December 21: Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 1 Peter 1:1–2; 2 Kings 7:2; 2 Chronicles 14:11; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 55:8–9; Isaiah 59:1; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 19:26; Mark 11:22; 2 Corinthians 1:9; Hebrews 11:6
Description
Morning:
Ezekiel 36:26 ; Romans 8:29 –30; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 –14; 1 Peter 1:1–2
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
That we should be holy and blameless before him.
God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you,… so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.—For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.—Elect,… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.—“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”—For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
Ezekiel 36:26 (36:26 ">Listen)
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
(ESV)
Romans 8:29 –30 (8:29 –30">Listen)
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
(ESV)
Ephesians 1:4 (Listen)
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
(ESV)
2 Thessalonians 2:13 –14 (2:13 –14">Listen)
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruitsSome manuscripts chose you from the beginning</note>">1 to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(ESV)
1 Peter 1:1–2 (Listen)
Greeting
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
(ESV)
Evening:
2 Kings 7:2; 2 Chronicles 14:11 ; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 55:8–9; Isaiah 59:1; Malachi 3:10 ; Matthew 19:26 ; Mark 11:22 ; 2 Corinthians 1:9; Hebrews 11:6
“If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”
“Have faith in God.”—And without faith it is impossible to please him.—“With God all things are possible.”
“Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?”
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.—“Put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear.—“O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak.”—But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
2 Kings 7:2 (Listen)
2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
(ESV)
2 Chronicles 14:11 (14:11 ">Listen)
11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”
(ESV)
Isaiah 50:2 (Listen)
2 Why, when I came, was there no man;
why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?<b
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