Do Not Grow Weary
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Do Not Lose Heart
Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3 (NIV)
Lean on His Strength
We can do all things through Christ! I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:1 (NIV)
Jeremiah 32:27-44 CSB
[27] “Look, I am the LORD, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me? [28] Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it. [29] The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire. They will burn it, including the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to anger me. [30] From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in my sight! They have done nothing but anger me by the work of their hands”-this is the LORD’s declaration- [31] “for this city has caused my wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from my presence [32] because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to anger me-they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. [33] They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline. [34] They have placed their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name and have defiled it. [35] They have built the high places of Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire to Molech-something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin! [36] “Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’: [37] I will certainly gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in my anger, fury, and intense wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. [38] They will be my people, and I will be their God. [39] I will give them integrity of heart and action so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them. [40] “I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me. [41] I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all my heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land. [42] “For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this terrible disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them. [43] Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’ [44] Fields will be purchased, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities-the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev-because I will restore their fortunes.” This is the LORD’s declaration.
Philippians 2:1-30 NLT
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? [2] Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. [3] Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. [4] Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. [5] You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] 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, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [12] Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. [13] For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. [14] Do everything without complaining and arguing, [15] so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. [16] Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. [17] But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. [18] Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy. [19] If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. [20] I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. [21] All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. [22] But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News. [23] I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here. [24] And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon. [25] Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need. [26] I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. [27] And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him-and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. [28] So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you. [29] Welcome him in the Lord’s love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve. [30] For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.
He who abides in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to Yahweh, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the destructive pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you will take refuge;
His truth is a large shield and bulwark.
You will not be afraid of terror by night,
Or arrow that flies by day;
Of pestilence that moves in darkness,
Or of destruction that devastates at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
For you have made Yahweh—my refuge,
The Most High—your dwelling place.
No evil will befall you,
And no plague will come near your tent.
— Psalm 91:1-10
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day— things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man? These are matters which do have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
Colossians 2:9-23 NASB2020
Luke 6:31-32 NLT
Do to others as you would like them to do to you. [32] “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!
It is a trustworthy saying: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but considerate, peaceable, free from the love of money; leading his own household well, having his children in submission with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
— 1 Timothy 3:1-7
“The iniquity of the holy things.”—Exodus 28:38
What a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what a full measure have we there! Our work for the Lord, its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, what a mass of defilement is there! Our private devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight. Dr. Payson, writing to his brother, says, “My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, ‘In what fine order is my garden kept!’ This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours may look over the wall and say, ‘How finely your garden flourishes!’ This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence.” So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves; we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is the thought, that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore upon his brow the words, “Holiness to the Lord:” and even so while Jesus bears our sin, he presents before his Father’s face not our unholiness, but his own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!
Spurgeon, C. H. 1896. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster.
“Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.””
– Joshua 1:9 ERV
“I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The Berean Christian 