Thursday Thirteen - Favorite Bible Verses

I read somewhere about "Thursday Thirteen". On Thursdays, you post a list about any 13 things! Well, today, here are my thirteen favorite bible verses (in no real order). And I realize they're more than one verse each, but come on. I can't choose JUST thirteen! It was hard enough narrowing it down this far.

They're quoted from NIV unless otherwise noted.

1. Romans 8:28 - This is an encouraging verse for me, something I need to remember often. It's actually on my desktop!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - Commonly known at the Shema in Judaism, recited every morning. This is the passage also put in tefillin, the boxes men wrap around their arms and heads, and mezuzahs, the cases people put on their door frames. Here's a picture of ours. We got it in Rome!

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

3. Isaiah 61:1-3 - This passages speaks about what Yeshua was sent to do for us. Beautiful language.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4. Ephesians 3:14-19 - I've always loved this because it talks about God's great love. It's also a prayer, so I love using it in my own prayers.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

5. John 14:26-27 - It was hard to choose just a couple verses from all of John 14 and 15, but I love this part about the Holy Spirit.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

6. Psalm 19:7-9: 7 - I wanted to post this entire psalm, but I love this part about God's commands.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

7. Job 38:4-7 - I love when God tells Job off. The last four chapters of Job are so humbling, and a great end to a thought-provoking book.

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone--

while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?

8. Deuteronomy 10:17-22 - Basically summarizes what God's all about.

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. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He if your praise; he if your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

9. Ecclesiates 12:13-14 - When I was 13, I was having a rough time, and my youth pastor could tell. She kept trying to pry it out of me, and she said, "What do you want to know about?" I said, "Nothing." She responded, "No, really. What?" I said, "I mean, nothing. I feel like nothing. I feel like there's no point to any of it." She pointed me to Ecclesiastes, pointing out I wasn't the only one who felt that way. The conclusion Solomon comes to is simple but profound.

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole [duty] of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

10. Song of Songs 8:6-7 - This passage from this long love letter talks about the power of love.

Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
itd would be utterly scorned.

11. James 1:26-27 - A good reminder of what God is looking for.

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

12. Mark 5:24-34 - This is a long one, but I love stories of Jesus healing.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a women was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the car of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'"

But Jesus kept looking around to see who has done it. Then the women, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

13. Revelation 21:1-5 - I don't think I have to explain this one. It's just awesome. (Although I might miss the sea.)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”