This week’s verses will be a variety of scripture on prayer and praying. A reminder to us of the absolute necessity and beauty and power of prayer. ๐๐ผ๐ค
Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:2
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. Jeremiah 29:12
So grateful for another day with Jesus. Oh how different my life was before walking with Him, so different. No deeper peace I’ve known, no greater purpose I’ve felt than walking with my Savior, my Lord, my Joy.
Something sweet happened too as I was creating this graphic, an old hymn began to play in my mind …
“And He Walks With Me,
And He Talks With Me,
And He Tells Me I Am His Own.”
It’s called In The Garden written in 1912 and it was my dad’s favorite Christian song. My dad didn’t come to faith until the end of his life but yet still through all the years prior, this was his favorite song. ๐ฅฒ๐ it’s such a beautiful song.
May the peace of Jesus walk you through this day, friend ๐ค
I want to grow deeper in my worship of Him. My soul is yearning to worship God greater and in however the Spirit leads. Worshipping Him not only in songs, but worshipping Him with my thoughts, actions, words, work, really I pray every aspect of my life would be counted as worship unto Him.
Holy Spirit, please help me live a life filled of true worship. Help me to worship the Father in spirit and truth ๐๐ผ๐ค
Heavenly Father, may everything that I do be an expression of my worship of You. I love You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Note & question: I’m trying something new this week - In addition to the daily outline, you’ll see when you swipe, the graphics for the verses for each day. Is this helpful for you?
Or do you prefer I just share the outline? I always share the verse of the day as a wallpaper in my stories and will continue to do so! But I wanted to see if also including the verses along with the outline each Monday would be extra helpful for those who may want to save, memorize or come back to the verses. ๐๐ผ Please comment and let me know!
I wrote this prayer this week as I struggled to hope. I don’t ever want to skip over deep emotions I experience in this life for they draw me to Him.
I left a doctor’s appointment this week in tears. And while it’s a lot to explain on here, the words the doctor said felt like a punch to my hope. I felt defeated, disheartened, grieving what may never be in several areas of my life. I have taken the week to rest in Him and seek His comfort and His voice. For He has the final say, He has the final word. His will will be done.
And I know that. But, at times, in my humanness, the pain of the unknown still hurts. So I go to my Healer and my Comforter to renew and restore my hope, to wipe my tears and show me hope again. True, profound, cannot be taken away because it’s in His very being, hope.
In this life, there are things I’ve had no say in, that I have had to walk through, and I wasn’t given a choice. And honestly, sometimes it’s hard to hope when there is suffering - but what I continue to learn is that hope is also strongest when there is suffering. This doesn’t make sense, but with God, it does.
Even when I struggle to hope, my spirit knows Christ is my living hope, my hope ultimately lands upon my salvation and the hope of eternity. Yes I long and hope for things in this life, but even if these longings are never fulfilled, my hope will remain in Him and in eternity spent with Him. My hope is to live a life He has designed for His glory. And living for His glory is inevitably what is best for me and for us all.
So this post is for those who are struggling to hope. I understand, but more importantly, our Lord understands. And He speaks hope back into our hopeless hearts. ๐ค
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 33:18
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:24