Today’s Verses – In Need Of Peace
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. He enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up-building.
Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Today’s Scriptural Inspirations
Matthew 8:18-19 & Matthew 9:1-7
When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he told his followers to go to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you any place you go.”
Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to rest.” Another of Jesus’ followers said to him, “Lord, I will follow you too, but let me go and bury my father first.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let those who are dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him.
After the boat left the shore, a very bad storm began on the lake. The waves covered the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The followers went to him and woke him. They said, “Lord, save us! We will drown!” Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then he stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. The wind stopped, and the lake became very calm.
The men were amazed. They said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!”
Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.
Some people brought to him a man who was paralyzed and was lying on a mat. Jesus saw that these people had much faith. So he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, you will be glad to hear this. Your sins are forgiven.”
Some of the teachers of the law heard what Jesus said. They said to themselves, “What an insult to God for this man to say that!” Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why are you thinking such evil thoughts? The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. But how can I prove this to you? Maybe you are thinking it was easy for me to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ There’s no proof that it really happened. But what if I say to the man, ‘Stand up and walk’? Then you will be able to see that I really have this power.”
So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up. Take your mat and go home.”
The man stood up and went home…
