Brian Taylor

Ephesians 5:2, Ephesians 5:6, Ephesians 5:8, Ephesians 5:10-11, Ephesians 5:14-16

Ephesians 5:2 (MSG)
Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

Ephesians 5:6 (MSG)
Don't let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don't even hang around people like that.

Ephesians 5:8 (MSG)
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

Ephesians 5:10-11 (MSG)
Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

Ephesians 5:14-16 (MSG)
Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light!

Actions vs words

James 3:13 (MSG)
Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.

Galatians 2:16

Galatians 2:16 (NIV)
know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:21

Galatians 2:21 (NIV)
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Galatians 3:12

Galatians 3:12 (NIV)
The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, "The person who does these things will live by them."

Galatians 3:17

Galatians 3:17 (NIV)
What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

Galatians 3:19

Galatians 3:19 (NIV)
Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.

Galatians 2:16

Galatians 2:16 (NIV)
know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:21

Galatians 2:21 (NIV)
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Galatians 3:12

Galatians 3:12 (NIV)
The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, "The person who does these things will live by them."

Tithe

Malachi 3:10 (ESV)
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

1 Timothy 1:13

1 Timothy 1:13 (ESV)
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

Matthew 7:4

Matthew 7:4 (MSG)
Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt?

Matthew 7:3

Matthew 7:3 (MSG)
It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.

Matthew 7:2

Matthew 7:2 (MSG)
That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.

Matthew 7:1

Matthew 7:1 (MSG)
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

Matthew 5:24

Matthew 5:24 (MSG)
abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

Matthew 5:23

Matthew 5:23 (MSG)
"This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

Proverbs 2:21

Proverbs 2:21 (MSG)
It's the men who walk straight who will settle this land, the women with integrity who will last here.

Job 2:10

Job 2:10 (MSG)
He told her, "You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God.

Job 2:9

Job 2:9 (MSG)
His wife said, "Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!"

Job 2:3

Job 2:3 (MSG)
Then God said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there-honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."

Hebrews 13:17

Hebrews 13:17 (MSG)
Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?

2 Chronicles 16:9

2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars."

2 Chronicles 15:17

2 Chronicles 15:17 (ESV)
But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days.