Sweet and Sour 365

Psalm 103: 1-22 Of David. 1  Praise the Lord , my soul;      all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2  Praise the Lord , my soul,      and forget not all his benefits— 3  who forgives all your sins      and heals all your diseases, 4  who redeems your life from the pit      and crowns you with love and compassion, 5  who satisfies your desires with good things      so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6  The Lord works righteousness      and justice for all the oppressed. 7  He made known his ways to Moses,      his deeds to the people of Israel: 8  The Lord is compassionate and gracious,      slow to anger, abounding in love. 9  He will not always accuse,      nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10  he does not treat us as ou...

1 Peter 3:13-18The Message (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."

Matthew 10:26-31 The Message (MSG) 26-27  “Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now. 28  “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. Forget About Yourself 29-31  “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.

  2 Timothy 1:3-12   (NIV) Thanksgiving 3  I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4  Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5  I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel 6  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9  He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and ...

1 Peter 5:6-11 New International Version (NIV) 6  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow,  or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.

Psalm 94:1-19 (NIV) Psalm 94 1  The Lord is a God who avenges.      O God who avenges, shine forth. 2  Rise up, Judge of the earth;      pay back to the proud what they deserve. 3  How long, Lord , will the wicked,      how long will the wicked be jubilant? 4  They pour out arrogant words;      all the evildoers are full of boasting. 5  They crush your people, Lord ;      they oppress your inheritance. 6  They slay the widow and the foreigner;      they murder the fatherless. 7  They say, “The Lord does not see;      the God of Jacob takes no notice.” 8  Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;      you fools, when will you become wise? 9  Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?      Does he who formed the eye not see? 10  Does he...

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV) Do Not Worry 25  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32  For the pagans r...

Joshua 1:1-9 (ESV) God Commissions Joshua 1  After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord , the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, 2  “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4  From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6  Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7  Only be strong and very courageous, being c...

Isaiah 35 The Message (MSG) The Voiceless Break into Song 35  1-2  Wilderness and desert will sing joyously,      the badlands will celebrate and flower— Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom,      a symphony of song and color. Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.      Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—gifts. God ’s resplendent glory, fully on display.      God awesome, God majestic. 3-4  Energize the limp hands,      strengthen the rubbery knees. Tell fearful souls,      “Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here,      on his way to put things right And redress all wrongs.      He’s on his way! He’ll save you!” 5-7  Blind eyes will be opened,      deaf ears unstopped, Lame men and women will leap like deer,      the voiceless break int...

1 Chronicles 28:11-20 (NIV) 11  Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12  He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 13  He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord , as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14  He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15  the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for ...

Hebrews 13:6-21 Living Bible (TLB) 6  That is why we can say without any doubt or fear , “The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me.” 7  Remember your leaders who have taught you the Word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and try to trust the Lord as they do. 8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9  So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your spiritual strength comes as a gift from God, not from ceremonial rules about eating certain foods—a method which, by the way, hasn’t helped those who have tried it! 10  We have an altar—the cross where Christ was sacrificed—where those who continue to seek salvation by obeying Jewish laws can never be helped. 11  Under the system of Jewish laws, the high priest brought the blood of the slain animals into the sanctuary as a sacrifice for sin, and then the bodies of the animals were burned outside the...

  God goes with us. He goes before us, with us, and behind us. He has us covered because He never leaves. Can we lean into His promise and believe Him when He says, "I will be with you." and not lean into fear? Jesus says, "Do not fear only believe." Faith is the antidote to fear. Today's reading: Deuteronomy 31:6-8 (NIV) 6  Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 7  Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8  The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Welcome!  Join me as I blog for 31 Days of Jesus + Yoga this October.  I am very excited about taking this challenge with write31days.com again!! This year, I want to cover Jesus + Yoga for 31 Days. I am a yoga teacher and Jesus follower and what better way than to meet Him on my mat every single day and encourage others to do the same. Let's open our Bibles and unroll our mats for the next 31 days together! Let's discover His peace as we stretch, breathe, and flow through October! See you right back here on October 1st!  Be a blessing, Michelle Day 1:  http://sweetandsour365.blogspot.com/2016/10/jesus-yoga-day-1-day-275365.html Day 2:  http://sweetandsour365.blogspot.com/2016/10/jesus-yoga-day-2-276365.html

Day 18 of Faith is GREATER than fear! Don't fear what they fear! I love how The Message version reads: "Don’t fear what they fear. Don’t take on their worries. If you’re going to worry, worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way" Open your Bible and give it a read! Isaiah 8:11-17 today!

Isaiah 54:1-5 is today's reading!!  54  Sing, O childless woman! Break out into loud and joyful song, Jerusalem, for she who was abandoned has more blessings* now than she whose husband stayed! 2  Enlarge your house; build on additions; spread out your home! 3  For you will soon be bursting at the seams! And your descendants will possess the cities left behind during the exile and rule the nations that took their lands. 4  Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more, 5  for your Creator will be your “husband.” The Lord Almighty is his name; he is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.

Psalm 23:1-6 (NIV) A psalm of David. 1  The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2       He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3       he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths      for his name’s sake. 4  Even though I walk      through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,      for you are with me; your rod and your staff,      they comfort me. 5  You prepare a table before me      in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;      my cup overflows. 6  Surely your goodness and love will follow me      all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord      forever.

Psalm 27:1-8 New International Version (NIV) 1  The Lord is my light and my salvation—      whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—      of whom shall I be afraid? 2  When the wicked advance against me      to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes      who will stumble and fall. 3  Though an army besiege me,      my heart will not fear; though war break out against me,      even then I will be confident. 4  One thing I ask from the Lord ,      this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord      all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord      and to seek him in his temple. 5  For in the day of trouble      he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent  ...

John 14:23-31 John 14:23-31 New International Version (NIV) 23  Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24  Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25  “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28  “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29  I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believ...

Today's reading comes from Psalm 56:1-11 (NIV) 1 Be merciful to me, my God,      for my enemies are in hot pursuit;      all day long they press their attack. 2  My adversaries pursue me all day long;      in their pride many are attacking me. 3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4       In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid.      What can mere mortals do to me? 5  All day long they twist my words;      all their schemes are for my ruin. 6  They conspire, they lurk,      they watch my steps,      hoping to take my life. 7  Because of their wickedness do not let them escape;      in your anger, God, bring the nations down. 8  Record my misery;      list my tears on your scroll      a...

Psalm 34:1-10 New International Version (NIV) Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left. 1  I will extol the Lord at all times;      his praise will always be on my lips. 2  I will glory in the Lord ;      let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3  Glorify the Lord with me;      let us exalt his name together. 4  I sought the Lord , and he answered me;      he delivered me from all my fears. 5  Those who look to him are radiant;      their faces are never covered with shame. 6  This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;      he saved him out of all his troubles. 7  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,      and he delivers them. 8  Taste and see that the Lord is good;      blessed is the one who takes...

Hebrews 12:18-29 New International Version (NIV) The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy 18  You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19  to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20  because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21  The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” 22  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23  to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24  to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better w...

2 Chronicles 20:14-21 New International Version (NIV) 14  Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 15  He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16  Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17  You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” 18  Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerus...

Romans 8:9-17 New International Version (NIV) 9  You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of   his Spirit who lives in you. 12  Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15  The Spirit you received does ...

Today's reading is from Joshua 10:1-14 (NIV) The Sun Stands Still 10  Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2  He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3  So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4  “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” 5  Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it. ...

Today's reading comes from Proverbs 31:30-31 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;      but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.   Honor her for all that her hands have done,      and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.