Saturday, March 3, 2012

Genesis 15:8-21 and Matthew 10:32-42 (NIV)

Genesis 15:8-21

8    But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9    So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10  Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
11  Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12  As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
13  Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
14  But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15  You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.
16  In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17  When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
18  On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
19  the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20  Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21  Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Matthew 10:32-42

32  “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 
33  But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34  “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 
35  For I have come to turn, “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36  a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37  “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 
38  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 
39  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
40  “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 
41  Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 
42  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Friday, March 2, 2012

Genesis 15:1-7 and Matthew 10:21-31(NIV)

Genesis 15:1-7
1  After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:  “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield,
your very great reward.
2  But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4  Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”
5  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6  Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7  He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

Matthew 10:21-31

21  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 
22  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 
23  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24  “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 
25  It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26  “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 
27  What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 
28  Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 
29  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 
30  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
31  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Genesis 14:18-24 and Matthew 10:5-20 (NIV)

Genesis 14:18-24

18  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
19  and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
20  And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”  Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21  The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”
22  But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
23  that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’
24  I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

Matthew 10:5-20

5    These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 
6    Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 
7    As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 
8    Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
9    “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 
10  no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 
11  Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 
12  As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 
13  If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 
14  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 
15  Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16  “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 
17  Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 
18  On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.  19  But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 
20  for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.