God is my witness that what I say is true---the God whom I serve with all my heart by preaching the Good News about his Son. God knows that I remember you

I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers

For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father,

I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves,

so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.

To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of:

I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment,

Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.

For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.

May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.

He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son,

Now we can give thanks to our God for you. We thank him for the joy we have in his presence because of you.

May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus prepare the way for us to come to you!

In this way he will strengthen you, and you will be perfect and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all who belong to him.

"This God is our God forever and ever; he will lead us for all time to come."

Our God is a God who saves; he is the LORD, our Lord, who rescues us from death.

When it happens, everyone will say, "He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the LORD! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us."

Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the LORD, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.

If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will.

You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and they shall rule on earth."

All of this proves that God's judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

(SEE 1:11)

But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so.

God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.

And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory.

For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles.

So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.

My Christian friends, who also have been called by God! Think of Jesus, whom God sent to be the High Priest of the faith we profess.

But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation.

You will do everything you have promised; LORD, your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun.

The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

Do not think that I will bring my people to the point of birth and not let them be born." The LORD has spoken.

Let us try to know the LORD. He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth."

Obstacles as great as mountains will disappear before you. You will rebuild the Temple, and as you put the last stone in place, the people will shout, 'Beautiful, beautiful!' "

The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the head, and finally the head full of grain.

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.

O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children---this was his pleasure and purpose.

God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.

because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed,

God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him."

Jesus answered, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent."

and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength

which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world.

For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm.

And there is another reason why we always give thanks to God. When we brought you God's message, you heard it and accepted it, not as a message from human beings but as God's message, which indeed it is. For God is at work in you who believe.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.