Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore,
We won't be afraid.
Though the Earth changes.
Though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas.
Though its waters roar and are troubled.
Though the mountains tremble with their swelling.
There is a river,
The streams of which make the city of God glad.
The holy place of the tents of the Most High.
God is within her.
She shall not be moved.
God will help her at dawn.
The nations raged.
The kingdoms were moved.
He lifted his voice and the earth melted.
The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come,
See the Lord's works.
What desolations he has made in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He burns the chariots in the fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Matthew 6 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
If you do,
You will have no reward from your father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy,
Do not announce it with trumpets.
As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets,
To be honoured by others.
Truly,
I tell you.
They have received their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy,
Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
So that your giving may be in secret.
Than your father,
Who sees what is done in secret.
Will reward you.
And when you pray,
Do not be like the hypocrites,
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.
Truly,
I tell you.
They have received their reward in full.
But when you pray,
Go into your room,
Close the door,
And pray to your Father.
Who is unseen.
Than your father,
Who sees what is done in secret.
Will reward you.
And when you pray.
Do not keep on babbling like pagans,
For they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
For your father knows what you need before you ask him.
This,
Then,
Is how you should pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from the evil one.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you.
Your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins.
Your father will not forgive your sins.
When you fast,
Do not look somber as the hypocrites do.
For they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.
Truly,
I tell you.
They have received their reward in full.
But when you fast,
Put oil on your head and wash your face,
So that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting,
But only to your father,
Who is unseen.
And your father,
Who sees what is done in secret,
Will reward you.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
Where moths and vermin destroy,
And where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
Where moths and vermin do not destroy,
And where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is,
There your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body.
If your eyes are healthy,
Your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are unhealthy.
Your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light within you is darkness,
How great is that darkness.
No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other,
Or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you.
Do not worry about your life.
What you will eat or drink,
Or about your body,
What you will wear.
Is not life more than food.
And the body more than clothes.
Look at the birds of the air.
They do not sow,
Or reap,
Or store away in barns.
And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
Which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire.
Will he not much more clothe you,
You of little faith?
So do not worry,
Saying,
What shall we eat?
Or What Shall We Drink?
Or what shall we wear?
For the pagans run after all these things.
And your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
And all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
For tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Philippians 4 Therefore,
My brothers,
Beloved and longed for,
My joy and crown stand firm in the Lord in this way,
My beloved.
I exhort Euodia and I exhort Sintisi to think the same way in the Lord.
Yes,
I beg you also,
True partner.
Help these women,
For they laboured with me in the Good News,
With Clement also,
And the rest of my fellow workers,
Whose names are in the Book of Life.
" Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again,
I will say,
Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to all men.
The Lord is at hand.
In nothing be anxious,
But in everything,
By prayer and petition,
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 thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Finally,
Brothers.
Whatever things are true.
Whatever things are honourable.
Whatever things are just.
Whatever things are pure.
Whatever things are lovely.
Whatever things are of good report.
If there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise.
Think about these things.
Do the things which you learned,
Received,
Heard,
And saw in me.
And the God of peace will be with you.
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly,
That now at length you have revived your thought for me,
In which you did indeed take thought,
But you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak because of lack.
For I have learned in whatever state I am to be content in it.
I know how to be humbled,
And I also know how to abound.
In any and all circumstances,
I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry.
Both to abound and to be in need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
However you did well that you shared in my affliction.
You yourselves also know,
You Philippians.
That in the beginning of the Good News,
When I departed from Macedonia,
No assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving.
But you only.
For even in Thessalonica,
You sent once and again to my need.
Not that I seek for the gift.
But I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.
" but I have all things and abound.
I am filled having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you.
Sweet-smelling fragrance,
An acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
My God will supply every need of yours,
According to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Now to our God and Father,
Be the glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
The brothers who are with me greet you.
All the saints greet you,
Especially those who are of Caesar's household.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen.
Isaiah 40.
Comfort,
Comfort my people.
Says your God.
Speak comfortably to Jerusalem,
And call out to her that her warfare is accomplished.
That her iniquity is pardoned.
That she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one who calls out.
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness.
Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The uneven shall be made level.
And the rough places are plain.
The Lord's glory shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
The voice of one saying,
Cry out.
One said,
What shall I cry?
All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
The flower fades,
Because the Lord's breath blows on it.
Surely the people are like grass.
The grass withers,
The flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
You who tell good news to Zion,
Go up on a high mountain.
You who tell good news to Jerusalem,
Lift up your voice with strength.
Lift it up.
Don't be afraid.
Say to the cities of Judah.
Behold your God.
Behold the Lord.
The Lord will come as a mighty one.
And his arm will rule for him.
Behold,
His reward is with him,
And his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will gather the lambs in his arm and carry them in his bosom.
He will gently lead those who have their young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
And marked off the sky with his span,
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket,
And weighed the mountains in scales,
And the hills in a balance.
Who has directed the Lord's Spirit or has taught him as his counsellor.
Who did he take counsel with and who instructed him?
And taught him in the path of justice,
And taught him knowledge,
And showed him the way of understanding.
Behold,
The nations are like a drop in a bucket.
And are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance.
Behold,
He lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
All the nations are like nothing before him.
They are regarded by him as less than nothing and vanity.
To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to him?
A workman has cast an image,
And the goldsmith overlays it with gold,
And casts silver chains for it.
He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot.
He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
Haven't you known?
Haven't you heard?
Haven't you been told from the beginning?
Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the Earth.
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
Who brings princes to nothing.
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
They are planted scarcely.
They are sown scarcely.
Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground.
He merely blows on them and they wither,
And the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
To whom then will you liken me?
Who is my equal?
Says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these.
Who brings out their army by number.
He calls them all by name.
The greatness of his might,
And because he is strong in power,
Not one is lacking.
Why do you say Jacob and speak Israel?
My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me is disregarded by my God.
Haven't you known?
Haven't you heard?
The everlasting God.
The Lord.
The creator of the ends of the earth doesn't faint.
He isn't weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak.
He increases the strength of him who has no might.
Even the youths faint and get weary,
And the young men utterly fall.
But those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength.
They will mount up with wings like eagles.
They will run and not be weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Psalm 34.
I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
My soul shall boast in the Lord.
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me!
Let's exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord,
And he answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to him and were radiant.
Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
This poor man cried,
And the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The Lord's angel encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
O fear the Lord,
You his saints!
For there is no lack with those who fear him.
The young lions do lack and suffer hunger.
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
Come,
You children.
Listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is someone who desires life and loves many days.
That he may see good.
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Depart from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
The Lord's eyes are toward the righteous.
His ears listen to their cry.
The Lord's face is against those who do evil.
To cut off their memory from the Earth.
The righteous cry,
And the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.
And saves those who have a crushed spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He protects all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall kill the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants.
None of those who take refuge in Him shall be condemned.
John 10.
Most certainly,
I tell you.
One who doesn't enter by the door into the sheepfold,
But climbs up some other way.
Is a thief and a robber.
But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him,
And the sheep listen to his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Whenever he brings out his own sheep,
He goes before them.
And the sheep follow him,
For they know his voice.
They will by no means follow a stranger,
But will flee from him.
For they don't know the voice of strangers.
Jesus spoke this parable to them,
But they didn't understand what he was telling them.
Jesus therefore said to them again,
Most certainly,
I tell you.
I am the sheep's door.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers.
But the sheep didn't listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters in by me,
He will be saved and will go in and go out and will find pasture.
The thief only comes to steal,
Kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life.
And may have it abundantly.
I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd,
Who doesn't own the sheep,
Sees the wolf coming,
Leaves the sheep and flees.
The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
The hired hand flees,
Because he is a hired hand and doesn't care for the sheep.
I am the Good Shepherd.
I know my own,
And I'm known by my own.
Even as the father knows me,
And I know the father.
I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep which are not of this fold.
I must bring them also,
And they will hear my voice.
They will become one flock with one shepherd.
Therefore the Father loves me.
Because I lay down my life that I may take it again.
No one takes it away from me,
But I lay it down by myself.
I have power to lay it down,
And I have power to take it again.
I received this commandment from my father.
Therefore,
A division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
Many of them said,
He has a demon and is insane.
Why do you listen to him?
Others said,
These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon.
It isn't possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind,
Is it?
It was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem.
It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch.
The Jews therefore came around him and said to him,
How long will you hold us in suspense?
If you are the Christ,
Tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them.
I told you and you don't believe.
The works that I do in my father's name.
These testify about me.
But you don't believe because you are not of my sheep,
As I told you.
My sheep hear my voice,
And I know them,
And they follow me.
I give eternal life to them.
They will never perish,
And no one will snatch them out of my hands.
My Father who has given them to me is greater than all.
No one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand.
I and the Father are one.
Therefore the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them,
I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of those works do you stone me?
The Jews answered him,
We don't stone you for a good work,
But for blasphemy.
Because you,
Being a man,
Make yourself God.
Jesus answered them.
Isn't it written in your lore?
I said,
You are gods.
If he called them gods,
To whom the word of God came and the scripture can't be broken.
Do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world?
You blaspheme.
Because I said,
I am the Son of God.
If I don't do the works of my father,
Don't believe me.
But if I do them,
Though you don't believe me,
Believe the works.
That you may know and believe that the Father is in me.
An eye in the father.
They sought again to seize him,
And he went out of their hands.
Went away again beyond the Jordan,
Into the place where John was baptizing at first.
And he stayed there.
Many came to him.
They said,
John indeed did no sign.
But everything that John said about this man is true.
Many believed in him there.
Psalms 23 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the Lord's house forever.
Psalm 91.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord,
He is my refuge and my fortress.
My God in whom I trust.
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers.
Under his wings,
You will take refuge.
His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night.
Nor of the arrow that flies by day.
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness.
Nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand.
But it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge and the Most High your dwelling place.
No evil shall happen to you,
Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For he will put his angels in charge of you.
To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands,
So that you won't dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and cobra.
You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
Because he has set his love on me,
Therefore I will deliver him.
I will set him on high,
Because he has known my name.
He will call on me,
And I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him.
I will satisfy him with long life and show him my salvation.
Take a moment to rest in his presence.
And let his word settle into your heart.
I hope this time of scripture reading has settled your spirit.
If this channel helps you connect with God.
I want to invite you to follow and join us again.
But for now,
Let go of every worry and trust in the Lord.
God bless.
