Suffering for Doing Good

1 Peter 3:8-16

8. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

9. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

10. For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.

11. He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.

12. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."[a]

13. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

14. But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.
"Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c]

15. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

16. keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Footnotes:

[a] 1 Peter 3:12 Psalm 34:12-16
[b] 1 Peter 3:14 Or not fear their threats
[c] 1 Peter 3:14 Isaiah 8:12


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A Psalm For Giving Thanks

Psalm 100

1. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2. Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3. Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Footnotes:

[a] Psalm 100:3 Or and not we ourselves

Happy Thanksgiving
to All of you from the United States!


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The Parable of the Net

Matt 13:47-52

47. "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.

48. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.

49. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous

50. and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51."Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they replied.

52. He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."


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The Woman At The Well

John 4:1-26

1. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,

2. although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.

3. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4. Now he had to go through Samaria.

5. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

6. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"

8. (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9. The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. [a])

10. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

11. "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

12. Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13. Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

14. but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

15. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

16. He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

17. "I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband.

18. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

19. "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.

20. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21. Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

22. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

23. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

24. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25. The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26. Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."


Footnotes:

[a] John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used


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Give Thanks

Psalm 105:1-5

1. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

2. Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

3. Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4. Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

5. Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,


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Warning Against Unbelief

Hebrews 3:12-14

12. See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

13. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today,
so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

14. We have come to share in Christ,
if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

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Rules for Holy Living

Colossians 3:1-17

1. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

4. When Christ, who is your [a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

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

6. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. [b]

7. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

8. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

9. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

10. and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

11. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


Footnotes:

[a] Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our
[b] Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient


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The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37


25. On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26. "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27. He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' [c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"

28. "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30. In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

31. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

32. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

34. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.

35. The next day he took out two silver coins [e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36. "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37. The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Footnotes:

[c] Luke 10:27 Deut. 6:5
[d] Luke 10:27 Lev. 19:18
[e] Luke 10:35 Greek two denar

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The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

1. Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.

2.He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:

3. "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.

4. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

5. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.

6. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

7. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

8. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

9. Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10. When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.

11. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables

12. so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'[a]"

13. Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

14. The farmer sows the word.

15. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

16. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.

17. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

18. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;

19. but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

20. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

Footnotes:

[a] Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10


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Treasures In Heaven

Matt 6:19-21

19. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


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Be Still

Psalm 46

For the director of music.
Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.
A song.

1. [a] God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

2. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3. though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

4. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5. God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

6. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7. The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

8. Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields [b] with fire.

10. "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11. The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Footnotes:

[a] Psalm 46:1 Title: Probably a musical term
[b] Psalm 46:9 Or chariots


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Paul and Silas in Prison

Acts 16:25-34

16. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.

17. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."

18. She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

19. When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

20. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar

21. by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

22. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.

23. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

24. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

27. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

28. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

29. The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31. They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

32. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

33. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

34. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.


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The Greatest Commandment

Matt 22:34-40

34. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.

35. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

36. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37. Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[b]

38. This is the first and greatest commandment.

39. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c]

40. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


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Giving to the Needy

Matt 6:1-4

1. "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

3. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4. so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This passage about Giving to the Needy comes right before the passage on Prayer I posted yesterday. Read this one, and then read the one on Prayer below.

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