Jo’s Place

A Call to Repentance Sound the trumpet…!  Raise the alarm on My holy mountain!  Let everyone tremble in fear  because the day of the Lord is upon us.  It is a day of darkness and gloom,  a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.  Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears.  Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again.  Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them.  Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.  Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes.  They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.  Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops.  Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble, or like a mighty army moving into battle.  Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror.  The attackers march like warriors a nd scale city walls like soldiers.  Straight forward they

Advice about Widows, Elders, and Slaves Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father.  Talk to younger men as you would to your own (sons or) brothers.  Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.  Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.  But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them.  This is something that pleases God.  Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God.  She prays night and day, asking God for his help.  But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.  Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism.  But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith.  Such peop

The Letter of Jude This letter is from Jude …a slave of Jesus Christ …and a brother of James.  I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe  …in the care of Jesus Christ.  May God give you more and more …mercy, peace, and love.  A warning against… The Danger of False Teachers Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share.  But now, I find that I must write about something else …urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time, to His holy people.  I say this, because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches …saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.  The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago …for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  So, I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later He destroyed those who did not re

The Priceless Value of Knowing Christ Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.  I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.  Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.  For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised.  We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us.  We put no confidence in human effort …though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could.  Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts  …I have even more!  I was circumcised when I was eight days old.  I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one!  I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.  I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church.  And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.  I once tho

The Greed of Gehazi Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God,  (let Satan enter his heart, thinking about the wealth of the general cured of leprosy … and)  said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts.  As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.”  So Gehazi set off after Naaman.  When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him.  “Is everything all right?” Naaman asked.  “Yes,” Gehazi said, “but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived.  He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them.”  “By all means, take twice as much silver,” Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi.  But when they arrived at the citadel, Gehazi took the gifts from the servant

David’s Prayer of Praise …David praised the Lord, in the presence of the whole assembly:  “O Lord, the God of our ancestor… may You be praised forever…!  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty.  Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O Lord… and this is Your kingdom.  We adore You as the One who is over all things.  Wealth and honor come from You alone… for You rule over everything.  Power and might are in Your hand, and, at Your discretion, people are made great and given strength.  “…O God, we thank You… and (we) praise Your glorious name!  But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to You?  Everything we have has come from You… and we give you only what You first gave us!  We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us.  Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.  “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build

The Lord is compassionate to those who love Him. A psalm of David Let all that I am praise the Lord;  with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.  Let all that I am praise the Lord;  may I never forget the good things He does for me.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.  He fills my life with good things.  My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!  The Lord gives righteousness  and justice to all who are treated unfairly.  He revealed His character to Moses and His deeds to Israel.  The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.  He will not constantly accuse us,  nor remain angry forever.  He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.  For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.  He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  The

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.  So please don’t lose heart because of (our) trials here...  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.  Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.