Daily Pause

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;  your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You...

Exodus 12 Selected verses The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,  2  “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  3  Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household……  6  Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel...

1 Corinthians 10 14  Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.  15  I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.  16  Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?  17  Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one l...

1 Corinthians 11:17-26 Selected verses 17  In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.  18  In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it……. 21  for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry an...

Luke 22: 7-24 Selected Verses  7  Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.  8  Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” 14  When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  19  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do t...

Hebrews 4:14-16 and 7:24-25 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[ f ] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with co...

Psalm 18:1-6 I love you, Lord, my strength. 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.| 3  I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,    and I have been saved from my enemies. 4  The cords of death entangled me;    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 5  The cords of the g...

 Psalm 86:1-7 (The Passion Translation) Lord, bend down to listen to my prayer. I am in deep trouble. I am broken and humbled. And I desperately need your help. Guard, my life, for I am your faithful friend, your loyal servant. For life I turn to you in faith.  My God, my hero, come and rescue me. Lord God, hear my constant cry for help. Show me your favor and bring me to your fountain of grace. R...

Jeremiah 29:11-13 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 Yo...

Luke 11:5-13 5  Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;  6  a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’  7  And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  8  I tel...

Ephesians 6:10-13 and 18-20 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  13  There...

Matthew 7:7-11 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to gi...

Ephesians 1:15-20 Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[ f ] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enligh...

Ephesians 1:3-6 (The Message version)   How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus...

Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 Selected verses 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, ………… When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.[ f ] 6 And because...

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the...

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 w...

and Galatians 3:26-2911 He, that is Jesus, came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.26You are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for...

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you w...

36 Peter continues, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will...

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is w...

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an he...