Acts 12:1-25 | Sometimes It Looks Like God Is Failing

EquipHer Vol. 14: "Tested, Trusted, Transformed!"

Advent Study

The Blacksmith’s Discipline: Honing Godly Men

Journeying to Easter - Part 2

Tapping Out

Seeing the Minor Prophets

The Enneagram for Teens

STEPS by John Ortberg

Worship, War, and Wisdom: Church Planting Lessons From David

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch32" data-usfm="PSA.32">
         <div class="label">32</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 32</span></div><div class="d"><span class="content">Of David. A </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">maskil.</span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">Title: Probably a literary or musical term</span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.32.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Blessed is the one</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.32.1"><span class="content">whose transgressions are forgiven,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.32.1"><span class="content">whose sins are covered.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.32.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.32.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Blessed is the one</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.32.2"><span class="content">whose sin the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> does not count against them</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.32.2"><span class="content">and in whose spirit is no deceit.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.32.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.32.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">When I kept silent,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.32.3"><span class="content">my bones wasted away</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.32.3"><span class="content">through my groaning all day long.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.32.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.32.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For day and night</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.32.4"><span class="content">your hand was heavy on me;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.32.4"><span class="content">my strength was sapped</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.32.4"><span class="content">as in the heat of summer.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">32:4 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew has </span><span class="fqa">Selah </span><span class="ft">(a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 5 and 7.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.32.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Then I acknowledged my sin to you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">and did not cover up my iniquity.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">I said, &#8220;I will confess</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">my transgressions to the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">And you forgave</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">the guilt of my sin.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.32.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.32.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Therefore let all the faithful pray to you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.32.6"><span class="content">while you may be found;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.32.6"><span class="content">surely the rising of the mighty waters</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.32.6"><span class="content">will not reach them.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.32.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.32.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">You are my hiding place;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.32.7"><span class="content">you will protect me from trouble</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.32.7"><span class="content">and surround me with songs of deliverance.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.32.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.32.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.32.8"><span class="content">I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.32.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.32.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Do not be like the horse or the mule,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.32.9"><span class="content">which have no understanding</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.32.9"><span class="content">but must be controlled by bit and bridle</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.32.9"><span class="content">or they will not come to you.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.32.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.32.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Many are the woes of the wicked,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.32.10"><span class="content">but the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">&#8217;s unfailing love</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.32.10"><span class="content">surrounds the one who trusts in him.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.32.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.32.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Rejoice in the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> and be glad, you righteous;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.32.11"><span class="content">sing, all you who are upright in heart!</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPHP">
      <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="PHP.2">
         <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Imitating Christ&#8217;s Humility</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PHP.2.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PHP.2.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PHP.2.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PHP.2.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PHP.2.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PHP.2.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PHP.2.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PHP.2.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Who, being in very nature</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">in the form of</span></span></span><span class="content"> God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PHP.2.6"><span class="content">did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PHP.2.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PHP.2.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">rather, he made himself nothing</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PHP.2.7"><span class="content">by taking the very nature</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:7 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the form</span></span></span><span class="content"> of a servant,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PHP.2.7"><span class="content">being made in human likeness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PHP.2.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.2.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">And being found in appearance as a man,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.2.8"><span class="content">he humbled himself</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.2.8"><span class="content">by becoming obedient to death&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q3"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.2.8"><span class="content">even death on a cross!</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.2.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PHP.2.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Therefore God exalted him to the highest place</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PHP.2.9"><span class="content">and gave him the name that is above every name,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PHP.2.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PHP.2.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PHP.2.10"><span class="content">in heaven and on earth and under the earth,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PHP.2.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PHP.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PHP.2.11"><span class="content">to the glory of God the Father.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Do Everything Without Grumbling</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PHP.2.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PHP.2.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed&#8212;not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence&#8212;continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PHP.2.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PHP.2.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PHP.2.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Do everything without grumbling or arguing, </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PHP.2.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">so that you may become blameless and pure, &#8220;children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:15 </span><span class="ft">Deut. 32:5</span></span></span><span class="content"> Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PHP.2.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PHP.2.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PHP.2.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Timothy and Epaphroditus</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PHP.2.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PHP.2.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PHP.2.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PHP.2.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PHP.2.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PHP.2.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PHP.2.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PHP.2.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PHP.2.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PHP.2.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="PHP.2.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="PHP.2.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="PHP.2.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="PHP.2.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPHP">
      <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="PHP.3">
         <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">No Confidence in the Flesh</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PHP.3.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PHP.3.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PHP.3.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PHP.3.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">though I myself have reasons for such confidence.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PHP.3.4"><span class="content">If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PHP.3.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PHP.3.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PHP.3.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PHP.3.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PHP.3.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PHP.3.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">3:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">through the faithfulness of</span></span></span><span class="content"> Christ&#8212;the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PHP.3.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I want to know Christ&#8212;yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PHP.3.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PHP.3.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PHP.3.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PHP.3.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PHP.3.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Following Paul&#8217;s Example</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PHP.3.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PHP.3.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PHP.3.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Only let us live up to what we have already attained.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PHP.3.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PHP.3.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PHP.3.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PHP.3.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PHP.3.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PHP.3.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.</span></span></div>
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