Matthew 7:15-29 Acts 10:24-48 Psalms 18:1-24 Genesis 39-40

Matthew 7:15-29
Mat 7:15 "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character.
Mat 7:16 Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
Mat 7:17 (SEE 7:16)
Mat 7:18 (SEE 7:16)
Mat 7:19 (SEE 7:16)
Mat 7:20 (SEE 7:16)
Mat 7:21 "Knowing the correct password--saying 'Master, Master,' for instance--isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience--doing what my Father wills.
Mat 7:22 I can see it now--at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.'
Mat 7:23 And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Mat 7:24 "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.
Mat 7:25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit--but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
Mat 7:26 "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.
Mat 7:27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
Mat 7:28 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this.
Mat 7:29 It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying--quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

Acts 10:24-48
Act 10:24 A day later they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had his relatives and close friends waiting with him.
Act 10:25 The minute Peter came through the door, Cornelius was up on his feet greeting him--and then down on his face worshiping him!
Act 10:26 Peter pulled him up and said, "None of that--I'm a man and only a man, no different from you."
Act 10:27 Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come.
Act 10:28 Peter addressed them, "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this--visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other.
Act 10:29 So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I'd like to know why you sent for me."
Act 10:30 Cornelius said, "Four days ago at about this time, midafternoon, I was home praying. Suddenly there was a man right in front of me, flooding the room with light.
Act 10:31 He said, 'Cornelius, your daily prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God's attention.
Act 10:32 I want you to send to Joppa to get Simon, the one they call Peter. He's staying with Simon the Tanner down by the sea.'
Act 10:33 "So I did it--I sent for you. And you've been good enough to come. And now we're all here in God's presence, ready to listen to whatever the Master put in your heart to tell us."
Act 10:34 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites!
Act 10:35 It makes no difference who you are or where you're from--if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.
Act 10:36 The Message he sent to the children of Israel--that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again--well, he's doing it everywhere, among everyone.
Act 10:37 "You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change.
Act 10:38 Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
Act 10:39 "And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross.
Act 10:40 But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen.
Act 10:41 Not everyone saw him--he wasn't put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand--us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead.
Act 10:42 He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead.
Act 10:43 But we're not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets."
Act 10:44 No sooner were these words out of Peter's mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners.
Act 10:45 The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on "outsider" Gentiles,
Act 10:46 but there it was--they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. Then Peter said,
Act 10:47 "Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They've received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did."
Act 10:48 Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days.

Psalms 18:1-24
Psa 18:1 I love you, GOD-- you make me strong.
Psa 18:2 GOD is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God--the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout.
Psa 18:3 I sing to GOD, the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.
Psa 18:4 The hangman's noose was tight at my throat; devil waters rushed over me.
Psa 18:5 Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.
Psa 18:6 A hostile world! I call to GOD, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence-- a private audience!
Psa 18:7 Earth wobbles and lurches; huge mountains shake like leaves, Quake like aspen leaves because of his rage.
Psa 18:8 His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke; his mouth spits fire. Tongues of fire dart in and out;
Psa 18:9 he lowers the sky. He steps down; under his feet an abyss opens up.
Psa 18:10 He's riding a winged creature, swift on wind-wings.
Psa 18:11 Now he's wrapped himself in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
Psa 18:12 But his cloud-brightness bursts through, spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Psa 18:13 Then GOD thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout, spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Psa 18:14 God shoots his arrows--pandemonium! He hurls his lightnings--a rout!
Psa 18:15 The secret sources of ocean are exposed, the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered The moment you roar in protest, let loose your hurricane anger.
Psa 18:16 But me he caught--reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out Of that ocean of hate,
Psa 18:17 that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning.
Psa 18:18 They hit me when I was down, but GOD stuck by me.
Psa 18:19 He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved--surprised to be loved!
Psa 18:20 GOD made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start.
Psa 18:21 Now I'm alert to GOD's ways; I don't take God for granted.
Psa 18:22 Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick.
Psa 18:23 I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step.
Psa 18:24 GOD rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

Genesis 39-40
Gen 39:1 After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh's officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
Gen 39:2 As it turned out, GOD was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master.
Gen 39:3 His master recognized that GOD was with him, saw that GOD was working for good in everything he did.
Gen 39:4 He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him.
Gen 39:5 From that moment on, GOD blessed the home of the Egyptian--all because of Joseph. The blessing of GOD spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields,
Gen 39:6 and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day. Joseph was a strikingly handsome man.
Gen 39:7 As time went on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, "Sleep with me."
Gen 39:8 He wouldn't do it. He said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master doesn't give a second thought to anything that goes on here--he's put me in charge of everything he owns.
Gen 39:9 He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn't turned over to me is you. You're his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?"
Gen 39:10 She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.
Gen 39:11 On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there.
Gen 39:12 She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, "Sleep with me!" He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house.
Gen 39:13 When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside,
Gen 39:14 she called to her house servants: "Look--this Hebrew shows up and before you know it he's trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me but I yelled as loud as I could.
Gen 39:15 With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside."
Gen 39:16 She kept his coat right there until his master came home.
Gen 39:17 She told him the same story. She said, "The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything.
Gen 39:18 When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside."
Gen 39:19 When his master heard his wife's story, telling him, "These are the things your slave did to me," he was furious.
Gen 39:20 Joseph's master took him and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners were locked up. But there in jail
Gen 39:21 GOD was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer.
Gen 39:22 The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners--he ended up managing the whole operation.
Gen 39:23 The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because GOD was with him; whatever he did GOD made sure it worked out for the best.
Gen 40:1 As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt.
Gen 40:2 Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker,
Gen 40:3 and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held.
Gen 40:4 The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs. After they had been in custody for a while,
Gen 40:5 the king's cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning.
Gen 40:6 When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low.
Gen 40:7 So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, "What's wrong? Why the long faces?"
Gen 40:8 They said, "We dreamed dreams and there's no one to interpret them." Joseph said, "Don't interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams."
Gen 40:9 First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine in front of me
Gen 40:10 with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes.
Gen 40:11 I was holding Pharaoh's cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh."
Gen 40:12 Joseph said, "Here's the meaning. The three branches are three days.
Gen 40:13 Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work--you'll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
Gen 40:14 Only remember me when things are going well with you again--tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place.
Gen 40:15 I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I've been here, I've done nothing to deserve being put in this hole."
Gen 40:16 When the head baker saw how well Joseph's interpretation turned out, he spoke up: "My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head;
Gen 40:17 the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head."
Gen 40:18 Joseph said, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days;
Gen 40:19 within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean."
Gen 40:20 And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh's birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests.
Gen 40:21 Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before.
Gen 40:22 And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph's interpretations exactly.
Gen 40:23 But the head cupbearer never gave Joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.