- No one has ever seen God,
but if we love one another,
God abides in us,
and his love is made complete in us. - This is how we know what love is:
he laid down his life for us,
and we in turn must be prepared
to lay down our lives for our brethren. - The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
- By faith Abraham also received the power of procreation, even though he was well past the age—and Sarah herself was barren—because he believed that the one who had made the promise would be faithful in fulfilling it.
- Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory.
- Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your kindness and faithfulness. - The father of a good man will rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will delight in him. - For the Lord, your God, is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.
- He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us. How then can he fail also to give us everything else along with him?
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
- Cure the sick who are there, and say, ‘The kingdom of God has come unto you.’
- God saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of our works but according to his own purpose and the grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.
- Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son.
- My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad. - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer.
However, the face of the Lord
is set against those who do evil. - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that weighs us down and the sins that so easily distract us and with perseverance run the race that lies ahead of us.
- Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
Being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross. - Yet even so, because of your great compassion,
you did not completely destroy them,
nor did you forsake them,
for you are a gracious and merciful God. - This is how we can be certain
that we abide in him
and that he abides in us:
he has given us a share in his Spirit. - His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.
- All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
a name that means “God is with us.” - What then can we say in response to all this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Rend your hearts and not your garments,
and turn back to the Lord, your God.
For he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and always prepared to relent from punishing. - Before the mountains were brought forth
or the earth and the world came into existence,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. - Jesus replied,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who sins
is a slave of sin.”
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Bible verse of the day
O Lord, all my longing is known to you,and my sighs are not hidden from you.