Perspective

Matthew 6:5-13  "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!   - 9 -   Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy.   - 10 -   May Your Kingdom come soon. May Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.   - 11 -   Give us today the food we need,   - 12 -   and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.   - 13 -   And don't let us yield to temptation,  but rescue us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]
and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.   - 6 -   But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.   - 7 -   "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.   - 8 -   Don't be like them, for

Matthew 6:25-33  "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing?   - 26 -   Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are?   - 27 -   Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?   - 28 -   "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing,   - 29 -   yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.   - 30 -   And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?   - 31 -   "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?'   - 32 -   These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.   - 33 -   Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

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Understand

Ephesians 5:17  Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Deuteronomy 6:17-25  You must diligently obey the commands of the LORD your God--all the laws and decrees He has given you.   - 18 -   Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the LORD swore to give your ancestors.   - 19 -   You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the LORD said you would.   - 20 -   "In the future your children will ask you, 'What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the LORD our God has commanded us to obey?'   - 21 -   "Then you must tell them, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with His strong hand.   - 22 -   The LORD did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people.   - 23 -   He brought us out of Egypt so He could give us this land He had sworn to give our ancestors.   - 24 -   And the LORD our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear Him so He can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as He has done to this day.   - 25 -   For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us.'

Deuteronomy 12:28-32  Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the LORD your God.   - 29 -   "When the LORD your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land,   - 30 -   do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.'   - 31 -   You must not worship the LORD your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.   - 32 -   "So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.

1 Timothy 2:3-4  This is good and pleases God our Savior,   - 4 -   who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Titus 1:1-2  This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.   - 2 -   This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God--who does not lie--promised them before the world began.

Hebrews 10:26-28  Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.   - 27 -   There is only the terrible expectation of God's judgment and the raging fire that will consume His enemies.   - 28 -   For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

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Testing (Revealed)

The Test

For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.   - Deuteronomy 13:3b

And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him [Hezekiah] to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.   - 2 Chronicles 32:31

Genesis 22:1-2, 11-12  After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."   - 2 -   He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." - 11 -  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."   - 12 -   He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

*Deuteronomy 8:1-20  "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers.   - 2 -   And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.   - 3 -   And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.   - 4 -   Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.   - 5 -   Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.   - 6 -   So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.   - 7 -   For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,   - 8 -   a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,   - 9 -   a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.   - 10 -   And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.   - 11 -   "Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,   - 12 -   lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,   - 13 -   and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,   - 14 -   then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,   - 15 -   who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,   - 16 -   who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.   - 17 -   Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.'   - 18 -   You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.   - 19 -   And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.   - 20 -   Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Job 1:9-11  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?   - 10 -   Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.   - 11 -   But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

Job 1:20-22  Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.   - 21 -   And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."   - 22 -   In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job 2:4-5  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.   - 5 -   But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."

Job 2:10  But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Psalms 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!   - 24 -   And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Proverbs 17:3  The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.

1 Peter 1:6-7  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,   - 7 -   so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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*Proverbs 30:1-9  The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.   - 2 -   Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.   - 3 -   I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.   - 4 -   Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!   - 5 -   Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.   - 6 -   Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.   - 7 -   Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:   - 8 -   Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,   - 9 -   lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Called, Chosen, and Faithful

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' "Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
Isaiah 41:9-11 NASB

"For many are called, but few are chosen."
Matthew 22:14 NASB

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Peter 2:9 NASB

"I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
Luke 18:8 NASB

"These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful."
Revelation 17:14 NASB

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