Preface

The Bible is many centuries old. The last book of the Old Testament was written long before the birth of Christ while the New Testament was completed towards the end of the first century AD. Yet the message of this ancient book remains new and fresh in every generation.

Because it is the life-giving Word from the living God, it has been a source of strength and comfort through the ages for millions of believers. The apostle Paul had this assurance:

I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Romans 8:38-39

In a world filled with uncertainty, people are unsure of what faith means to them. Unlike Paul, they are not convinced of God’s unshakable love for them. Thus they seek assurance within themselves and temporary truths while losing sight of the eternal wisdom contained in the Word of God.

This selection from the Bible has been compiled to help you to rediscover the truth about God’s loving and eternal presence in your life. In reading through these pages, may the Word of God, which has endured through many generations, be words of wisdom which light up the way ahead of you.

And I discovered that wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

Ecclesiastes 2:13

God – the Almighty Creator

God created heaven and earth

Let us begin by considering what the Bible teaches about God as the Creator and Ruler of the world and about his creation.

This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. He doesn’t need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people.

Acts 17:24-25

“Nothing is impossible for God!”

Luke 1:37

And with this Word, God created all things.

Nothing was made without the Word.

John 1:3

Our Lord, great and powerful, you alone are God.

With your wisdom and power

you created the earth and spread out the heavens.

Jeremiah 10:6,12

I am the Lord, the Creator, the holy God of Israel.

I created the world and covered it with people;

I stretched out the sky and filled it with stars.

Isaiah 45:11a,12

“Our Lord and God, you are worthy

to receive glory, honour, and power.

You created all things,

and by your decision they are and were created.”

Revelation 4:11

God created man

In Genesis we read that God created Adam, the first man, by moulding him from the soil of the earth. When God breathed into man, he became a living being.

The Lord God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.

Genesis 2:7

So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women.

Genesis 1:27

God’s purpose for man

As a further sign of his love and trust, God not only created man in his own image, but he put him in charge of creation to manage and care for it:

The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it.

Genesis 2:15

You let us rule everything your hands have made.

And you put all of it under our power—

the sheep and the cattle, and every wild animal,

the birds in the sky,

the fish in the sea, and all ocean creatures.

Psalm 8:6-8

He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.

God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn’t far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are.

Acts 17:25b-28a

Man rejects God

Man’s response to the trust that God had placed in him was to disobey him and reject his loving companionship. As a result, sin came into the world. The evidence of man’s sinful nature is overwhelming.

They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshipped God’s creation instead of God, who will be praised for ever. Amen.

Romans 1:25

All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

Romans 3:23

Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others.

Matthew 15:19

Only a fool would say, “There is no God!”

People like that are worthless;

they are heartless and cruel and never do right.

From heaven the Lord looks down to see

if anyone is wise enough to search for him.

But all of them are corrupt; no one does right.

Psalm 14:1-3

How do we know what sin is?

Man is not ignorant of God’s laws but in his sinfulness, he has chosen to follow his own heart. God gave us the Ten Commandments; and in the New Testament, Jesus summarised God’s law to make it even simpler for us to understand and follow it.

God said to the people of Israel:

I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

Do not worship any god except me.

Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the sea under the earth. Don’t bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.

Do not misuse my name. I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.

Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. In six days I made the sky, the earth, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That’s why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.

Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.

Do not murder.

Be faithful in marriage.

Do not steal.

Do not tell lies about others.

Do not want to take anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want to take anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkeys or anything else.

Exodus 20:1-17

The Law shows us what sin is

But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that.

Romans 7:7b

Jesus summarised the Law as follows:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.

Matthew 22:37-40

The effects of sin

Like Adam and Eve who hid from God when they realised they had done wrong, so we are separated from God when we do not do his will.

Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.

That’s why he doesn’t answer

your prayers or let you see his face.

Isaiah 59:2

Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God’s laws. If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.

Romans 8:7-8

God judges sin

Sin goes against the very nature of God and therefore it must be punished.

From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth.

Romans 1:18

And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do.

Romans 14:12

Don’t grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is just outside the door.

James 5:9

Jesus Christ – the hope of mankind

God proves his love by giving us his Son. He became like us to live among us, to show us the way.

The Word became

a human being and lived here with us.

We saw his true glory,

the glory of the only Son of the Father.

From him all the kindness

and all the truth of God have come down to us.

John 1:14

But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you. God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.

Ephesians 2:4-6

God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth, which is,

There is only one God,

and Christ Jesus is the only one

who can bring us to God.

Jesus was truly human,

and he gave himself to rescue all of us.

God showed us this at the right time.

1 Timothy 2:4-6

No one who has faith in God’s Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn’t have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God’s only Son.

John 3:18

If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished.

Romans 8:1

Christ is God’s greatest gift to mankind

Christ is like the Father

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God himself. He is the incarnation of God the Father on earth.

Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen.

He is the firstborn Son, superior to all creation.

Colossians 1:15

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!

John 3:16-17

Long ago in many ways and at many times God’s prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will some day belong to the Son. God’s Son has all the brightness of God’s own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together.

Hebrews 1:1-3a

No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.

John 1:18

As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, “Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn’t come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don’t know him. But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him.”

John 7:28-29

Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

Jesus replied:

Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don’t you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? Don’t you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn’t said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things.

Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do.

John 14:1,8-11

And you gave him power over all people, so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him.

John 17:2

Christ takes the punishment for our sins

God cannot tolerate wrong-doing because he himself is without blemish. Sin must be punished but God loved us so much, he sent his Son to take the blame for our sins.

But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

Romans 5:8

The reward for sin is death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Christ died once for our sins.

An innocent person died for those who are guilty.

Christ did this to bring you to God,

when his body was put to death

and his spirit was made alive.

1 Peter 3:18

Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven.

Ephesians 1:7

But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent.

Colossians 1:22

Christ triumphs over death and gives eternal life

We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.

Romans 6:9-11

Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.

Romans 8:11

God will raise us from death by the same power that he used when he raised our Lord to life.

1 Corinthians 6:14

Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say.

He was buried, and three days later

he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.

1 Corinthians 15:3b-4

God passes judgement of sin through Christ

He has set a day when he will judge the world’s people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him.

Acts 17:31a

The Father doesn’t judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone.

And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.

Don’t be surprised! The time will come when all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.

John 5:22,27-29

The key to God’s gift is faith

What is faith?

To have faith is to be so convinced of the truthfulness and reliability of that in which you believe that you base your actions on those beliefs.

Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.

What else can I say? There isn’t enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.

Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure that they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life.

Hebrews 11:1,32-35

Faith causes you to know in your heart before you see with your eyes

But we live by faith, not by what we see.

2 Corinthians 5:7

Faith is believing in Jesus Christ

So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord”, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

Romans 10:9-10

I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.

John 5:24

My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

John 6:40

Faith is obeying Christ

Doing as Christ commands us to do, gives truth to our beliefs.

When we obey God, we are sure that we know him. But if we claim to know him and don’t obey him, we are lying and the truth isn’t in our hearts. We truly love God only when we obey him as we should, and then we know that we belong to him.

1 John 2:3-5

God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. If we obey God’s commandments, we will stay united in our hearts with him, and he will stay united with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.

1 John 3:23-24

We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.

1 John 5:3

So we should stay away from everything that keeps our bodies and spirits from being clean. We should honour God and try to be completely like him.

2 Corinthians 7:1b

Faith is to be repentant

Repentance is a serious change of mind leading to a change of direction. It means turning away from your old self and walking in the ways of Jesus.

You are our God— please let us come home.

Jeremiah 31:18b

But if you people will return to me, I will turn and help you.

Zechariah 1:3

“The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:15

Faith is surrendering yourself to Christ

Even our best works are imperfect and permeated with sin. It is time to put your trust in Christ and stop relying on yourself. The apostle Paul says:

Others may boast about themselves, but I have more reason to boast than anyone else. I was circumcised when I was eight days old,a and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.

But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as rubbish. All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, so that somehow I also may be raised to life.

Philippians 3:4b-11

Faith is belonging to Christ

You were bought with the precious blood of Christ and therefore you belong to him!

You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God.

Romans 7:4c

Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living.

Romans 14:8b-9

… you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

1 Corinthians 3:23

You are no longer your own. God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honour God.

1 Corinthians 6:19b-20

How will I know that all this is true?

Through the testimony of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity who was present since the beginning of time.

Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you.

But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

John 14:16,26

The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God’s justice and the judgment.

John 16:8

Now I want you to know that if you are led by God’s Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:3

God is also the one who chose us and put his Spirit in our hearts to show that we belong only to him.

2 Corinthians 1:21b-22

Through the Word of God

Your word is a lamp

that gives light wherever I walk.

Psalm 119:105

God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.

1 Corinthians 1:21a

No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ.

Romans 10:17

Anyone who believes in Christ, becomes a new creature

We give credence to our faith by living our lives according to the truths we have discovered in God’s eternal Word.

Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all!

2 Corinthians 5:17-18a

Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from abovea before you can see God’s kingdom!”

Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”

Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that before you can get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit.

John 3:3-5

How does one live as a new creature?

Serve one another

We should think about others and not about ourselves.

Don’t cause problems for Jews or Greeks or anyone else who belongs to God’s church. I always try to please others instead of myself, in the hope that many of them will be saved.

1 Corinthians 10:24,32-33

Honour Christ and put others first.

Ephesians 5:21

Love each other as brothers and sisters and honour others more than you do yourself.

Romans 12:10

Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up. We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord.

Galatians 6:9-10

Be an example to others

When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.

Colossians 4:5-6

Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.

James 1:22

My friends, you must do all you can to show that God has really chosen and selected you.

2 Peter 1:10a

Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.

When we love others, we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God.

1 John 3:18-19

Grow in faith

The new creature must grow and mature. Growth comes from reading and hearing the Word of God and praying for and with other believers.

I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices.

Philippians 1:9-10a

We must try to become mature and start thinking about more than just the basic things we were taught about Christ.

Hebrews 6:1a

We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith.

1 Corinthians 2:6a

We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will live a life that honours the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better.

Colossians 1:9-10

Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved.

1 Peter 2:2

God strengthens faith

God provides the means to strengthen our faith and let it grow in the following ways:

Through the Holy Spirit

I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

Matthew 28:20b

Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true.

But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

John 14:16-17a,26

God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning.

God sent Jesus Christ

our Saviour to give us his Spirit.

Titus 3:5b-6

Through his Word

What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.

Hebrews 4:12-13

Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

Through his church

The church (his body), with her gathering together in public worship, the sacraments and mutual fellowship of believers, is the home God offers the faithful.

They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together.

Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.

Acts 2:42,46-47

The group of followers all felt the same way about everything. None of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared everything they had with each other.

Acts 4:32

The church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria now had a time of peace and kept on worshipping the Lord. The church became stronger, as the Holy Spirit encouraged it and helped it grow.

Acts 9:31

Through public worship

Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath.

Luke 4:16a

Some people have got out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

Hebrews 10:25

… let the Spirit fill your life. When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.

Ephesians 5:18b-20

I ask only one thing, Lord:

Let me live in your house every day of my life

to see how wonderful you are and to pray in your temple.

Psalm 27:4

It made me glad to hear them say,

“Let’s go to the house of the Lord!”

Psalm 122:1

Through teaching

How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.

Romans 10:14-15

We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will live a life that honours the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better.

Colossians 1:9-10

Through fellowship with Christ and fellow-believers

We are telling you what we have seen and heard, so that you may share in this life with us. And we share in it with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3

There are many of us, but we are each part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.

Romans 12:5b

Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ.

It takes many parts to make a single body.

1 Corinthians 12:13a,20

Through the Lord’s Supper

I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live for ever. My flesh is the life-giving bread that I give to the people of this world.

They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won’t live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me.

John 6:51-57

When we drink from the cup that we ask God to bless, isn’t that sharing in the blood of Christ? When we eat the bread that we break, isn’t that sharing in the body of Christ? By sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one body, even though there are many of us.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Through prayer

When that time comes, you won’t have to ask me about anything. I tell you for certain that the Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. You have not asked for anything in this way before, but now you must ask in my name. Then it will be given to you, so that you will be completely happy.

John 16:23-24

Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.

Matthew 7:7-8

When Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray.”

So Jesus told them, “Pray in this way:

‘Father, help us to honour your name.

Come and set up your kingdom.

Give us each day the food we need.

Forgive our sins,

as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.

And keep us from being tempted.’ ”

Luke 11:1-4

We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.

1 John 5:14-15

By resisting temptation

God gives the means to strengthen faith in the face of temptation.

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him.

Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:

‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”

Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

Matthew 4:1,10-11

Keep us from being tempted and protect us from evil.

Matthew 6:13

Put on all the armour that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.

Ephesians 6:11-12

Resist the devil, and he will run from you.

James 4:7b

Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, prowling around to find someone to attack. But you must resist the devil and stay strong in your faith. You know that all over the world the Lord’s followers are suffering just as you are.

1 Peter 5:8-9

God will bless you, if you don’t give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him.

Don’t blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn’t use evil to tempt others. We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.

James 1:12-15

Through total surrender to God

Don’t let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don’t obey its desires or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God.

Romans 6:12-13

Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life. When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.

Ephesians 5:15-20

Spread the Good News

God wants to reach the world through believers:

Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

Matthew 28:19-20

“But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.”

Acts 1:8

The Lord’s followers who had been scattered went from place to place, telling the good news.

Acts 8:4

God told us to announce clearly to the people that Jesus is the one he has chosen to judge the living and the dead. Every one of the prophets has said that all who have faith in Jesus will have their sins forgiven in his name.

Acts 10:42-43

So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you to preach God’s message. Do it willingly, even if it isn’t the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching.

2 Timothy 4:1b-3a

Joy and Peace

People who look for happiness in material things and in temporary pleasures are soon disappointed. However, if we live according to God’s Word, we will have joy and gladness which last a lifetime.

God our Saviour showed us how good and kind he is.

He saved us because of his mercy,

and not because

of any good things that we have done.

God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning.

God sent Jesus Christ

our Saviour to give us his Spirit.

Jesus treated us much better than we deserve.

He made us acceptable to God

and gave us the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7

We cried as we went out to plant our seeds.

Now let us celebrate as we bring in the crops.

We cried on the way to plant our seeds,

but we will celebrate and shout as we bring in the crops.

Psalm 126:5-6

The Lord will bless you

if you respect him and obey his laws.

Your fields will produce,

and you will be happy and all will go well.

Psalm 128:1-2

Christ came and preached peace to you Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to us Jews, who were near God.

Ephesians 2:17

I pray that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Galatians 1:3

Eternal Wisdom

First digital edition 2012

Copyright of this publication held by © Bible Society of South Africa 2012

The Bible text is quoted from the Contemporary English Version

© Bible Society of South Africa 2006, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this book may, without prior written permission of the publisher, be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, either through photocopying, writing, audio recording, or any other system for information storage and retrieval.

Published by the Bible Society of South Africa, P O Box 5500, Tyger Valley 7536, Bellville

www.biblesociety.co.za

Epub-format:   ISBN 978-0-7982-1700-2
Mobi-format:    ISBN 978-0-7982-1701-9

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