Pam D'Andrea

Habakkuk 3:17

Habakkuk 3:17 (MSG)
Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain! (For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)

Proverbs 30:7

Proverbs 30:7 (MSG)
And then he prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things before I die; don't refuse me— Banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence. Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I'm too full, I might get independent, saying, 'God? Who needs him?' If I'm poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God."

Proverbs 30:5

Proverbs 30:5 (MSG)
The believer replied, "Every promise of God proves true; he protects everyone who runs to him for help. So don't second-guess him; he might take you to task and show up your lies."

Revelation 4:11

Revelation 4:11 (MSG)
Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it.

Revelation 4:8

Revelation 4:8 (MSG)
The Four Animals were winged, each with six wings. They were all eyes, seeing around and within. And they chanted night and day, never taking a break: Holy, holy, holy Is God our Master, Sovereign-Strong, The Was, The Is, The Coming.

Amos 8:13-14

Amos 8:13-14 (MSG)
"On Judgment Day, lovely young girls will faint of Word-thirst, robust young men will faint of God-thirst, Along with those who take oaths at the Samaria Sin-and-Sex Center, saying, 'As the lord god of Dan is my witness!' and 'The lady goddess of Beer-sheba bless you!' Their lives will fall to pieces. They'll never put it together again."

Amos 8:11-12

Amos 8:11-12 (MSG)
"Oh yes, Judgment Day is coming!" These are the words of my Master God. "I'll send a famine through the whole country. It won't be food or water that's lacking, but my Word. People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east. They'll go anywhere, listen to anyone, hoping to hear God's Word—but they won't hear it.

Proverbs 28:25-26

Proverbs 28:25-26 (MSG)
A grasping person stirs up trouble, but trust in god brings a sense of well-being.

Proverbs 28:23

Proverbs 28:23 (NLT)
In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.

Psalm 119:132-133, Psalm 119:142, Psalm 119:156

Psalm 119:132-133 (MSG)
Turn my way, look kindly on me, as you always do to those who personally love you.

Psalm 119:142 (MSG)
Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth.

Psalm 119:156 (MSG)
Your mercies, God, run into the billions; following your guidelines, revive me.

1 Peter 4:1-2, 1 Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 4:10, 1 Peter 4:12-13, 1 Peter 4:19

1 Peter 4:1-2 (MSG)
Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

1 Peter 4:7 (MSG)
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

1 Peter 4:10 (MSG)
Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it:

1 Peter 4:12-13 (MSG)
Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

1 Peter 4:19 (MSG)
So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.

1 Peter 3:13-16, 1 Peter 3:22

1 Peter 3:13-16 (MSG)
If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

1 Peter 3:22 (MSG)
Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

Daniel 2:20, Daniel 2:22

Daniel 2:20 (MSG)
saying, "Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever. He knows all, does all:

Daniel 2:22 (MSG)
He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark-light spills out of him!

Proverbs 28:13

Proverbs 28:13 (MSG)
You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

Psalm 119:59

Psalm 119:59 (MSG)
When I took a long, careful look at your ways, I got my feet back on the trail you blazed.

Ezekiel 48:35

Ezekiel 48:35 (MSG)
"The four sides of the city measure to a total of nearly six miles. "From now on the name of the city will be Yahweh-Shammah: "God-Is-There."

Psalm 119:11, Psalm 119:14, Psalm 119:25, Psalm 119:27, Psalm 119:29-33, Psalm 119:37

Psalm 119:11 (MSG)
I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.

Psalm 119:14 (MSG)
I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches.

Psalm 119:25 (MSG)
I'm feeling terrible—I couldn't feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your miracle-wonders. My sad life's dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by your Word. Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; grace me with your clear revelation. I choose the true road to Somewhere, I post your road signs at every curve and corner. I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; god, don't let me down! I'll run the course you lay out for me if you'll just show me how.

Psalm 119:27 (MSG)
Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.

Psalm 119:29-33 (MSG)
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; grace me with your clear revelation.

Psalm 119:37 (MSG)
Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets, invigorate me on the pilgrim way.

1 Peter 2:6, 1 Peter 2:11, 1 Peter 2:16

1 Peter 2:6 (MSG)
The Scriptures provide precedent: Look! I'm setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.

1 Peter 2:11 (MSG)
Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

1 Peter 2:16 (MSG)
Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules.

1 Peter 1:15-17, 1 Peter 1:19-20, 1 Peter 1:22

1 Peter 1:15-17 (MSG)
As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.

1 Peter 1:19-20 (MSG)
He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.

1 Peter 1:22 (MSG)
Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God's Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

Psalm 119:1-8, Psalm 119:11

Psalm 119:1-8 (MSG)
You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by god. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That's right—you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, god, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me.

Psalm 119:11 (MSG)
I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.

Psalm 117:1

Psalm 117:1 (MSG)
Praise god, everybody! Applaud god, all people! His love has taken over our lives; god's faithful ways are eternal. Hallelujah!

James 2:10, James 2:17, James 2:22-23, James 2:26

James 2:10 (MSG)
You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others.

James 2:17 (MSG)
Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:22-23 (MSG)
Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"?

James 2:26 (MSG)
The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

James 1:19, James 1:25, James 1:27

James 1:19 (MSG)
Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

James 1:25 (MSG)
But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

James 1:27 (MSG)
Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

James 1:2-3, James 1:5-8, James 1:12, James 1:15, James 1:17-18

James 1:2-3 (MSG)
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

James 1:5-8 (MSG)
If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

James 1:12 (MSG)
Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

James 1:15 (MSG)
Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

James 1:17-18 (MSG)
Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle.

Hebrews 13:1, Hebrews 13:5-6, Hebrews 13:8, Hebrews 13:16-18

Hebrews 13:1 (MSG)
Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

Hebrews 13:5-6 (MSG)
Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?

Hebrews 13:8 (MSG)
For Jesus doesn't change-yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.

Hebrews 13:16-18 (MSG)
Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.