We will give everyone our smile so that we do not feel inferior to anyone

[ME]

7 Jesus said:

I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. 8 Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. 9 I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.

10 A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so everyone would have life, and have it fully. 11 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12 Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don't own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13 Hired workers run away because they don't care about the sheep.

14   I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15 Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must also bring them together, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

17 The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

"Each weight has its consequence"

[ME]

1   Michael, the chief of the angels, is the protector of your people, and he will come at a time of terrible suffering, the worst in all of history. And your people who have their names written in The Book will be protected. 2 Many of those who lie dead in the ground will rise from death. Some of them will be given eternal life, and others will receive nothing but eternal shame and disgrace. 3 Everyone who has been wise will shine as bright as the sky above, and everyone who has led others to please God will shine forever like the stars.

4 Daniel, I now command you to keep the message of this book secret until the end of time, even though many people will go everywhere, searching for the knowledge to be found in it.

The End of Time

5 Daniel wrote:

I looked around and saw two other people—one on this side of the river and one on the other side. 6 The angel who had spoken to me was dressed in linen and was standing upstream from them. So one of the two beside the river asked him, “How long before these amazing things happen?”

7   The angel then raised both hands toward heaven and said, “In the name of the God who lives forever, I solemnly promise that it will be a time, two times, and half a time. Everything will be over, when the suffering of God's holy people comes to an end.”

8 I heard what the angel said, but I didn't understand. So I asked, “Sir, how will it all end?”

The angel in my vision then replied:

9 Daniel, go about your business, because the meaning of this message will remain secret until the end of time. 10 Many people will have their hearts and lives made pure and clean, but those who are evil will keep on being evil and never understand. Only the wise will understand. 11 There will be 1,290 days from the time that the daily sacrifices are stopped, until someone sets up the “Horrible Thing” that causes destruction. 12 God will bless everyone who patiently waits until 1,335 days have gone by.

13 So, Daniel, be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward.

Leaving all tormented by your lack ...

"I feel my strength empty ....

It is as if the wind empties the field;

Leaving all tormented by your lack ... "

[ME]

Jesus Again Tells about His Death

(Mark 10.32-34; Luke 18.31-34)

17 As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took his twelve disciples aside and told them in private:

18 We are now on our way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death, 19 and then they will hand him over to foreigners who will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. But on the third day he will rise from death.

"Exalt your love to your neighbor"

Sharing Possessions

32 The group of followers all felt the same way about everything. None of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared everything they had with each other. 33 In a powerful way the apostles told everyone that the Lord Jesus was now alive. God greatly blessed his followers, 34 and no one went in need of anything. Everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money 35 to the apostles. Then they would give the money to anyone in need.

36-37 Joseph was one of the followers who had sold a piece of property and brought the money to the apostles. He was a Levite from Cyprus, and the apostles called him Barnabas, which means “one who encourages others.”

I do not bother with my pain, the pain of the other is that it bothers me ...

[ME]

What God's Servant Did for Us

1  Has anyone believed us or seen the mighty power of the Lord in action?

2 Like a young plant or a root that sprouts in dry ground, the servant grew up obeying the Lord. He wasn't some handsome king. Nothing about the way he looked made him attractive to us.

3 He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering.

No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, “He is a nobody!”

4 He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God.

5 He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.

6 All of us were like sheep that had wandered off.

We had each gone our own way, but the Lord gave him the punishment we deserved.

7 He was painfully abused, but he did not complain.

He was silent like a lamb being led to the butcher, as quiet as a sheep having its wool cut off.

8 He was condemned to death without a fair trial.

Who could have imagined what would happen to him?

His life was taken away because of the sinful things my people had done.

9 He wasn't dishonest or violent, but he was buried in a tomb among cruel, rich people.

10 The Lord decided his servant would suffer as a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others.

Now the servant will live to see his own descendants.

He did everything the Lord had planned.

11 By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the Lord.

Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty.

12 The Lord will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life.

Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.

Happy is he who does what he says, and loves what he has ...

Be Careful How You Worship

1 Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Fools go there to offer sacrifices, because all they do is sin. But it's best just to listen when you go to worship. 2 Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much. 3 If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.

4 God doesn't like fools. So don't be slow to keep your promises to God. 5 It's better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it. 6 Don't let your mouth get you in trouble! And don't say to the worship leader, “I didn't mean what I said.” God can destroy everything you have worked for, so don't say something that makes God angry.

7 Respect and obey God! Daydreaming leads to a lot of senseless talk.

If your GOOD told you, it was because your EVIL helped you! Listen to yourself!

[ME]

Prophets Who Fool Themselves

9 Be shocked and stunned, you prophets!

Refuse to see. 

Get drunk and stagger, but not from wine.

10 The Lord has made you drowsy; he put you into a deep sleep and covered your head.

11 Now his message is like a sealed letter to you. Some of you say, “We can't read it, because it's sealed.” 12 Others say, “We can't read it, because we don't know how to read.”

13 The Lord has said:

“These people praise me with their words, but they never really think about me.

They worship me by repeating rules made up by humans.

14 So once again I will do things that shock and amaze them, and I will destroy the wisdom

of those who claim to know and understand.”

15 You are in for trouble, if you try to hide your plans from the Lord!

Or if you think what you do in the dark can't be seen.

16 You have it all backwards.

A clay dish doesn't say to the potter, “You didn't make me.

You don't even know how.”

Hope for the Future

17 Soon the forest of Lebanon will become a field with crops, thick as a forest.

18 The deaf will be able to hear whatever is read to them; the blind will be freed from a life of darkness.

19 The poor and the needy will celebrate and shout because of the Lord, the holy God of Israel.

20 All who are cruel and arrogant will be gone forever. Those who live by crime will disappear, 21 together with everyone who tells lies in court and keeps innocent people from getting a fair trial.

22 The Lord who rescued Abraham has this to say about Jacob's descendants:

“They will no longer be ashamed and disgraced.

23 When they see how great I have made their nation, they will praise and honor me, the holy God of Israel.

24 Everyone who is confused will understand, and all who have complained will obey my teaching.”