Re: Dark/Light

Glad to know that you know man's doctrine! But God's WORD will PREVAIL - not man's word!

Psalm 18
1
I love you, LORD; you are my strength.
2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold.
3
I will call on the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
for he saves me from my enemies.
4
The ropes of death surrounded me;
the floods of destruction swept over me.
5
The grave[1] wrapped its ropes around me;
death itself stared me in the face.
6
But in my distress I cried out to the LORD;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry reached his ears.
7
Then the earth quaked and trembled;
the foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
8
Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9
He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10
Mounted on a mighty angel,[2] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11
He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dense rain clouds.
12
The brilliance of his presence broke through the clouds,
raining down hail and burning coals.
13
The LORD thundered from heaven;
the Most High gave a mighty shout.[3]
14
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.
15
Then at your command, O LORD,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.
16
He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17
He delivered me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18
They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest,
but the LORD upheld me.
19
He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.
20
The LORD rewarded me for doing right;
he compensated me because of my innocence.
21
For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22
For all his laws are constantly before me;
I have never abandoned his principles.
23
I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.
24
The LORD rewarded me for doing right,
because of the innocence of my hands in his sight.
25
To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
26
To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
27
You rescue those who are humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
28
LORD, you have brought light to my life;
my God, you light up my darkness.
29
In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.
30
As for God, his way is perfect.
All the LORD's promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
31
For who is God except the LORD?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
32
God arms me with strength;
he has made my way safe.
33
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
leading me safely along the mountain heights.
34
He prepares me for battle;
he strengthens me to draw a bow of bronze.
35
You have given me the shield of your salvation.
Your right hand supports me;
your gentleness has made me great.
36
You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.
37
I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
38
I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
39
You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40
You made them turn and run;
I have destroyed all who hated me.
41
They called for help, but no one came to rescue them.
They cried to the LORD, but he refused to answer them.
42
I ground them as fine as dust carried by the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
43
You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me as the ruler over nations;
people I don't even know now serve me.
44
As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreigners cringe before me.
45
They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.
46
The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47
He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48
and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49
For this, O LORD, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing joyfully to your name.
50
You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.
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Matthew 19:16-30
Someone came to Jesus with this question: "Teacher,what good things must I do to have eternal life?"
"Why ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "Only God is good. But to answer your question, you can receive eternal life if you keep the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man asked.
And Jesus replied: " `Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"I've obeyed all these commandments," the young man replied. "What else must I do?"
Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." But when the young man heard this, he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. I say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible."
Then Peter said to him, "We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?"
And Jesus replied, "I assure you that when I, the Son of Man, sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then.
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John 10:1-42

"I assure you, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't recognize his voice."
Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant, so he explained it to them. "I assure you, I am the gate for the sheep," he said. "All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will leave the sheep because they aren't his and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep.
"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
"The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again. No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again. For my Father has given me this command."
When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some of them said, "He has a demon, or he's crazy. Why listen to a man like that?" Others said, "This doesn't sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah. He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is what I do in the name of my Father. But you don't believe me because you are not part of my flock. My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me. The Father and I are one."
Once again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many things to help the people. For which one of these good deeds are you killing me?"
They replied, "Not for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, have made yourself God."
Jesus replied, "It is written in your own law that God said to certain leaders of the people, `I say, you are gods!'And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people, who received God's message, were called `gods,' why do you call it blasphemy when the Holy One who was sent into the world by the Father says, `I am the Son of God'? Don't believe me unless I carry out my Father's work. But if I do his work, believe in what I have done, even if you don't believe me. Then you will realize that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father."
Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them. He went beyond the Jordan River to stay near the place where John was first baptizing. And many followed him. "John didn't do miracles," they remarked to one another, "but all his predictions about this man have come true." And many believed in him there.
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John 3:3-19
Jesus said, "I assure you, unless you are born again,you can never see the Kingdom of God."
"What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don't be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."
"What do you mean?" Nicodemus asked.
Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you DON'T understand these things? I assure you, I am telling you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe us. But if you don't even believe me when I tell you about things that happen here on earth, how can you possibly believe if I tell you what is going on in heaven? For only I, the Son of Man, have come to earth and will return to heaven again. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.
"There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.


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