Pursuing the Pinnacle

1 Corinthians 15: 23-26, "But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is deathThanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

Luke 23:33-34, When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.Thanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

Luke 14:26-27, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."Thanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."Thanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

1 Thessalonians 5:18, "...in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."Thanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

Matthew 16:9, "Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?"Thanks for listening! Follow us on... Facebook - Apple Podcast - Spotify - Amazon - Audible

Exodus 3:14-15, God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

Isaiah 43:2. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

1 TIMOTHY 4:1-5, I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Ephesians 4:20-32 (NASB)But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.25 Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather he must labor, producing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Proverbs 19:11, "A person's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense."

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

Proverbs 25:17, “Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor's house, or he will become weary of you and hate you.”

John 4:27-30, And at this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is He?” They left the city and were coming to Him.

Galatians 3:22, "But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe."

Luke 10:25-29, And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5, "Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.  It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered"

Luke 12:16-21, And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”' But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night [a]your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

2 Timothy 2:14, "Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers."

Philippians 3:10-11, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Ephesians 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace"

Luke 6:36, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Psalm 18:2, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Genesis 3:1-4, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Psalm 62:6, "He alone is my rock and my salvation, My refuge; I will not be shaken."

Colossians 2:6-7, "Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude."

Jeremiah 29:11-14, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the LORD."

1 John 1:5-10, "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."

James 4:14, "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away."

Jeremiah 7:5-7, "For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever."

Deuteronomy 10:12-13, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?"

Luke 9:20, And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

Psalm 51:1-2, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed"

Proverbs 25:21, “As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.” 

Matthew 7:2, "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."

Philippians 3:13-14, Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments." 

Luke 7:13, And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Ephesians 4:29-32, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Matthew 18:1-4, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

John 15: 12-15, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."It is the character of the righteous, whose prayers God will hear, they are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (that is, humbled because of sin and emptied of self); they are low in their own eyes and have no confidence in their own merit and sufficiency, but in God only. Though God is high and dwells on high, he is near to those who, being of a contrite spirit, know how to value his favor, and will save them from sinking under their brokenness and their burdens.

Psalm 105:3, "Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!"  To worship the Lord and seek his kingdom and righteousness is the sure way to happiness, for there is no other. True seekers throw their hearts into the engagement, hence their hearts receive joy; according to the text they have a permit to rejoice and they have the promise that they shall do so. 

Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."Ask and it will be given to you: God promises an answer to the one who diligently seeks Him. Many of our passionless prayers are not answered for good reason, because it is almost as if we ask God to care about something we care little or nothing about.

Romans 12.2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."Our Christian life must go beyond head knowledge, but it must absolutely include head knowledge and influence our whole manner of thinking. This is not just in the sense of knowing facts, but the ability to set our minds on the right things. This is so fundamental to the Christian life that Christian growth can even be described as the renewing of your mind.

Luke 10:16; “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, but the one who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”  It is helpful for all servants of God to not hold either praise or rejection too tightly. If they truly represent their Master, the success or rejection of their work is more due to Him than to them. Their greatest concern should not be with success or rejection, but with properly representing Jesus their Master.

Philippians 2:5, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..."It is all too easy for us to read the following description of Jesus and admire it from a distance. God wants us to be awed by it, but also to see it as something that we must enter into and imitate. Let this mind means that it is something that we have a choice about.Remember also that this mind is something granted to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. But "let this mind" shows us that it is also something we must choose to walk in.

Philippians 2:5, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..."It is all too easy for us to read the following description of Jesus and admire it from a distance. God wants us to be awed by it, but also to see it as something that we must enter into and imitate. Let this mind means that it is something that we have a choice about.Remember also that this mind is something granted to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. But "let this mind" shows us that it is also something we must choose to walk in.