Here are seven great Bible quotes to help inspire your day today or any day.
Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
The author of Hebrews seems to tie in a love of money with being contented in the fact that God “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5). If he never leaves you or forsakes you then He is surely with you and will go before you. It’s one thing to walk with God but if “It is the LORD who goes before you” then you have no need to fear or be dismayed, right? Who doesn’t want God going before them? I realized this was written to Israel, but remember just before Jesus ascended He told the disciples “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20b). We have His sure promise that “The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry” (Prov 10:3a). I may be as old as the psalmist was when he wrote, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25). I have seen this proven true.
Second Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
If God only looks at our best works on Judgment Day, then we’re in deep trouble from which we cannot escape. In our fallen-ness, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6) since “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10). That presents a problem because our sins have separated us from a holy God (Isaiah 59:2) and we fall far too short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) so God Himself had to come up with the solution. Romans 5:7 says “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” and even “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10) which means “we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Rom 5:9).
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
I think most parents would take a bullet for their children or a husband or wife for their spouse, but how radical is the love of God that He died for His own natural enemies and people who were wicked sinners (Rom 5:8, 10). Is there any greater love than that? That is true godly love (agape) that loves unconditionally. There is no greater love that was so vividly displayed as on the cross by Christ as He even prayed for God’s forgiveness for those who crucified Him. That is unheard of in human circles. That is a divine love; a love that is sacrificial, as “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). Isaiah wrote about this “greater love” in Isaiah 53:10 that “it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief” but it was “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors… he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
Isaiah 52:12 “For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
We have already read how God goes before us (Duet 31:8) but now He is even said to be our rear guard, in case someone tries to circumvent God’s protection. A rear guard’s a very good idea because “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1st Pet 5:8) and like a lion in the wild, his natural tendency is to seek out the stragglers; those who are hurting, injured, and separated from the pack.
Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”
Here is a great Bible verse to cling to during your day or any day for that matter. David eagerly looked forward to the day when he could gaze upon the glorious beauty of the Lord and inquire in His temple. He knew that he would dwell in the house of the Lord for all time but the greatest thing he thought would be to behold the Lord’s beauty and be in the presence of the Lord and see Him face to face someday.
Isaiah 40:31 “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Waiting is so hard. I knew of a one wedding where the groomsman and the groom waited on the bride to come down the aisle. Just before the bride was to come, the best man passed out. After they revived him, the same thing happened to the bridegroom. Waiting is hard but for those “who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” but the question is, why would we need to have our strength renewed if we’re waiting? Isn’t that the same things as resting? No! Ask any family that’s been in a surgery waiting room for hours. Ask any family member of someone who’s been seriously ill in the hospital for an extended period of time. Waiting can be exhausting but for those who wait upon the Lord, “they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” That works for me.
Second Corinthians 4:16-18 “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
I can look in the mirror and concur with Paul that my “outer self is wasting away” but thankfully, and hopefully, the inner self is being renewed day by day. The affliction we endure might seem long but compared to the measurement of eternity, it is but “a light moment” that is preparing us for “an eternal weight of glory,” which to Paul, was “beyond all comparison.” If we look only at the things we see, we can grow discouraged in our afflictions, but if they’re held up against eternity, it doesn’t seem as bad.
God gives us all so much encouragement, strength, renewal, and hope in His Word. Staying in the Word of God will keep you near the God of the Word. He walks before you, He is with you, and He is your rear guard and you can say, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me” (Psalm 118:6) because “in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me” (Psalm 56:11)?
Article by Pastor Jack Wellman