Now Is the Time for God's Favor (II Corinthians 5:16-21 and 6:1-2) NLT

II Corinthians 5:16-21 
16  So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
17  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
19  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
20  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
21  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
II Corinthians 6:1-2

1    As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 

2    For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you.  On the day of salvation, I helped you.”  Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Corinthians 6:1 Or As we work together.
2. 2 Corinthians 6:2 Isa 49:8 (Greek version).

Search Me God and Know My Heart (Prayer))

Taken from:  I am a Woman of God website

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Creator, You created us.. And we are fearfully and wonderfully made.. Your hands bound us together in our mothers womb.. You created these bodies, these minds, and spirits, you know our every thought, our every word, every action.. So who are we to even pretend that you don’t know us.. How dare we try think our sin will be hidden, for you know ALL and see ALL things.. But most of all you Love your creation.. You bring your light into our darkness and allow us the opportunity to come into Your Marvelous light.. Because you love us nothing can separate us from that love, but sin will separate us from you.. When we allow sin in, we become a slave to the devil.. I pray that we draw near to you and remain in you and abide by your ways, Seek after your wisdom and knowledge, Study to show ourselves approved.. Lord I pray that you help us to understand and become more like you.. I pray that we learn to humble ourselves and turn from our wicked way so that when you speak we will have spiritual ears to hear.. Speak to us Lord.. Teach us Father to be sensitive to your Spirit that we may be obedient to the Living Word of God.. Teach us what yielding truly is so that we can give all of ourselves to You.. Letting go of the sinful man, standing in VICTORY as we put on the NEW MAN continuously walking in that victory, and truth… For through You Jesus is the only way to the Father and I want to be in my Father’s presence.. Help us oh God to be what You created us to be,,, amen and amen ♥ ♥

Stand Firm (II Thessalonians 2:12-17) NIV

13  But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
14  He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15  So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16  May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17  encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Don't Let Anyone Deceive You (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) NIV

1    Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 

2    not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter —asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 

3    Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 

4    He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

5    Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 
6    And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
7    For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
8    And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 
9    The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,
10  and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 
11  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 
12  and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 

The Coming of the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) GWT

13  Brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be ignorant about those who have died. We don’t want you to grieve like other people who have no hope.
14  We believe that Jesus died and came back to life. We also believe that, through Jesus, God will bring back those who have died. They will come back with Jesus.
15  We are telling you what the Lord taught. We who are still alive when the Lord comes will not go into his kingdom ahead of those who have already died.
16  The Lord will come from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the dead who believed in Christ will come back to life.
17  Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way we will always be with the Lord.
18  So then, comfort each other with these words!

Always be Joyful (Philippians 4:4-9 (GWT)

4  Always be joyful in the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be joyful!
5  Let everyone know how considerate you are. The Lord is near.
6  Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.
7  Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
8  Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.
9  Practice what you’ve learned and received from me, what you heard and saw me do. Then the God who gives this peace will be with you.

Pressing on Toward the Goal (Philippians 3:12-21) GWT

12  It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me.
13  Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and
14  I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.
15  Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think.
16  However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far. 
17  Brothers and sisters, imitate me, and pay attention to those who live by the example we have given you.
18  I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes, that many live as the enemies of the cross of Christ.
19  In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god, and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things.
20  We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven as our Savior.
21  Through his power to bring everything under his authority, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his glorified body.

Run Straight Toward the Goal (Philippians 3:1-11) GWT***

1    Now then, brothers and sisters, be joyful in the Lord. It’s no trouble for me to write the same things to you, and it’s for your safety. 

2    Beware of dogs! Beware of those who do evil things. Beware of those who insist on circumcision. 

3    We are the true circumcised people of God because we serve God’s Spirit and take pride in Christ Jesus. We don’t place any confidence in physical things, 

4    although I could have confidence in my physical qualifications. If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical, I can claim even more. 

5    I was circumcised on the eighth day. I’m a descendant of Israel. I’m from the tribe of Benjamin. I’m a pure-blooded Hebrew. When it comes to living up to standards, I was a Pharisee. 

6    When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the church. When it comes to winning God’s approval by keeping Jewish laws, I was perfect.

7    These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ.
8    It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ
9    and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn’t receive God’s approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith
10  that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death,
11  with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead.


***God's Word Translation

Do Everything Without Grumbling (Philippians 2:12-18) TNIV****

12  Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 
13  for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14  Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
15  so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
16  as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 
17  But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 
18  So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.


****Today's New International Version

Imitating Christ's Humility (Philippians 2:1-11) NIV

1    Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 

2    then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 

3    Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 

4    not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5    In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6    Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7    rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8    And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death —
even death on a cross!

9    Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

Faith (Hebrews 11:1-12) NIV

1    Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 

2    This is what the ancients were commended for.

3    By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4    By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5    By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
6    And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7    By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8    By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
9    By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 
10  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 
11  And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
12  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 

Future Glory (Romans 8:18-27) NIV

18  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 
19  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
20  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 
24  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God (Romans 6:15-23) NKJV

15  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 
16  Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 
17  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 
18  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 
19  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 
21  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 
22  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 
23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.Bible Daily Reading Blog

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Do Not Judge Others (Romans 14) GNT

1    Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions.

2    Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.

3    The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person.

4    Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.

5    Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds.

6    Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.

7    We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.

8    If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9    For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.

10  You then, who eat only vegetables—why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything—why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.

11  For the scripture says, "As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, 

and everyone will confess that I am God."
12  Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.
13  So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin.
14  My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.
15  If you hurt others because of something you eat, then you are no longer acting from love. Do not let the food that you eat ruin the person for whom Christ died!
16  Do not let what you regard as good get a bad name.
17  For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives.
18  And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others.
19  So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help strengthen one another.
20  Do not, because of food, destroy what God has done. All foods may be eaten, but it is wrong to eat anything that will cause someone else to fall into sin.
21  The right thing to do is to keep from eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that will make other believers fall.
22  Keep what you believe about this matter, then, between yourself and God. Happy are those who do not feel guilty when they do something they judge is right!
23  But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.