My Inspirational Bible Verses

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:27

The simplicity of this inspirational Bible verse is staggering.  I love how, even though the Bible is one of the largest books in the world, with manifold commands and guidelines for life, everything can be boiled down to such a simple statement.  But there are some differences of opinion as to what exactly it means to be polluted by the world.  For my part, I think of it in terms of another verse in Romans,

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” Romans 12:2

Society seeks to make each of us into cookie cutter images of a productive member of society — go to school, get a job, buy a home, have 2.5 kids and then retire.  Never does it require that we make any great strides with our lives, learn character, learn self-sacrifice.  Rather, it encourages the opposite.  And while some of us escape the mold, not conforming to pattern of the world, and become the people God intended us to be, most of us think little of that type of metaphysical idealism.  But that’s why I find the verse in James so inspirational.  God basically requires two things from me:

1. To actively look after the poor
2. To keep the world from turning me into something less than what God intended for me to be

It’s simple, yet profound.  I’ve often prayed for help with the latter, for God to sanctify me and make me into the kind of man I ought to be instead of the kind of man that society tells me I need to be.  It’s a long road, and I’m sure I’m still far from the destination.  But it’s nice to have the goal in mind, to know that God is doing a work inside me and is keeping me from being conformed to the pattern of this world, in lieu of becoming the man I can truly be proud of.

Tags: helping the poor, inspirational bible verse, James, oppressed, poverty, romans
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“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”  Romans 8:26

This has always been a favorite inspirational Bible verse of mine.  I love knowing that even when I don’t want to pray, that simple groaning is considered a legitimate prayer.  God knows us better than we know ourselves, and the Spirit living inside us knows our needs and the things we hold dear.  This verse reminds me of something that David said in the Psalms.

“All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.” Psalm 38:9

I love the word sighing.  It conveys such meaning, of a nameless pain that cannot really be described with words, but can only be felt and called out to God.  It’s so nice to know that when you’re in times of distress, of need and brokenness, that God doesn’t need an eloquent plea or a lengthy prayer in order to get Him to act.  All He needs is an honest heart that’s willing to lay its longings and sighing out before Him and ask for Him to act.

I’ve often prayed like this, when things seem to be deteriorating and nothing seems to be working out right.  I just like to be still and know that He is God, and lay my longings and sighing before Him, trusting that the Spirit will convey everything to Him in a way that words just can’t express.  I take comfort in knowing that words cannot express the innermost workings of the heart.  And I also take comfort in knowing that we have a God who understands those inner workings and wants us to bring our longings and sighing before Him.

Tags: Bible verses about prayer, calling out, hope, inspirational bible verse, longing, meaning, passion, Psalms, suffering, waiting
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“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14

This inspirational Bible verse always comes to mind at just the right time.  So often, I feel like I’ve fallen asleep, not much caring about my life, or the things I accomplish with my time.  Complacency begins to reign and all of a sudden, good enough seems to dominate my aspirations.  But then, something will happen, and I’ll awaken.  I’ll realize again that life is short, that life was meant to be lived deliberately, and that all of the petty thoughts and actions I’ve been engaged in are ultimately futile.  A quote from my favorite author, Henry David Thoreau, really drives this home.

“When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that only great and worthy things have any absolute and permanent existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality.”

Thoreau beautifully elucidates the same idea, “Wake up, O sleeper.”  Only great and worthy things are worth spending your time on.  I want to be a man of eternal significance, someone who makes a difference that will actually last.  I don’t just want to live, I want to live well, fully awake and aware of just where I fit in the grand scheme intertwining all of humankind.  I don’t want to sleep away my life.

Tags: bible, carpe diem, Ephesians, seize the day, Thoreau
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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10

I spent a long time pondering this Bible verse to find out what it really meant.  I know a lot of people have said that the fear of the Lord is just a reverence and an awe, but I had a lingering feeling that it had to be something more than that.  After a lot of pondering and studying, I finally came to the conclusion that the fear of the Lord was the exact opposite of pride.  The reason why is because pride tells a person that they are in control, that they’re the boss and they’re own happiness is the most important thing.  The fear of the Lord tells a person the exact opposite, that they aren’t really in control, that they aren’t really they’re own boss, and that there might be something else in the world more important than their own happiness.  Another verse that lends credibility to this idea comes from Psalms 10.

“In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Psalms 10:4

Pride causes a person to not care anything about God and to think nothing of His existence.  That’s about as opposite the fear of the Lord as you can get.  So where does the inspiration come in to play for this inspirational Bible verse.  Finally understanding what the fear of the Lord really was inspired me to banish pride from my life as best I could and live humbly wherever possible.  Now that I knew that my pride was what really stood in the way of me gaining wisdom, I knew what I had to do to put myself in a right relationship with God.  I finally started thinking about the grand scheme and where I fit into the world, knowing that God was God and that my life was just a breath, a fleeting moment in the light of eternity.

Tags: fear of the Lord, inspirational bible verse, proverbs, solomon, wisdom, wise
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“Keep me from deceitful ways…Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” Psalms 119:29,37

These two inspirational Bible verse snippets have been a prayer that I’ve often prayed in conjunction with a famous verse from Proverbs:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 16:25

In the modern age there are so many things that vie for our attention, so many things that promise happiness, satisfaction, and life.  But so many of those things end up hollow and worthless.  I love the prayer to God of “turn my eyes away from worthless things.”  I hate when I get wrapped up in things that don’t really matter, spending my time and energy on something that in the end, isn’t really going to give me the happiness or satisfaction that I thought it would.  Life is short, too short in fact to be spending it on things that are worthless and only going to lead to death.  That’s why I found the first Bible verse from Psalms so inspirational.  I started praying for God to turn my eyes away from worthless things, to help me find things and work at things in life that truly mattered.  I wanted to be a man of eternal significance, one who spends his life trodding paths that don’t lead to death.

Most people live life without much thinking about the big picture.  We do the things we have to in order to survive, working, eating, sleeping, and never really pondering our eternal significance and the impact that we might have.  But that’s why verses like these are so inspirational to me.  They remind me that life is short and that so many things in life that look promising, really don’t deserve my hope.  That’s why I often pray for God to keep me from deceitful ways, and turn my eyes away from worthless things.  I hope you’ll do the same.

Tags: Bible verse, carpe diem, David, meaning, passion, proverbs, Psalms, satisfaction, seize the day
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