Exodus 34:6-7

GOD passed in front of Moses and declared his name, saying, “I am Yahweh, GOD — the God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, teeming with loyal love and faithfulness. I faithfully extend this kindness to thousands of generations. However, while I forgive sinful evildoers who turn against me, I’m not a pushover! My kindness is immeasurable, but I continue to hold people’s feet to the fire, keeping them responsible to the second, third, and fourth generations. I won’t neglect to punish the guilty.

Revelation 1:4-8

 I, John, am writing this letter to the seven churches in the province of Asia.

I send you the grace and peace that originates with 

     the One who is, who always was, and who is still coming,

     as well as from the seven spirits serving before his throne; 

       5 and indeed from Jesus the Anointed King. He is the focus of this letter because he is the faithful witness,

     the honored-first to rise from the dead, 

     and if that were not enough, the ruler over every governing authority on the earth.

    Glory to him who loves us and by his blood has freed us from our sins. 

6 In doing so, Jesus has formed us into a Kingdom of priests in service to his Father, who is God.

     Glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

7 Look! Jesus comes riding on the clouds of heaven — out in the open, visible to everyone — even those who speared him in the side while he was on the cross.

     People from everywhere in the world will experience anguish at the sight.

Yes, indeed! Amen!

8 “I am the First and the Last — the one who began it all and will carry it all to the end,” declares God the Supreme Leader. 

     “I am the God who is, who always was, and who is still coming—the One who defines power and might.”

Matthew 5:3-12

3 The good life belongs to those who are hopeless, because they’ll hit the jackpot as the heavenly regime is established.

4 The good life belongs to those who grieve, because they will be comforted.

5 The good life belongs to the disenfranchised, because they will be in charge.

6 The good life belongs to those who crave for justice and right living, because they will be fed until they are full.                          

7 The good life belongs to those who show mercy, because they will get what they’ve given.

8 The good life belongs to those who are pure to the core, because that purity will enable them to see God.

9 The good life belongs to those who make peace, because they’ll be recognized as God’s children.

10 The good life belongs to those who are harassed, because they stake their lives on what’s right, for they feel right at home in the heavenly regime.

11 The good life belongs to you when you’re mocked, harassed, and slandered, because you’re aligned with me. 12 Cheer up and let the joy flow, because you’re racking up reward points in your heavenly account. Remember, you’re in the company of the ancient prophets who were also mistreated.

Ephesians 5:15-33

15-16 There are two ways that you can live your life—wisely or foolishly. It’s that simple. And in these evil days, it is especially important that you choose right. Take advantage of every single opportunity to exercise wisdom. 17 Don’t be an ignoramus but grow in your understanding of the Lord’s agenda. 18 Don’t fill up on booze—that leads to out-of-control living and ultimately a wasted life. Instead, fill up on the Holy Spirit. 19 When you do that you’ll be living worship-filled and honor-filled lives. For example, together you’ll be making music to the Lord—singing songs from the heart—hymns—praise choruses. You’ll even be singing the ancient psalms from the Bible. 20 In a way that honors the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, your mouths will continually gush forth unlimited gratitude aimed at God the Father. 21 Furthermore, your respect for Christ will spill over to define your relationships with each other. You’ll be yielding to the needs and preferences of others—not because you’re a wimpy pushover but because you respect the presence of Christ in them.

22 An example of this yielding can be seen in the way husbands and wives treat each other. Wives prioritize the needs of their husbands—just as they would for the Lord. 23 For in a sense the husband leads his wife in the same way Christ leads the church. He sacrifices to save the body. 24 In that spirit, wives yield to their husbands just as the church yields to Christ.

25 Husbands, you also illustrate the offering of Christ when you love your wives and sacrificially yield to them. 26-27 Christ sacrificed in order to make the church stand out. His message is an industrial-strength soap with incredible whitening powers—powers that he used to wash her up so that the church radiates with pure holy dazzle. 28-31 Likewise, that’s how a husband treats his wife—with the same kind of love and sacrifice. 

You love her with the same energy you put into loving yourself. For when you love her you ARE loving yourself. That’s the nature of being one. Remember that saying in Genesis 2:24? A man leaves behind the tight connection he has with his parents to form an even tighter connection with his wife. And the two become one. 

So when you feed and nurture your wife you are feeding and nurturing yourself. This illustrates how Christ loves the church—which is his body—and of which we are a part.

32-33 Thus you can see that marriage is an important picture, demonstrating the relationship between Christ and his church. This makes it all the more important for you husbands to love your wives and for you wives to respect your husbands.

Genesis 1:24-31

 

Then God said, “Let the earth produce all the diverse kinds of animals: the domesticated critters, the reptiles, and the wildlife.”

And it happened according to his spoken command. 

25 God made all sorts of animals -- wildlife, domesticated, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. God made them all! And God concluded that the animals were good and life-giving.

26 Once again God spoke, “Let’s make humanity -- the people -- in our image. That way they can be like us and thus be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the domesticated animals, all the crawling things on earth -- and even the earth itself.”

27 God created humanity in his own image, in the divine image he created them -- both male and female.

28 At his word, God then blessed them with the ability to reproduce and multiply with such virility that they’d master all the earth. He told them to “take charge of the fish, the birds, and all the other animals crawling around on the ground.”

29 Then God blessed them further saying, “I am giving you all the seed-yielding plants and the fruiting trees for food. 30 To all living animals -- the wildlife, the birds, and to critters crawling on the ground -- I am giving all the green leafy plants for food.”

And once again, it happened according to his spoken command.

31 God surveyed the entire creation -- including the people and animals -- and declared that they were extremely good and life-giving.

That is what happened on the sixth day.

Matthew 6:9-13

Pray like this:

Our Father, even though you’re in heaven we honor you here and now as the one and only.

10 Establish your reign on earth so that everything is done here in your way and according to your heavenly standards.

11 Please, give us exactly what we need to get through the day.

12 Don’t keep track of all the ways we have wronged you; we will do the same for those who have wronged us.

13 Protect us from thinking and doing things that are inconsistent with you and your practices. Rescue us from the Devil as he pitches his agenda.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

But you need to keep doing the things that you learned -- the things which were imprinted onto the core of your being as you were taught by some very solid teachers. 15 Since early childhood your life has been steeped in the holy writings that have shaped you into a wise person and led you to trust Christ Jesus for your salvation. 16 All parts of scripture are God-breathed and are useful for teaching truth, for revealing our mistakes, for correcting those mistakes, and for our character development. 17 Through scripture those who belong to God are fully equipped to do good.