The Unionists: Recent Episodes
Eugene Luning
Jesus, seated, in two different contexts... and with the two sides of His nature fully engaged.
Two questions attempting to trap Jesus, and a final one that meets Him on the exact right plane.
In the latter half of John 12, we get to see Jesus interact with (or speak of) just about every imaginable human "type."
What it looked and sounded like as Jesus came walking through Jericho, on His way toward the cross.
A week where our chronological walkthrough (into Matthew 20) coincided beautifully with the Church-calendar.
Teachings on life, forgiveness, faith, obedience; plus an object lesson, en route, on the glory of gratitude.
In Luke 16, Jesus really makes us think, wonder, and (perhaps) feel a bit uncomfortable.
Jesus, interrupted once again, revisits our interactions with money, possessions, our future, and anxiety.
A dinner party where Jesus grows fiery, the religious leaders furious, and where we're offered an inverse glimpse of what His heart wants for us.
An interesting pairing of events.... paired with a passage from Paul's second letter to Timothy.
A consideration of Luke 10's send-out of the Seventy, paying attention to how the flesh and Spirit hear such words differently.
Taking a very familiar narrative... and reminding ourselves of the story of our "spiritual sight."
Three interactions on the southward journey, as well as a series of statements made in the Temple during this Feast week.
Three contiguous narratives, each in its own way highlighting the conscious endeavor To Believe.
Watching a religious confrontation with Jesus, and how it points out a few of our old human habits...
In light of Ephesians 3, a reminder of how high, how holy, how honoring is our call to minister for the sake of Jesus.
A stark contrast between the Pharisees' deep religious concern... and the freedom of the Spirit of Jesus.
Three perspectives on that Friday-to-Sunday, and seven ecstatic New Covenant realities.
We don't know what to do with Jesus... but He always knew what He was planning to do for us, with us, and in us.
How it felt to be sent out, two by two, and the instructions with which they were sent.
The overwhelming ability of Jesus to be present to all -- and the very same call on our lives.
Delighting in the beauty and "memorableness" of His wondrous parables, from Matthew 13 and Mark 4.
Three views of human existence collide at a dinner party in the home of Simon the Pharisee.
The raising of the young man at Nain as a picture of our "dead to sin" and "alive to Christ" lives.
A scene with two settings and one Jesus for both. And a thought-exercise on the realities of faith.
A consideration of the life-long meaning of the disciples' calling to become His apostles.
Part 3 of our consideration of "The Old v. The New" through the lens of a living allegory.
How a brief encounter (in Mt. 9, Mark 2 & Luke 5) teaches us so much about The Old vs. The New.
As we consider the moment-of-calling of a quite unexpected disciple, we'll also use this opportunity to reflect back on our own story with Jesus.
Yet another analogous experience of how the Lord's freeing/healing is meant for all of us.
How the Synoptic's portrayal of one man's healing is really a picture of all of our healings from the blight of sin.
Remembering the calling upon our hearts against the backdrop of how Jesus confronted hellishness.
Imagining how hopelessness experiences the arrival of the "Yes and Amen" Reality Himself.
The wondrous realization that Jesus' new hometown was near the intersection of the "Way of the Sea" and the "Way of the East" -- where Gentiles like us might be passing by...
How John's self-perception, at the moment of Jesus' ministry accession, may teach us so much.
Considering the juxtaposition of Cana and the Temple-clearing, in light of the Temple's final fulfillment in the Person of Jesus.
How we interpret existence (and faith, justification, hope, love, etc.), based upon the One who once arrived at a party in Cana.
Led by the Spirit, into 960 hours of time with the Father, Jesus is prepared for the "every kind of temptation" temptation by the evil one.
The commencement of a whole new way of living, experiencing Heaven, and becoming a son.
Little do the crowds, the religious leaders, or even John the Baptist himself know Who is standing in their midst.
How Jesus' precocious Q&A with the Temple authorities might've been for an old, expectant priest...
On the day when Israel, Mary, Joseph and Rome's stories intertwine perfectly, a group of unexpected men are called to bear witness.
Mary's experience, receiving and reacting to the news. (And what this birth-to-be will mean to all potential sons and daughters of God.)
As we begin a long, meandering walk through everything about the life of Jesus, we begin before the beginning: with the prophets of old. Consider, through their eyes, who He was going to be.
Imagining how the living of a humdrum human existence must've felt when confronted with the ability-to-suffer-with-joy that characterized the Early Church.
How the desires of human hearts and the plans of Jesus met (and may still meet!) within the Body of Christ.
Backdating, from 30 years later, to the beginning of the fulfillment of something Jesus promised His friends.
The sensation for a person who has heard from God, then been disappointed by the strictures of religion, and then meets a man or woman filled with the very Spirit of God.
The radical plan of God whereby YOU are the means for reaching into the lives of those unknowing and those knowing God only religiously.
Pentecost morning vs. Pentecost evening: The glorious difference between deficiencies and the life of the Spirit.
As Anchor kicks off its second year as an independent fellowship, we visit/revisit the Root and Fruit of the Early Church's lifestyle: ENCOUNTER.
As Jesus retakes His place at the right hand of the Father, what is His heart saying to yours?
The place from which He stepped down; the way in which He marked time; the Throneroom to which He returned.
The Friend of humankind, never having given up on His friends, walking toward the place from which He'll ascend Heavenward.
How it was for the Creator-God, sitting picnicking with His friends, to prepare to return to the Throneroom from where it all began...
A view of the Events that follow, but from the perspective of the Council of the Sanhedrin.
Words from the heart... of one who'd seen the Risen Jesus and received full forgiveness from Him personally.
The Passover Friday experiences, and reminiscences, of the one member of the Council who'd actually known Jesus of Nazareth.
How the experience of "rubbing shoulders" with the One on His way to be crucified should inform the living of the rest of our lives.
Everyone we meet is someone Jesus was willing to die for. The bandit known as Barabbas is all of us.
Arriving upon the two most famous of Jesus' parables: one which is the Gospel; the other which is the "Christian life."
Imagining sitting there in the tall, mountain meadowgrass, listening to the conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount...
The first half of the greatest and most glorious of Jesus' teachings: the Sermon on the Mount.
Listening, at length, to the wonderful, mysterious teachings of Jesus about His Heavenly Kingdom.
What it was like for Jesus, the Christ, to come into contact with the arbiters of human religiosity.
Jesus: "an exaggeration of all we are NOT - and yet of all He is willing to MAKE us to be"
Another "day in the life" where we see the serenity, the unbotheredness, the power and the glory of who Jesus is.
"Seeing" the moment when the blind man from John 9, hearing a Voice, is healed; and is confronted by the world, by religion, by his past; and then re-encounters the Voice (who is the Man who is God (who is Jesus)).
Matthew meets Jesus... follows Him... throws a party... and ends up seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
What it might've been like for Simon (soon to be Peter) to meet the embodied, personalized Word of God. And the words Simon Peter later wrote down about the experience.
Considering the religious past of the Old Covenant and one man's experience of being confronted by the Embodiment of the New, in person, on a particular day of his human life. This is how Jesus still desires to encounter us.
What an indescribable joy to gather with so many of you at the new version of Anchor -- a standalone, Sunday evening fellowship! May we learn to encounter Jesus just as His first friends did!
The plot of the chief priests, the cunning of Judas Iscariot, and the final dinner with Jesus and His disciples.
Following in the footsteps of one particular Passover-week participant; plus words up on the Mount of Olives.
Tuesday afternoon of Passover week in the Temple. Three very different approaches to Jesus—and His three responses.
A withered fig tree, a wrecked Court of the Gentiles, and an unanswered question, as perhaps seen and heard from the vantage of three different men.
The night before, and the day of, Jesus' glorious Passover-week entry into the capital.
For the third time, Jesus speaks of the Cross and Resurrection; James and John make their play for Kingdom-prominence; and a blind man gains both sight and his life's purpose.
How a turning-point in the life of Socrates is almost perfectly mirrored by our opportunity in these particular days.
A journey (possibly through Sychar in Samaria?) toward a teaching and a time of blessing.
The age-old question of "Faith & Works," as viewed through the lens of Jesus' words in John 7—and in Tolstoy—and in George MacDonald.
Engaging with a familiar miracle, and the questioning of the Pharisees, while asking the question: "But will they remember?"
A revealing juxtaposition of: What Jesus was up to in western Galilee vs. What the Pharisees wanted to talk to Him about.
A crowd's journey toward a miraculous supper; Jesus' miraculous journey out across the waters.
The background and circumstances surrounding the death of John, cousin of Jesus, known as "The Baptist."
Using a little of Luke and Matthew's vantages, a glimpse of both a homecoming and a sending-out.
An imagined perspective from the office, to a house-call, of a local Galilean doctor; then the 12-year realities changed forever by Jesus.
10 minutes before, 10 years before, and 10 years after an unbelievable incident on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee...
More parables spoken at eveningtide of the same day, plus the living parable that was the storm and the calm...
Stepping into the sandals of an unnamed disciple to hear, with different ears, a very familiar parable and its later interpretation.
Two very different groups converge upon a small house near the Galilee, and are greeted by the very same Man.
Another healing in the synagogue, another mass-healing—down at the water's edge—and the early morning calling of the Twelve high on the hillside.
Walking with Him as He walks up from the shoreline to the tax-collector's table, then to Levi's house, then through controversy, and also through the cornfields.
An imagined pre-conversation to the events of Mark 2:1-13 -- the re-arrival to Capernaum, a full house for a teaching, and the unexpected arrival of four friends with their paralyzed friend.
The perspective from a sickbed in Capernaum, then the whole town's, then Jesus alone, and then one on one with a leper.
John's arrest, the Galilean beginnings, the first four callings, and a scene inside the synagogue at Capernaum.
The beginning of a new year and a "literary," imaginative approach to the opening of the Gospel of Mark.
The spirit of the Early Church, the spirit of the Spirit(!), and Paul's Calling/Ambition/Look-back.
A chapter that challenges much of what we think we think about "American Christianity."
A "mirroring" poem of the New Covenant, Paul's spiritual eyes, and his spiritual vision for others.
The ABC's of belief (admitting, believing and confessing) that Jesus is absolutely everything.
To obey... so as not to be absurd... and to do so in the joyful "here and now" that is the present.
Wading out into some fascinating - and difficult - waters with Paul and our Savior, Jesus.
One final episode on Romans 8: what we've been called to, and how we're meant to go about it.
Words from Grant to Sherman in the woods around Shiloh.
Words from the Lord Jesus to you today.
How do we make note of the way He speaks to us in His Word? And, even better yet, how do we pray the words He speaks to us in His Word?
From bondage into His Freedom. From death into Eternal Life. From the solitary into Union with Jesus.
Poetry of that melancholy spring day when Jesus, forevermore, marked the Springtime of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The experience of saying goodbye to a dear, wonderful friend - who yet abides in Jesus.
The march from meaninglessness, as attested to by Ecclesiastes, through the consular accession of Napoleon, and back towards The Way.
In the pattern of King Hezekiah and George Müller, we consider the cadence of walking in true friendship with God.
In which we take an unexpected angle to understand the Finished (once, for all time, and eternally so!) work of Jesus at the Cross and the Grave.
How the arrival of Jesus into "the human nature which causes the trouble" set us free from everything that came before.
How a lifetime's delight in the writings of Hemingway has led me to better "see" Jesus for myself. And how I want the Holy Spirit's imagination for you.
Emotive thoughts about emotion about Jesus from an unlikely source: the Maxims of François de La Rochefoucauld.
How a dark-of-night remembrance of Herodotus reinvigorated my desire to trust the Lord Jesus today.
A glimpse of a life under sin, under religion, and then, finally, under the Way of Jesus. No condemnation and no separation.
Striving towards churchly unity vs. Departing from an existing oneness with Him and in Him
Let's let Him open our ears, once again and for all time, to the grandeur and glory of Romans 8!
How the life and character of Charles de Gaulle offers interesting vision for the "new army" of the Kingdom of Heaven.
"You, my brother, are not a servant any longer; you are a son. And, if you are a son, then you are certainly an heir of God through Christ." (Gal. 4)
Thoughts on time, the "now," and eternity from Marcus Aurelius - elevated by the always alive life of Jesus.
Following the life and words of Giuseppe Garibaldi toward a clearer picture of the living life and words of Jesus of Nazareth.
A thought about: a) what we're doing; b) what the Church should dream of; c) the higher things.
How the Way of Jesus redefines both active and inactive freedom, our sense of positive dependence, and the draw toward a freedom within community.
How prophetic words about the power of an earthly revolutionary army lend themselves to the reality of our heavenly Kingdom Army of love.
How Romans 8 and Galatians 5 teach us to "cut the nerve of our instinctive actions by obeying the Spirit."
What do the words of R.W. Emerson and William Barclay have to do with one another? Actually, quite a bit.
How a snow-swept night in the middle of the Third Silesian War gives us perfect pictures of both the Arrival and Investment of the life of Jesus.
Some of my own history (and struggles, and learnings, and faltering attempts) in learning to write and describe in order to better bring Him into focus.
When I begin to become angsty about the Early Church, it's time to listen to Socrates talking with Pericles the Younger...
Julius Caesar, at the Sabis (57 B.C.), as a picture of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, in the middle of our Today.
How the whisper of the Holy Spirit can reorient our experience of the Word and the importance of Today.
Listening to Augustine, we can move beyond the quantitative/qualitative version of Jesus into the true reality: He is Life-as-it-truly-is.
A reminder, via Montaigne, of the way Jesus - and His Way - bring integration to every part of our lives.
How words from occupied France, 1940, still resound with meaning in the Kingdom of Heaven.
A lovely quotation that brings to light the blending of supernatural/natural involved in following Jesus of Nazareth.
Following that Man out of one seeming "enlightenment" into the true, heavenly, permanent Enlightening.
Bringing each situation, each granular part of our little human existence, into the Way of the Will of God.
A, perhaps, slightly different look at the narrative of the Prodigal Son—specifically at his older brother's day-to-day...
Two images to remind us of the difference between the life of the Spirit vs. the life of the flesh.
From the French writer, Thibon... to an anonymous First/Second Century epistle... to the musings of T.E. Lawrence, let's watch how the Lord can merge a stream of ponderings into one thought.
Setting out with Him... alongside Him... and progressing with Him... toward the perfect goal of Himself.
In which the Athenian, Alcibiades, gives us an epic retort that could've come from Jesus Himself.
The beginning of a new series of "Thoughts" on thinking: how we confidently approach Jesus; how we learn to think well in His presence. This episode kicks us off with the difference between remembering Jesus and experiencing His person/presence.
A walk toward the two trees... and the struggle of our "knowledge of good and evil"... and a clarification around a famous Pauline section.
Continuing Paul's journey, past sin and the Law, toward the new-marriage-union he's proposing...
We take a little detour to April 9, 1865 to deal with how "finished"—in Him—is the reality of sin in our present lives.
The messaging, God to the Jews, in the Old Covenant; God's perfect faithfulness; and the way Jesus came to annihilate the work of the evil one.
Considering the parallels between a 1st Century Jewish cultural-spiritual experience and our experience as 21st Century Christians...
The call to not judge, a commission to "remember our ancient valour," and the chance to "make revolutions by the spectacle of our happiness" in Jesus.
Paul opens up this glorious letter with wondrous thoughts about Jesus, His Gospel—and also the disastrous implications of earthly unbelief.
As Paul concludes his fourth(!) letter to the Corinthians, he gives us insight into proper church discipline, the power of Jesus' life within us, our call, and the Holy Spirit's presence in our midst.
A visit to the "Third Heaven," plus more of the push and pull between Paul and the Corinthian fellowship.
The drama of the Bridegroom and the Bride; the realities of the Gospel; and a thought on the costliness of Paul's pursuit of the Way.
The miracle of watching Jesus' life overtaking Paul's, and getting to hear the sort of "warfare" he was engaged in...
The second half of Paul's treatise on giving and generosity, including some marvelous opportunities for "sharing our life," and generosity, with Jesus Himself.
Paul talks about the giving and generosity that sets apart the Macedonian churches - and invites the Corinthians further into it.
The invitation of His intimate promises and the promise of His "perfecting" and "consecration" of us. What a good God!
His restoration of Eden's "co-operation" and our opportunity to "use" the grace of God. Plus, possessing "everything worth having" right now.
As we live in the midst of the "George Floyd-Black Lives Matter" cultural-historical movement that is presently happening, I want us to lock eyes with Jesus and ask: What are you doing? and What should I be doing?
Absorption of our "transitory life into the life that is eternal"; our "new creation" status; plus, the sheer glorious potential and purpose in His redemption and our life-in-Him.
With bold words and 'battle speeches,' Paul invites us deeper into the "invisible things that are really permanent."
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-4,6 (ESV)
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27 (NASB)
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:7-11 (NKJV)
"In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:1-8, NIV)
“It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24 (NASB)
“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them. I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.” Isaiah 41:17,18 (NLT)
“In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” John 16:23-24 (BSB)
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” John 15:16 (ESV)
“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” John 14:13-14 (NLT)
“Have faith in God," replied Jesus to them. "I tell you that if anyone should say to this hill, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and without any doubt in his heart believe that what he says will happen, then it will happen! That is why I tell you, whatever you pray about and ask for, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24 (Phillips)
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20 (NASB)
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 (BSB)
“Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 1:3 (ESV)
“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.” 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 (NKJV)
“I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7 (ESV)
“But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” Isaiah 49:14-16a (NIV)
“Two sparrows sell for a farthing, don’t they? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Never be afraid, then—you are far more valuable than sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31 (Phillips)
“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand…” Isaiah 51:12-16a (NIV)
“‘For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer. ‘This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:7-10 (ESV)
“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” John 4:35-38 (NIV)
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16, (ESV)
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (BSB)
“I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me — the very people I have created. I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips.” Isaiah 57:15-19a (NIV)
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8 (NASB)
“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Isaiah 66:2 (ESV)
“This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15 (NKJV)
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12 (ESV)
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NASB)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27 (ESV)
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” John 15:11 (NLT)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)
“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 (ESV)
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29 (NASB)
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” John 16:13 (NLT)
“But you are to be given power when the Holy Spirit has come to you. You will be witnesses to me, not only in Jerusalem, not only throughout Judaea, not only in Samaria, but to the very ends of the earth!” Acts 1:8 (Phillips)
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 (ESV)
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18 (NKJV)
“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this — though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You fathers — if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:5-13, NLT)
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:1-9 (NASB)
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. My people will again live under my shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.” Hosea 14:4-7 (NLT)
“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.” Isaiah 44:3,4 (NKJV)
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:26,27 (NASB)
“I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” Isaiah 44:22 (NLT)
“But now thus said the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and he that formed you, O Israel, ‘Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine.’” Isaiah 43:1 (NASB)
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV)
"Come now, let’s settle this," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool…" Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
“I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” John 8:34-36 (HCSB)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” John 6:47 (NKJV)
“I solemnly assure you that the man who hears what I have to say and believes in the one who has sent me has eternal life.” John 5:24 (Phillips)