Showing posts with label Top 10 Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top 10 Things. Show all posts

Wednesday

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement about Forgiveness



We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all around the topic of Forgiveness.






I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.



So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we are concerned about forgiveness.




1.   1 John 1 v 9     

Starting at the beginning with what we need to be sure of - the fact that He is the one who is willing to forgive our sins

and

cleanse us from them






but

we also have a part to play - we must confess our sins.

 


2.   Daniel 9 v 9


Daniel did not have the benefit of the New Testament and the narrative of Jesus about His Father but yet he still knew what a forgiving God we have, regardless of how sinful we are.





"To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him." 





3.   Isaiah 1 v 18


“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.



God is so gracious to explain to us that even though we are so sinful compared to our Holy God He still has made a way for us to be changed.





4.   Isaiah 43 v 25  

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions

 for My own sake;

And I will not remember your sins.



We cannot get rid of our sin but God will.

Then he actually comforts us by telling us He will not remember them - in other words He will not hold them against us afterwards.




5.   Psalm 103 v 10-14


10.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

We do not get what we deserve

11.  For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

God's mercy is greater than we can even imagine

12.  As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

There is no getting these sins back because of His forgiveness

13.  As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

Fear (awe) of God brings our the tender mercy of our God

14.  For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

God made us so no-one can know us better than He can



Are we deserving of any of this forgiveness?

No but God gave Jesus in our place so that He can forgive us when we turn to Him. 





6.   Ephesians 1 v 7




In our previous verse we saw the effect of God's mercy on our forgiveness now we see His grace.




7.   Acts 10 v 43

It's not a complicated process to apply for the forgiveness of God, we simply have to believe






this is where faith comes into the process.




8.   Isaiah 53 v 5-6

We have seen the mercy and the grace of God to bring about our forgiveness.

Then we saw the faith we need to have and now we see the hope we have in this Saviour 








but none of this is to be taken lightly because our Saviour took such a heavy burden that belonged to us.










9.   Matthew 6 v 14-15





Forgiveness is not just something that God does for us.

We must remember that once we have faith in God and become new creations we have the responsibility of taking on the commands of God and so we need to love others as He does and be ready to forgive them.

It should be an outworking of the Spirit of God working in and through us.








We finish with a reminder from the Apostle Paul



10.   Colossians 3 v 13


 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.



The most important thing to remember is we must give forgiveness because we have first received forgiveness from the Lord.









Monday

10 Little Things I am Thankful for at Home - Coffee & Conversation




The weather may be something we tend to talk about a lot in Northern Ireland because it can be so changeable but we shouldn't let that have any sway on our feelings.

We should be happy and contented inside or outside, fair weather or wet weather.  

Those types of things may have some bearing on our actions but should not have any control of our feelings.  

We can be determined to find things to enjoy no matter where we are or how much we can manage to do.

So today I'm thinking about some of the small things indoors that make me happy, that put a smile on my face.






10 little Things that I am thankful for  -  not big things  -  but little things that should not always go unnoticed or unappreciated.


Maybe these will remind you to be thankful for the little things too.




1.  These coasters sit on my desk and always bring a smile to my face no matter what I'm working at.






You see I practically always have a mug of coffee with me as I work at the computer and because my desk is white wood I need to be careful not to stain it hence the need for a coaster.





2.  I love to hear Fred enjoying himself on the keyboard or guitar making up some tunes or playing some songs we know, it is very relaxing for both of us.


Pity you don't get the sounds as well.




Fred playing another of his musical "toys" a Cajon.




Thankful for his musical abilities and the joy they bring him.

Thankful for the input these abilities have been in our worship life both at home and in church



3.  These negatives are just an example of the many we have of old photos which may not be in great condition these days.
But we can still enjoy and be thankful for the memories they bring back.





Having old photos and especially the negatives of them today mean that we can get them transferred to digital and store with the more recent ones too.

Now I just have to get enough time to actually do that!




4. This little plaque that is very old ( from sometime before we got married ) still makes me smile. 





Still thanking God for giving him to me.




5.  This picture reminds me of the ordinary everyday laugh out loud fun I can have with family.





Thankful for all the silly, giggling moments with Fred, our kids, grandkids and friends.




6.  If I didn't include my coffee break with one of my various mugs many people would be surprised.

Nowadays most of my coffee breaks are enjoyed along with Fred as he is home more often since he took early retirement. Only thing is he's a tea drinker!

Oh the happiness of anticipating a lovely coffee in this mug I got on our first trip to South Korea and sometimes I even get to enjoy some Korean Coffee when my daughter can bring it over for me from her friend's Cafe.



Oh you thought I was going to forget the mug!



and maybe
A little treat too









7.  Every month I get a notification about this pic I have on Pinterest from a previous post on this blog.  They say it is one of my best performing pins.

  

Really?  

It was such a simple pic to make and is rather a personal pic so why would it be of any interest to others?

But it does make me happy to have this little reminder of the good marriage I am blessed with.







8.  This little gif from last Christmas is always a little reminder for me to be thankful for my family and the happiness and faith we all share.





Thankful for a loving marriage (not taking it for granted)
Thankful for our grown-up children (and spouses) and their love for us and each other
Thankful for our grandchildren and the love shared between them and all of the rest of us.

So I am thankful to be a wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother.



9.  A lot of things I do or think about seem to feature my husband in some way. Of course with us living on our own and him having taken early retirement then I suppose a lot of the things that make me happy will involve him.


There are little things like:

 He is not normally one for going to the shop just because I want something but he is the one that mostly goes to the shop because I hate supermarkets and prefer to do online grocery shopping.

 He is wide awake once he gets up but he knows that I am the opposite and like to enjoy my coffee quietly before I'm ready for the decisions of the day.

etc. etc. etc.

So 

It is great that we can be happy together after all these years even in the little things and we are thankful that we have a 43 year marriage. 









10.  How lovely to look out from our home to this view of the sunset over our town.







Here is something to remind me of the assurance we have that the sun will rise and set each new day.


Thankful that we know our God is in control of everything.
















Wednesday

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement around Hope



We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all to have true Hope.







I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.



So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we need hope.




1.   Ephesians 1 v 18     

Firstly I want to make sure you know something very important.


The Apostle Paul wrote something to the Ephesian church which is ultimately meant that it is written to us as well.





It was to tell us that his prayer was that we would know the hope we have been called to




We are Holy People and we have a glorious inheritance because we are in the family of God.



2.   Jeremiah 29 v 11
    





Our Hope is based on God's Peace and it is not in any way linked to any evil for us in the future because God is Good not evil.

When we have trusted in God we have a great future with Him and all our Hope is in Him and only in Him.






3.   Psalm 9 v 18





We all have a need at one time or another.

Sometimes we don't recognise what our greatest need is, which is Christ.

This verse tells that that God never forgets us or our need so we need never worry about the Hope we have in God.



4.   Psalm 33 v 18-22  





18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope is in his mercy
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine

20 Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name

22 Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.






At the start of this section of Psalm 33 we are told that God's favour is on those who place their hope in His mercy.
With this we know we have His protection.

We then end with a prayer for that mercy we claim because of our hope in Him.

Why do we know we have this hope?
Because we have trusted in Him - without that trust we have no claim on His mercy and hence we have no hope.

Have you trusted in Him?
If so you can have this assurance of this great Hope in the mercy of the Lord.






5.   Psalm 147 v 11




Fearing God means to be in awe and reverence of God.

This is all part of recognising His great love that will never let us down so when we have our hope grounded in the Lord we will fear Him and He will delight in us.

Oh what a wonder to know He delights in us because we place our Hope in Him.









6.   Romans 5 v 1-5


1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.



Hope is mentioned three times here.
Verses 1 & 2 are one complete sentence leading from faith & ending with how we rejoice in our hope in the Glory of God.
Verses 3 & 4 together form another sentence telling us that perseverance leads to character and that leads to hope.
The final verse then shows how we trust in that hope because we have experienced the loving character of God.


Another verse telling us to rejoice in the Hope we have is
 Romans 12 v 12








7.   Romans 15 v 13


We often talk about God as a God of Peace, Love, Power, Grace & Mercy but forget He is also the God of Hope.





We have a hope throughout everything because He is our Hope.





8.   Psalm 119 v 114


The basis of our faith is in the true Word of God.

As well as our hope being in Him we also can place our trust and hope in His Word.  What God has said will come true.










9.   Hebrews 10 v 23







God has proved His faithfulness so many times in the bible that there is no doubt that we can trust Him and He will not change so in that knowledge we can keep that hope within us throughout everything.













10.   Romans 8 v 24-25


Here we see that the hope we have been thinking about is the eternal hope of the Glory of Christ.

It is not something we have witnessed physically

24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 

But rather it is something we await for in God's Kingdom

25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.




The most important thing to long for because it keeps us looking to Christ.