O God, you are my God, for whom I have been searching earnestly. My soul yearns for you and my body thirsts for you, like the earth when it is parched, arid and without water.
Ever since the creation of the world the invisible attributes of God’s eternal power and divine nature have been clearly understood and perceived through the things he has made. Therefore, the conduct of these people is inexcusable.
Make every effort to present yourself before God as one who is worthy of his approval, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who imparts the word of truth without any alteration.
He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.
Moses remained with the Lord for forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, on the tablets.
Do not be concerned about your life and what you will have to eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them can fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth far more than any number of sparrows.
For this reason, I rejoice when I endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and distress for the sake of Christ. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.