Category: Scripture

Bible Verses on Spiritual Warfare

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  1. Deuteronomy 3:22 ESV
    You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’
  2. Deuteronomy 28:7 ESV
    “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
  3. Joshua 10:25 ESV
    And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”
  4. Joshua 23:10 ESV
    One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.
  5. 2 Chronicles 20:15 ESV
    And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
  6. 2 Chronicles 32:6-8 ESV
    And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh,but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
  7. Psalm 18:32-36 ESV
    the God who equipped me with strength
        and made my way blameless.
    33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
        and set me secure on the heights.
    34 He trains my hands for war,
        so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
    35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
        and your right hand supported me,
        and your gentleness made me great.
    36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
        and my feet did not slip
  8. Psalm 18:39 ESV
    For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
        you made those who rise against me sink under me.
  9. Psalm 44:5 ESV
    Through you we push down our foes;
        through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
  10. Isaiah 54:17 ESV
    no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
        and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
    This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
        and their vindication[a] from me, declares the Lord.”
  11. Zechariah 4:6 ESV
    Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
  12. Matthew 16:18 ESV
    And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[shall not prevail against it.
  13. Matthew 18:18-19 ESV
     Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[a] in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
  14. Matthew 26:41 ESV
    Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
  15. John 10:10 ESV
    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
  16. Romans 8:31 ESV
    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
  17. Romans 8:37 ESV
    No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
  18. Romans 13:12-14 ESV
    The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
  19. 1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV
    But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  20. 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV
    Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men,be strong.
  21. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV
     For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
  22. Galatians 5:17 ESV
     For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
  23. Ephesians 3:16 ESV
    that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being
  24. Ephesians 6:10-13+ ESV
    Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
  25. 1 Timothy 6:12 ESV
    Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
  26. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV
    But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
  27. James 4:7 ESV
    Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
  28. 1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV
    Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
  29. 1 Peter 5:8-10 ESV
    Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
  30. 1 John 4:4 ESV
    Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Bible Verses for Father’s Day

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  • Exodus 20:12 ESV
    Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
  • Deuteronomy 1:29-31 ESV
    Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’
  • Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV
     And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
  • Joshua 24:15 ESV
    And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord,choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
  • Psalm 103:13 ESV
    As a father shows compassion to his children,
        so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
  • Psalm 127:3-5 ESV
    Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
        the fruit of the womb a reward.
    4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
        are the children[a] of one’s youth.
    5 Blessed is the man
        who fills his quiver with them!
    He shall not be put to shame
        when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
  • Proverbs 3:11-12 ESV
    My son, do not despise the Lord‘s discipline
        or be weary of his reproof,
    12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
        as a father the son in whom he delights.
  • Proverbs 14:26 ESV
    In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
        and his children will have a refuge.
  • Proverbs 17:6 ESV
    Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
        and the glory of children is their fathers.
  • Proverbs 22:6 ESV
    Train up a child in the way he should go;
        even when he is old he will not depart from it.
  • Proverbs 23:24 ESV
    The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
        he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
  • Malachi 4:6 ESV
    And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
  • Matthew 7:9-11 ESV
    Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are 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!
  • Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV
    Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bible Verses about Summer

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  • Genesis 8:22 ESV
    While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
  • Psalm 32:4 ESV
    For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
        my strength was dried up[a] as by the heat of summer. Selah
  • Psalm 74:17 ESV
    You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
        you have made summer and winter.
  • Proverbs 6:6-8 ESV
    Go to the ant, O sluggard;
        consider her ways, and be wise.
    7 Without having any chief,
        officer, or ruler,
    8 she prepares her bread in summer
        and gathers her food in harvest.
  • Proverbs 10:5 ESV
    He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
        but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
  • Proverbs 26:1 ESV
    Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
        so honor is not fitting for a fool.
  • Proverbs 30:25 ESV
    the ants are a people not strong,
        yet they provide their food in the summer;
  • Isaiah 28:4 ESV
    and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
        which is on the head of the rich valley,
    will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer:
        when someone sees it, he swallows it
        as soon as it is in his hand.
  • Jeremiah 40:12 ESV
    then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.
  • Amos 8:1 ESV
    This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
  • Micah 7:1 ESV
    Woe is me! For I have become
        as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
        as when the grapes have been gleaned:
    there is no cluster to eat,
        no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
  • Matthew 24:32 ESV
    From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
  • Luke 21:30 ESV
    As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.

Bible Verses about Sincerity

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  • Joshua 24:14 NASB
    Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the [c]River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV
    For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
  • 2 Corinthians 2:17 ESV
     For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
  • 2 Corinthians 8:8 NASB
    I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV
     But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
  • 1 Timothy 1:5 ESV
    The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
  • 2 Timothy 1:5 ESV
    I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
  • 1 Peter 1:22 ESV
    Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure hear
  • James 3:17 ESV
    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
  • 2 Peter 3:1 ESV
    This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

Bible Verses about God Fulfilling His Promises

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Here are verses to remind us that God fulfills His promises, He completes His work, and He does not abandon His plans for us.

  • Joshua 21:45 NIV
    Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
  • Joshua 23:14 NIV
    “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
  • Proverbs 13:12 NIV
  • Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
        but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
  • Proverbs 13:19 NIV
    A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
  • Jeremiah 1:12 NIV
    The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
  • Lamentations 2:17a NIV
    The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago…
  • Ezekiel 12:28 NIV
    “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
  • Luke 1:38 NIV
    “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
  • Luke 1:45 NET
    And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
  • Philippians 1:6 NIV
    being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Bible Verses about Beauty and Outward Appearance

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  • 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
    But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
  • Psalm 45:11 NIV
    Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
        honor him, for he is your lord.
  • Proverbs 31:25 NIV
    She is clothed with strength and dignity;
        she can laugh at the days to come.
  • Proverbs 31:30 NIV
    Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
        but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
  • Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
    He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
  • Song of Solomon 4:7 NIV
    You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
        there is no flaw in you.
  • Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV
    The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
        because the Lord has anointed me
        to proclaim good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
        to proclaim freedom for the captives
        and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
    2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
        and the day of vengeance of our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
    3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
    to bestow on them a crown of beauty
        instead of ashes,
    the oil of joy
        instead of mourning,
    and a garment of praise
        instead of a spirit of despair.
    They will be called oaks of righteousness,
        a planting of the Lord
        for the display of his splendor.
  • Ezekiel 28:17 NIV
    Your heart became proud
        on account of your beauty,
    and you corrupted your wisdom
        because of your splendor.
    So I threw you to the earth;
        I made a spectacle of you before kings.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NIV
    Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
  • 1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV
    Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Bible Verses for Moms and Mother’s Day

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  • Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NLT
    And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
  • Psalm 127:3 NLT
    Children are a gift from the Lord;
        they are a reward from him.
  • Psalm 128:1-4 NLT
    How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
        all who follow his ways!
    You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
        How joyful and prosperous you will be!
    Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
        flourishing within your home.
    Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
        as they sit around your table.
    That is the Lord’s blessing
        for those who fear him.
  • Proverbs 6:20-21 ESV
    My son, keep your father’s commandment,
        and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
    Bind them on your heart always;
        tie them around your neck.
  • Proverbs 11:25 ESV
    Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
        and one who waters will himself be watered.
  • Proverbs 22:6 NASB
    Train up a child in the way he should go,
    Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
  • Proverbs 31:25-30
    She is clothed with strength and dignity;
        she can laugh at the days to come.
    26 She speaks with wisdom,
        and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
    27 She watches over the affairs of her household
        and does not eat the bread of idleness.
    28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
        her husband also, and he praises her:
    29 “Many women do noble things,
        but you surpass them all.”
    30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
        but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
  • Isaiah 40:11 ESV
    He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
        he will gather the lambs in his arms;
    he will carry them in his bosom,
        and gently lead those that are with young.
  • Lamentations 2:19 ESV
    “Arise, cry out in the night,
        at the beginning of the night watches!
    Pour out your heart like water
        before the presence of the Lord!
    Lift your hands to him
        for the lives of your children,
    who faint for hunger
        at the head of every street.”
  • Luke 1:45 NIV
    Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
  • Luke 1:46-48 NIV
     And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
    for he has been mindful
       of the humble state of his servant.
    From now on all generations will call me blessed
  • Romans 12:12 NIV
    Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer
  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB
     Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
  • Ephesians 6:1-3 NIV
    Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
  • 2 Timothy 1:5 ESV
    I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
  • 1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV
    Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
  • 1 Peter 4:8 NIV
    Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins

Bible Verses About Home

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  • Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
     You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
  • 2 Samuel 7:10 ESV
    And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly
  • Psalm 90:1 ESV
    Lord, you have been our dwelling place[a]
        in all generations.
  • Psalm 127:1-2 ESV
    Unless the Lord builds the house,
        those who build it labor in vain.
    Unless the Lord watches over the city,
        the watchman stays awake in vain.
    2 It is in vain that you rise up early
        and go late to rest,
    eating the bread of anxious toil;
        for he gives to his beloved sleep.
  • Proverbs 3:23 ESV
    The Lord‘s curse is on the house of the wicked,
        but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
  • Proverbs 12:7 ESV
    The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
        but the house of the righteous will stand.
  • Proverbs 14:1 ESV
    The wisest of women builds her house,
        but folly with her own hands tears it down.
  • Proverbs 14:11 ESV
    The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
        but the tent of the upright will flourish.
  • Proverbs 24:3-4 ESV
    By wisdom a house is built,
        and by understanding it is established;
    4 by knowledge the rooms are filled
        with all precious and pleasant riches.
  • Isaiah 32:18 ESV
    My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
        in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
  • Zephaniah 3:20 ESV
    At that time I will bring you in,
        at the time when I gather you together;
    for I will make you renowned and praised
        among all the peoples of the earth,
    when I restore your fortunes
        before your eyes,” says the Lord.
  • John 14:2 ESV
    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?
  • John 14:23 ESV
    Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV
    Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
  • 2 Corinthians 5:1 ESV
    For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Bible Verses about Listening

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  • 1 Samuel 3:10 NIV
    The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
  • Psalm 5:3 NIV
    In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
      in the morning I lay my requests before you
     and wait expectantly.
  • Psalm 18:6 NIVIn my distress I called to the Lord;
        I cried to my God for help.
    From his temple he heard my voice;
        my cry came before him, into his ears.
  • Psalm 34:11 NIV
    Come, my children, listen to me;
        I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
  • Psalm 81:8 NIV
    Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
        if you would only listen to me, Israel!
  • Psalm 116:1-2 NIV
    I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
        he heard my cry for mercy.
    2 Because he turned his ear to me,
        I will call on him as long as I live.
  • Proverbs 8:32-34 NIV
    “Now then, my children, listen to me;
        blessed are those who keep my ways.
    33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;
        do not disregard it.
    34 Blessed are those who listen to me,
        watching daily at my doors,
        waiting at my doorway.
  • Proverbs 12:15 NIV
    The way of fools seems right to them,
        but the wise listen to advice.
  • Proverbs 13:1 ESV
    A wise son hears his father’s instruction,
        but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
  • Proverbs 15:31 ESV
    The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
        will dwell among the wise.
  • Proverbs 19:20 NIV
    Listen to advice and accept discipline,
        and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
  • Jeremiah 26:3-6 NIV
    Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse[a] among all the nations of the earth.’”
  • Micah 1:2 NIV
    Hear, you peoples, all of you,
        listen, earth and all who live in it,
    that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
        the Lord from his holy temple.
  • Malachi 2:2 NIV
    If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
  • Jeremiah 7:13 ESV
    And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, andwhen I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
  • Jeremiah 29:12 NIV
    Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
  • Matthew 7:24 NIV
    Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
  • Matthew 17:5 NIV
    While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.Listen to him!”
  • Mark 4:24 ESV
    And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
  • Mark 7:14 NIV
    Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
  • Luke 11:28 NIV
    He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
  • John 10:27 NIV
    My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
  • James 1:19 NIV
    My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
  • James 1:22 NIV
     Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
  • 1 John 5:15 NIV
    And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

We need lifting up

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Today I received a mini-lecture from a random stranger in well-worn jeans and a baseball cap.

As I left the library with my three-year-old,my son danced over to the button for the automatic door and pressed it with a little bounce in his step and wiggle of his head.

He loves pressing these buttons.

When he was old enough to reach out of the stroller, he insisted on being the one to control the doors.

When he was two-years-old and leaving the library was always a fight, these buttons were a blessing.  He wanted to skip going home for lunch and naptime and just stay and play forever.  The massive terrible two’s tantrum hovered over us like a threatening storm cloud every single time we went to the library in those days.

So, I started giving him something to look forward to.  I’d say, “It’s time to go.  Would you like to be the one to press the button?”

Sometimes it failed.  He still had to be carried on out of there in a full-blown fit.

But on a lot of days, it worked.  He’d head out of the children’s section on a mission to be the one to open the doors on our way out.

Today was a good day at the library. We saw a friend.  My son played without fighting and even did some sharing, which is a new and still-developing skill.

When it was time to go, we grabbed our stuff and headed for the front without cajoling, threatening, or screaming.

So, when he pressed the button and did a little dance as the doors opened, I smiled.

Yes, this was a successful library day.  Thank goodness!

Then the stranger complained.

At first, I couldn’t tell he was picking at my son.  He said, “One day, those buttons might break.”

This was unexpected.  Mostly when people see my son so excited about pressing the buttons, they laugh or smile and it makes all of our days a little brighter.

Then this stranger said the mean words:  “Those buttons are for the handicapped.  Not for him.”

That’s when I realized he was complaining that my three-year-old likes to push these buttons—like probably every other three-year-old on the planet.

My son didn’t bang the button, hit the button, slam the button or in any way misuse the button.  He just pressed it.

He didn’t take up a handicap parking space without a handicap sticker or use a handicap bathroom when it wasn’t necessary and prevent others from using it as a result.

And I don’t ever use those automatic buttons myself since I can open the doors without difficulty.

But my son used this button to open a door that he can’t open any other way because it’s far too big and heavy for him.

And in the very moment he had joy,  we were criticized.

Sometimes this is exactly how it goes.

Just when you are having a good day, someone tries to bring you down.

Your child doesn’t have a tantrum, he uses the potty, and he doesn’t fight with the other kids, and you think, “Hurray!  Maybe I’m not failing completely as a mom.”  That’s when someone tells you how badly you’re doing.

Yesterday, I read something by Charles Spurgeon  that pinged again in my soul while standing a little tongue-tied in the library lobby:

“God’s people need lifting up. We are heavy by nature.  We have no wings…” (Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, April 15).

I don’t really need a stranger to tell me I don’t measure up, made a bad choice, or in any way am failing at motherhood.

I am heavy by nature.

Most of us as moms, as women, and as human beings are pretty adept at self-criticizing.

All day long, we’re generally just trying to do the best we can while others pile on their own opinions about how we’re falling short.

We need lifting up, above the tough circumstances, above the sin that weighs us down, above the criticism that tramples all over our joy.

And Jesus does this for us.

He is the lifter of our heads (Psalm 3:3).

David said,

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1).

And Psalm 146 tells us:

The Lord raises up those who are bowed down (Psalm 146:8 ESV).

In Psalm 28, it says God lifts us into His arms just as a shepherd cradles his sheep:

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever  (Psalm 28:9 ESV).

I don’t  know what might weigh you down at the moment or what might be dragging your soul into a pit of discouragement.

Whatever it is, we can lift it up to Jesus.

Lift your soul right up to Him.

He will carry you.