Brad Swope

Refuge - Brandon James

Philippians 4:1-23 (NLT)
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

Refuge - Brandon James

Philippians 3:1-9 (NLT)
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.

Refuge - Brandon James

Philippians 2:12-18 (NLT)
Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

Refuge - Brandon James

Philippians 1:27-30 (MSG)
Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people's trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they're up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You're involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

Sunday School Reading

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (MSG)
Attention, Israel! god, our God! god the one and only!

Brandon James

Philippians 1:19-26 (MSG)
because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done.

January 08, 2012

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NLT)
even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Numbers 32:23

Numbers 32:23 (MSG)
"But if you don't do what you say, you will be sinning against god; you can be sure that your sin will track you down. So, go ahead. Build towns for your families and corrals for your livestock. Do what you said you'd do."

James 4:13-17

James 4:13-17 (MSG)
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money." You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

August 10, 2011

1 Corinthians 1:10 (MSG)
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.

Genesis 15:6

Genesis 15:6 (NLT)
And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

James 2:19

James 2:19 (NLT)
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

James 2:20

James 2:20 (NLT)
How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

James 2:21

James 2:21 (NLT)
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

James 2:22

James 2:22 (NLT)
You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.

James 2:23

James 2:23 (NLT)
And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.

James 2:24

James 2:24 (NLT)
So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

James 2:25

James 2:25 (NLT)
Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.

James 2:26

James 2:26 (NLT)
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

1 Kings 1:1

1 Kings 1:1 (NLT)
King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm.

Psalm 119:76

Psalm 119:76 (NLT)
Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant.

1 John 5:1

1 John 5:1 (NLT)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

1 John 5:2

1 John 5:2 (NLT)
We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.

1 John 5:3

1 John 5:3 (NLT)
Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

James 2:1

James 2:1 (MSG)
My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?