Sonicflood - Open the Eyes of My Heart

Romans 2:17-29

The Jew Is Condemned by the Law
17But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God,18and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,19and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,21you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?22You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?23You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?24For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.
25For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.26So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?27And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.29But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

The Tongue is a Fire

JAMES 3
The Tongue Is a Fire
1Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.3Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.4Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.5So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!6And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.7For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.8But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;10from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.11Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?12Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
Wisdom from Above
13Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.15This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.18And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.^[b] A song.

1God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.^c

4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields^d with fire.

10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

11The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Cloth yourself with love, humility and compassion, forgiving those who trespass against you, that you may be shown mercy by God

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. Col 3:25

For there is no respect of persons with God. Romans 2:11

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. Deut 10:17

who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands? Job 34:19

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matt 16:27

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34

because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. Eph 6:8

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you. 2 Thes 1:6

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, Prov 24:17

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matt 5:44-45

A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. Prov 19:11

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:28

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Col 3:12-13

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Rom 15:7

There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. James 2:13

1 John 4:20

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Job 33

Job 33

33 “But now, Job, listen to my words;

pay attention to everything I say.

² I am about to open my mouth;

my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³ My words come from an upright heart;

my lips sincerely speak what I know.

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ Answer me then, if you can;

stand up and argue your case before me.

⁶ I am the same as you in God’s sight;

I too am a piece of clay.

⁷ No fear of me should alarm you,

nor should my hand be heavy on you.

⁸ “But you have said in my hearing—

I heard the very words—

⁹ ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;

I am clean and free from sin.

¹⁰ Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy.

¹¹ He fastens my feet in shackles;

he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

¹² “But I tell you, in this you are not right,

for God is greater than any mortal.

¹³ Why do you complain to him

that he responds to no one’s words^[a]?

¹⁴ For God does speak—now one way, now another—

though no one perceives it.

¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶ he may speak in their ears

and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷ to turn them from wrongdoing

and keep them from pride,

¹⁸ to preserve them from the pit,

their lives from perishing by the sword.^[b]

¹⁹ “Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain

with constant distress in their bones,

²⁰ so that their body finds food repulsive

and their soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹ Their flesh wastes away to nothing,

and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²² They draw near to the pit,

and their life to the messengers of death.^[c]

²³ Yet if there is an angel at their side,

a messenger, one out of a thousand,

sent to tell them how to be upright,

²⁴ and he is gracious to that person and says to God,

‘Spare them from going down to the pit;

I have found a ransom for them—

²⁵ let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;

let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

²⁶ then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,

they will see God’s face and shout for joy;

he will restore them to full well-being.

²⁷ And they will go to others and say,

‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,

but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸ God has delivered me from going down to the pit,

and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

²⁹ “God does all these things to a person—

twice, even three times—

³⁰ to turn them back from the pit,

that the light of life may shine on them.

³¹ “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

³² If you have anything to say, answer me;

speak up, for I want to vindicate you.

³³ But if not, then listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Do not hate, but forgive

Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:17-18

Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

1 John 3:15

Matthew 18:15-35

A Brother Who Sins Against You

15"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Matthew 6:14

Jeremiah 31:25

For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.

Romans 4:18-21

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead -- since he was about a hundred years old -- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Psalm 20

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

2May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

3May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.^b

4May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

5May we shout for joy over your victory

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

6Now this I know:

The Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary

with the victorious power of his right hand.

7Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

8They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

9Lord, give victory to the king!

Answer us when we call!

Matthew 23:12

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus the High Priest

Hebrews 5

New International Version (NIV)

5 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. ³ This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. ⁴ And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁵ In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,

“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”^[a]

⁶ And he says in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”^[b]

⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Psalm 105:4

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.