Memory Verses

Hello Brothers and Sisters. There's been plenty of spiritual battles and I apologize once again for being so slow on updating the site. I appreciate the many emails of encouragement - I'm not sure how much I'll be writing as the Lord seems to be having me get outside these walls a lot more. I am growing spiritually and as I discern and learn better how to walk, this is forcing me to make choices that I would rather not. Those that know me know that I try to be active, that I believe works are important, as well as faith. In fact, I don't believe you can truly have faith and not be compelled to do works. (Click here to read FaithWorks.) Click Here to read A Call To Action a short commentary I wrote about the Church getting more involved in the community.

I feel very much on fire spiritually, yet I also feel very frustrated at the apathy I seem to see in a lot of the churches. You see, I feel very strongly that one very important mission of a church is to get out in the World and spread the gospel, to feed the hungry, to take care of the poor, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. And I don't have to be the first to tell you, there's a lot of suffering out there. There's a lot of hunger out there, a spiritual void in people. (btw - This is readily apparent in the nursing homes. If you've never visited a person tucked away in a nursing home - - do so. It may very well break your heart, but it will also bless you.) It troubles me when I see a church lose it's first love. It is so easy to lose focus and turn inward, to build the walls up and never go beyond them. We lose our compassion, if we are not careful. If we are not careful, under the guise of building a church, we instead build ourselves a cocoon where we can hide from the world and feel safe and warm. We may feel warm, but if we're not careful, that's exactly what we become, LUKEWARM! And we wonder why people don't seem to care anymore, perhaps we need to care more!

It doesn't usually start out that way, but if we aren't careful, sometimes a church ends up caring much more about it's "Building Fund" than it does about reaching people or searching out those "lost" sheep. Somehow, in the struggle for a new church to survive, it gets tight with that money and resources, takes on a "me-first" attitude. Examine yourself! Examine your church! How many times larger is your "building fund" than the money you use for missions or charitable works? Month by month? Have you lost that first love? Has it become about your building, or your church surviving? Have you lost your faith that God can provide and thus have diverted your energy and resources to merely building your building, resources that could be used in actually getting out and winning souls to Christ?

A congregation can get caught in a very simple trap, the old "grass is greener" syndrome. Sometimes we think, if attendance is very low or poor, that it's because we don't have a large enough building or a fancy enough building. We think people won't stop in because our church looks so small and old. We need to stop taking census and start preaching and obeying the Word of God. We need to stop counting numbers and start winning souls to Jesus Christ. I have seen churches refuse song books to other churches - - I am amazed and disgusted by the sheer territorial way I see some churches act towards one another. OH what ever happened to

I lament the condition of many churches today. I'm tired of "show" churches, where pretty speeches and talk of love flow freely, yet never any works - -- just "empire building". That's not love folks - - talk is cheap. Whistling in the dark never really works when there's a real monster, Satan, out there. Break out of the false sense of security, the cocoon, the lukewarm, "me first" attitude. Jesus went to the sinners, and reprimanded the religious hypocrites. Would He reprimand you? If you want a clubhouse, build one. If you want to spread the gospel, SHARE it. You won't reap a harvest in your clubhouse, you have to go to the fields. I challenge you to go to where the need is - get outside the prison walls you've built up for yourself. I guess the question is, do you really believe what the Word tells you? Have you trusted Jesus. If you do believe the Word and you have trusted the Lord, why are you so afraid? Sure if you bring the Word out to the world, you will most definitely suffer persecution. But, your eternal soul is saved and that is more important than your flesh. If you do not believe the Word or trust in Jesus, even a million dollar church building will not protect you. Take a stand - remember your first love.

(31) And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

(32) And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

Jas 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

(23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

(24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

(25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

When you tell them you love them, do you think they'll believe? All they've seen is your talking, and talking's not what they need. Cause brother talking's not walking, and walking's just what He means. So when you tell Him you love Him, do you think He'll believe?

Missing an old Friend

A friend of mine died Tuesday, a good friend. He will be badly missed at the nursing home. I was privy to the secret things he did, the way he loved the other residents, and the things he did for them in private. He was a resident there, and he truly had empathy for some of the loneliness and pain that people sometimes experience in such a situation. Ronnie and I spoke of Christianity many times, we just referred to it as "being Christian". He may have been one of the best examples I've ever seen of a true Christian. That's a great thing I love about God. He always gives you just what you need, just at the right time. At time when many churches have forgotten the first love, the mission, God helped me remember that Christianity is not about church rituals and punching a ticket on Sundays, as so many people have mistaken it. That is one reason so many people feel empty in many churches today. Jesus Christ is the most shining example of God's love we will ever have, and we would all do well to examine His life carefully. To quote a popular phrase, I don't want to "be like Mike", I want to "be like Jesus. And it is when we love others and sacrifice for others that Jesus can be seen clearly in us. It was only when I started looking on the battlefield, in the trenches, that I truly started seeing God in action. And Ronnie was one brother that let the light so shine before men, and it glorified God.

Many churches have become social clubs, neglecting their first love. I had placed so much faith in churches, thinking that was the answer - but it wasn't. So I got in the trenches and became obedient to God, I started going where God sent me, where the need was. It was in the nursing home that I met Ronnie. I observed his day to day actions and they preached to me louder than empty words ever could. He was not a preacher, but he preached, believe me, he preached. There is nothing more encouraging than seeing a man of faith show that faith through servitude to others. In the beginning, I offered to take him to the church I was attending, and I did until I left that church. I believe Ronnie saw me as his pastor/minister, but I wasn't. But he treated me that way, so I remember how I agonized over leaving the church because of the possible effect on Ronnie. I agonized over it more for Ronnie's sake than my own, because I had been taking him with me and he trusted me. After a week or two of prayer, I broached the subject with him and told him although I was leaving that particular church for reasons I would not go into, I would continue to take him. He said to me, "I know you, you come to me, you come here, you are like family, like a minister, or a church member. I don't know anyone at that church there and they don't know me. If I stop coming to them, no-one there will come looking for me." This made me incredibly sad, because without me stating a reason for leaving, he had hit the very point of contention I had with the church. Many of the churches (although, Thank you God, not all) would do exactly as he predicted.

I would take him shopping now and then and watch him count his money and calculate just what he could afford to buy for this person and that person. Be it a magnifying glass to help someone read their Bible better, or just a stuffed animal to bring them comfort, he was always on the lookout for something to help ease others pain and lighten their load. I thought of the widow throwing in her two mites, and I wept. I would not be surprised to find that the few dollars he spent on those trips meant more to God than a million dollar church.

Let me share with you something that will give you an idea of the spirit of God in this man, something I am only sharing because Ronnie has passed on. One day, as I was beginning to visit with the folks there, Ronnie walked up. I could tell he was agitated. He pulled me aside and said he needed to talk with me, that he needed badly to confess something, that he had done something wrong. This is not uncommon for people to approach me in this way sometimes, but it always puts me on edge, until the issue can be confessed and resolved. So we immediately found an out of the way table and we sat. I encouraged him to simply state the problem simply and let's get it prayed out, that God was more than willing to forgive a repentant heart.

Now folks, I have heard some pretty lurid confessions, some pretty bad ones. But nothing, ever, including my own, so bad that God wouldn't forgive. But I have never heard a confession like I heard that day. (And again, I share this because Ronnie has passed on, and I feel total peace in sharing this). What Ronnie had been fretting over, what he had done wrong was this. He had received some Christmas gifts from his sister. And on the same day that he received them, he had seen some other residents sad that they had received none and Ronnie was moved with compassion for them and he gave them all away. His perceived great wrong in all this was that he feared this would greatly hurt and possibly anger his sister. Ronnie knew that generally when people give you a gift, they don't appreciate you giving it away. It could be perceived as being disrespectful for the giver and the gift. Truly, I had to sit back and laugh aloud, joyously, giving praise to God. And then I took his hands in mine and asked a few questions that would resolve it. First I asked, "Why did you give the presents away?". Well, because he saw the others didn't have any and he wanted to make them happy. Then the second, "Is your sister a Christian, in spirit and not just in name?" The answer was yes. I knew then, that there was no way this sister would be mad, not if she understood what he had actually done. My wife and I prayed, had only good feelings, and advised him to call his sister immediately and tell her, and, ask for her forgiveness, if she was offended. But, we knew, I mean, we knew, she would not be, because of the answer to the real question, Was she Christian? She would understand. She did. We talked about it at the funeral, Ronnie's sister and my wife and I. In all our minds, it was a tribute to who and what Ronnie was.

Ronne would not have claimed to be a Bible scholar, but He studied God's word diligently, and put it in action. He truly was a servant, and had no aspirations to be chief. Perhaps few people saw this in him, but because we were friends and he treated me as his minister/confidant, he let me see the secret works. Well, Ronnie, my friend, my brother - those secret works were the best sermon you could ever preach. Your sacrifice shames many churches. Ronnie treated me like a preacher, (I'm not) but he was truly a minister (in every meaning of the word). I mourn the loss of people like my friend. Oh, there's no doubt he's in good hands. I do not mourn for Ronnie, I mourn for myself, I mourn for the other residents of the nursing home, for he will be sorely missed.

And as I wrote this, I felt depressed, but in the writing of this, God has raised my spirits. He will send another, and another, as many as needed. For every church that won't go, there will be just enough that will. He has reminded me that God is not dependant on us, nor on man's organized religion and rituals. Sometimes we forget that we are dependant on Him and we don't truly listen, we don't truly obey. But He can accomplish His Will regardless of us. But because He loves us, He reaches out for us. It pleases Him to work through us. And one individual is enough, with God. Ronnie was truly God's servant. He will receive no glory in this life, but will receive just rewards in the end. God sends His people to the hungry, the poor, the oppressed. When we don't go, we cheat ourselves. When we lock ourselves up in our church buildings like refuges and refuse to come out, we only show our fear, or worse, our apathy. But don't be fooled, God will provide, someone will be sent. But woe to those that are called and refuse. I believe God will forgive you, but, later, can you forgive yourself? And thank you God, for those that you send to the fields, indeed the harvest is ripe. And Father, I pray for those that have lost their first love, please restore it. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and restore a right spirit within me.

At the funeral, there were only a few folks there, but it would be unwise to assume anything from that. The very people that Ronnie helped the most, were, for the most part, physically unable to be there due to health. But when I went to the nursing home the next day, I could see the sorrow, and I could sense the loss. Ronnie is missed down here on earth Lord, specifically here at the home. Please send another like him. But, knowing You, You already have!

Ronnie, Thank you, my friend, for being my friend, for serving God in true humility and obedience, and for helping me to understand that God is most clearly seen in the places where the need is greatest . Until we meet again.

Your friend and brother

Steve

Please feel free to visit one of our other sites. This site is for my memory verses.

God is speaking to my heart, I know change is coming (and God inspired change is always a good thing). I think I'm going to have to walk a hard path, certainly not a popular one. Please keep me and my family in your prayers. Many churches have chosen the path of convenience and are ignoring God's Word. I am not fit/qualified, nor educated as many are, but even a novice as I can see the great discrepancy between what many churches are saying and what they are actually doing. We beg for God to hear us, yet we deliberately close our ears to what HE is saying. This is a great shame and a great tragedy. I don't say this because I think I am a great Christian - I'm a badly flawed, ignorant man. But I love the Lord, and I love His Word. And I will not call wrong right. I don't ask that you take anything I say as gospel - instead - Read the Gospel.

I thank God that He is helping me to memorize scripture. If you have problems memorizing scripture, don't get discouraged!. I have one of the worst memories that I know of, yet I have found that if I pray before each scripture and then write it down 25 times, then it seems to help.

Mat 20:25-28 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. (26) But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (27) And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (28) Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

1Pe 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Tit 1:15-16 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. (16) They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Jam 2:14-20 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? (15) If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, (16) And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (17) Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (18) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. (19) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Mic 6:8 He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Hos 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Pro 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

Pro 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Mat 12:34-37 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. (36) But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

1Jo 3:17-18 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Joh 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joshua 1:8-9 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (9) Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Jam 5:13-16 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. (14) Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: (15) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Jam 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Pro 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

Psa 51:15-17 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. (16) For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psa 56:3-4 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. (4) In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Psa 51:10-13 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (12) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. (13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Pro 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: (17) A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (18) A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, (19) A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Pro 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

No man is uneducated who knows the Bible, and no one is truly educated who is ignorant of it's teachings.

Isa 53:1-3 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (2) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isa 53:4-7 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Isa 53:8-10 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (9) And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Isa 53:11-12 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psa 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (2) Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (3) For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. (4) Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Isa 55:6-11 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (10) For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: (11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isa 45:22-25 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (23) I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (24) Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. (25) In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Jer 10:23-24 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (24) O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

1Pe 4:7-8 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. (8) And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Jam 1:19-20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: (20) For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

1Jo 4:19-21 We love him, because he first loved us. (20) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

1Jo 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Future verses you might want to look at, as they'll be tested in the near future.

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Psa 51:9-13 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (12) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. (13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Psa 100:1-5 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. (2) Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. (3) Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (4) Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (5) For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psa 103:1-22 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. (2) Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: (3) Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; (4) Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; (5) Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. (6) The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. (7) He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. (8) The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. (9) He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever. (10) He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. (11) For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. (12) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. (13) Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. (14) For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. (15) As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. (16) For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. (17) But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; (18) To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. (19) The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. (20) Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. (21) Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. (22) Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Eze 18:20-24 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (21) But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (22) All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. (23) Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? (24) But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Eze 33:10-11 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? (11) Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Eze 33:14-16 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; (15) If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. (16) None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Eze 33:30-32 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. (31) And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. (32) And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

Eze 34:1-6 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? (3) Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. (4) The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. (5) And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. (6) My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

Pro 13:7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

Pro 14:20-21 The poor is hated even of his own neighbor: but the rich hath many friends. (21) He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Pro 19:7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

Pro 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Pro 24:10-12 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. (11) If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; (12) If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

Pro 25:15 By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

Pro 27:5-6 Open rebuke is better than secret love. (6) Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Pro 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

Pro 29:27 An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

Zec 7:9-11 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: (10) And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. (11) But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Zec 7:5-6 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? (6) And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

Isa 58:1-14 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (2) Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. (3) Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. (4) Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (5) Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? (6) Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? (7) Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (8) Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward. (9) Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; (10) And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: (11) And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (12) And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Jer 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (10) I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Jer 23:16-17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. (17) They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

Lam 3:24-36 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. (25) The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. (26) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. (27) It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. (28) He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. (29) He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. (30) He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. (31) For the Lord will not cast off forever: (32) But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. (33) For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. (34) To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, (35) To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, (36) To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

WOW - you made it to the bottom of this extremely long page - Thank you - May the Lord's Will be accomplished in your life.