Matthew 6:25-34 Acts 9:20-43 Psalms 16 Genesis 36

Matthew 6:25-34
Mat 6:25 "If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.
Mat 6:26 Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Mat 6:27 "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch?
Mat 6:28 All this time and money wasted on fashion--do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop,
Mat 6:29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
Mat 6:30 "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
Mat 6:31 What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.
Mat 6:32 People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.
Mat 6:33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Mat 6:34 "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Acts 9:20-43
Act 9:20 but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God.
Act 9:21 They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, "Isn't this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn't he come here to do the same thing--arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?"
Act 9:22 But their suspicions didn't slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
Act 9:23 After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him,
Act 9:24 but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him.
Act 9:25 Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
Act 9:26 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit.
Act 9:27 Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus' name.
Act 9:28 After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master's name.
Act 9:29 But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists--he had been engaged in a running argument with them--who plotted his murder.
Act 9:30 When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.
Act 9:31 Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country--Judea, Samaria, Galilee--the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.
Act 9:32 Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there.
Act 9:33 He came across a man--his name was Aeneas--who had been in bed eight years paralyzed.
Act 9:34 Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And he did it--jumped right out of bed.
Act 9:35 Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.
Act 9:36 Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out.
Act 9:37 During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room.
Act 9:38 Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over.
Act 9:39 Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them.
Act 9:40 Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up.
Act 9:41 He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.
Act 9:42 When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master.
Act 9:43 Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.

Psalms 16
Psa 16:1 A David song. Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you.
Psa 16:2 I say to GOD, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense.
Psa 16:3 And these God-chosen lives all around-- what splendid friends they make!
Psa 16:4 Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.
Psa 16:5 My choice is you, GOD, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice!
Psa 16:6 You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!
Psa 16:7 The wise counsel GOD gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Psa 16:8 Day and night I'll stick with GOD; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.
Psa 16:9 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.
Psa 16:10 You canceled my ticket to hell-- that's not my destination!
Psa 16:11 Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

Genesis 36
Gen 36:1 This is the family tree of Esau, who is also called Edom.
Gen 36:2 Esau married women of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
Gen 36:3 and Basemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
Gen 36:4 Adah gave Esau Eliphaz; Basemath had Reuel;
Gen 36:5 Oholibamah had Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
Gen 36:6 Esau gathered up his wives, sons and daughters, and everybody in his household, along with all his livestock--all the animals and possessions he had gotten in Canaan--and moved a considerable distance away from his brother Jacob.
Gen 36:7 The brothers had too many possessions to live together in the same place; the land couldn't support their combined herds of livestock.
Gen 36:8 So Esau ended up settling in the hill country of Seir (Esau and Edom are the same).
Gen 36:9 So this is the family tree of Esau, ancestor of the people of Edom, in the hill country of Seir.
Gen 36:10 The names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, son of Esau's wife Adah; Reuel, son of Esau's wife Basemath.
Gen 36:11 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
Gen 36:12 (Eliphaz also had a concubine Timna, who had Amalek.) These are the grandsons of Esau's wife Adah.
Gen 36:13 And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah--grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.
Gen 36:14 These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah the son of Zibeon. She gave Esau his sons Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
Gen 36:15 These are the chieftains in Esau's family tree. From the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn, came the chieftains Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
Gen 36:16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek--the chieftains of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; all of them sons of Adah.
Gen 36:17 From the sons of Esau's son Reuel, came the chieftains Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the chieftains of Reuel in the land of Edom; all these were sons of Esau's wife Basemath.
Gen 36:18 These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: the chieftains Jeush, Jalam, and Korah--chieftains born of Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.
Gen 36:19 These are the sons of Esau, that is, Edom, and these are their chieftains.
Gen 36:20 This is the family tree of Seir the Horite, who were native to that land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
Gen 36:21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
Gen 36:22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan's sister was Timna.
Gen 36:23 The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
Gen 36:24 The sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah--this is the same Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness while herding his father Zibeon's donkeys.
Gen 36:25 The children of Anah were Dishon and his daughter Oholibamah.
Gen 36:26 The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
Gen 36:27 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
Gen 36:28 The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
Gen 36:29 And these were the Horite chieftains: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
Gen 36:30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan--the Horite chieftains clan by clan in the land of Seir.
Gen 36:31 And these are the kings who ruled in Edom before there was a king in Israel:
Gen 36:32 Bela son of Beor was the king of Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
Gen 36:33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became the next king.
Gen 36:34 When Jobab died, he was followed by Hushan from the land of the Temanites.
Gen 36:35 When Hushan died, he was followed by Hadad son of Bedad; he was the king who defeated the Midianites in Moab; the name of his city was Avith.
Gen 36:36 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah became the next king.
Gen 36:37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth-on-the-River became king.
Gen 36:38 When Shaul died, he was followed by Baal-Hanan son of Acbor.
Gen 36:39 When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king; the name of his city was Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-Zahab.
Gen 36:40 And these are the chieftains from the line of Esau, clan by clan, region by region: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
Gen 36:41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
Gen 36:42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
Gen 36:43 Magdiel, and Iram--the chieftains of Edom as they occupied their various regions. This accounts for the family tree of Esau, ancestor of all Edomites.