- Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near. - “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.”
- The Lord says,
“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.” - People with integrity walk safely,
but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. - The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
- This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
- Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross. - In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.
If you find it, you will have a bright future,
and your hopes will not be cut short. - Pride leads to conflict;
those who take advice are wise. - Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline. - Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. - Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.
Praise him forever! - Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding. - The Lord’s home reaches up to the heavens,
while its foundation is on the earth.
He draws up water from the oceans
and pours it down as rain on the land.
The Lord is his name! - There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
- Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.
- In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
- So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
- So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken. Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.Next verse!With image