Ocean > Resources > Passages

The Camel and the Needle (Matthew 19:23-24)

In this passage, Jesus reveals a dynamic at play in eternal salvation. There is something about wealth that inherently makes it difficult to find eternal life. Contemplate the underlying principles behind what Jesus says here.

The Cost of Following (Luke 14:27-33)

This passage reveals Jesus' requirements for being His disciple. Although His salvation comes as a free gift, it requires an exchange of one's life for Christ's. Jesus advises prospective followers to carefully consider the costs before making a decision.

Invite the Poor (Luke 14:12-14)

In this passage, Jesus reveals some keen insights into God's economy. When we do things in this life in order to receive some benefit, God is not able to reward us for it. It is only when we give generously to those who are unable to benefit us that God is positioned to be able to reward us for it. Jesus gives us wisdom that we should invest wisely so as to receive the reward of God instead of that of men.

This moving passage tells of God's yearning to be graciously kind and loving toward you. He is filled with compassion toward you. But, He is limited to your openness for His involvement in your life. God is completely just. He will bring about justice to your life and circumstances. But, we have to wait upon Him for our deliverance. If we don't wait for Him to bring justice into our lives and we take our circumstances into our own hands, God has no alternative but to allow us to shortchange ourselves.

The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-5)

This passage gives us insights into Jesus' origin. The word for word (logos in the Greek) is a word commonly used to describe Jesus. This passage helps us understand the scope of Jesus' life and His involvement in the creation process.

Judging Others (Luke 6:37-38)

This passage reveals that our ability to get forgive from God for our blunders is directly linked to our forgiven of those who have wronged us. Also, the measure of good things we are given by God is linked to our giving habits toward others.

Bearing Good Fruit (Luke 6:43-45)

This passage reveals an important truth about human nature. It tells us that our behavior (actions, speech, etc.) is a window into the core of our being. What starts out on the inside, always makes it way out. We can tell by looking at the behavior of a person, whether they are good evil in the core of their being.

Given the Kingdom (Luke 12:32-34)

In powerful passage reveals God's heart toward us. God wishes to give us His kingdom. Yet, to receive it, we must be willing to give up the shallow things this world offers us. There is an unseen dichotomy at play that each day we are making a decision about whether to enjoy the shallow, temporary pleasures of this reality or pressing in to the deeper, eternal treasures of God.

Picking a Master (Luke 16:10-13)

This passage sheds light on God's economy with stewardship. Our faithfulness in leveraging the resources we are given in this world will determine the responsibilities and resources we are given in eternity. It is like God is invisibly observing our trustworthiness in this world so that He can reward us in heaven accordingly. It also reveal the dichotomy at play between God's agendas and those of this reality (based on money).

The Lords Prayer (Luke 11:2-4)

This is a prayer that Jesus prayed in response to His disciples asking Him how they should pray. So, obviously, it contains some helpful insights. It is not ment to be a cookie-cutter prayer that we constantly pray. Rather, it is intended to reveal to us the attitude and agenda by which we should approach God. It provides a wealth of insights into our relationship with God.

Ask, Seek, Knock (Luke 11:9-10)

This passage gives us insights into how we should approach God. We are to be persistent in our praying. There are obstacles our prayers must overcome in order to be answers (one of the primary being our own lack of faith). This passage also contains a promise in that if we persist in our seeking and asking, our prayers will be answered.

In Need of a Doctor (Matthew 9:12-13)

In this passage, Jesus declares that He can do nothing for the person that thinks they are perfectly fine and not in need of His help. He can only bring life to those who recognize that they need it and cannot find it apart from God. This passage flies in the face of much contemporary religious thought.

This passage reveals God's heart and nature to us in a dramatic and powerful way. It demonstrates how He understands the pain and difficulties of our lives. Through this passage, we come to a deeper place of understanding His yearning to take us out of the dry, painful seasons and into one of life and prosperity. He knows our suffering and His heart is to take it from us.

Moving a Mountain (Mark 11:22-25)

This is a passage in which Jesus declares that our faith is the key that unlocks the door to all kinds of great possibilities. It reveals that God answers our prayer according to the amount of faith we have in Him and His goodness. Yet, our prayers are answered according to our treatment of others.

Saving Your Life (Mathew 16:24-26)

This passage describes what Jesus declared about our attempts to save our own life. He suggests it is a futile endeavor. What we desire doesn't come in the way that we expect. We find life, not in its seeking, but in giving it away. Jesus turns the tables on how we think about life in this important biblical passage.

In this passage, we gather some insider information from Jesus about God the Father. He developed a strategy to reveal His truths to those with childlike faith. Without simple faith, it is impossible to find life in God. There just may be more to this passage than immediately meets the eye. It is one of those passages you need to spend some time with in order to dig out all the truths and revelation hidden within.

Acknowledging Jesus (Matthew 10:32-33)

This passage reveals one of Jesus' teachings about publicly acknowledging faith in Jesus. He will acknowledge us according to our acknowledgement of Him. It certainly provides you something to think about.

Sow Generously (2 Corinthians 9:6)

This passage reveals a universal principle that what we get out of life depends upon what we sow into it. If we want more out of it, we need to invest more into it. It is a short passage but one packed with consider insights. It is worth reading and re-reading at different seasons of life because it applies to many aspects of life. It can impact many aspects of your life if you consider it carefully.

If You Forgive Men (Matthew 6:14-15)

Here, Jesus tells us that our forgiveness with God hinges upon our forgiveness of those who have wronged us. God wants to be able to forgive everyone who repents and asks for forgiveness. If we do not forgive those who have sinned against us, it creates a barrier for God to forgive us. In other words, by not forgiving others, we block up God's ability to forgive us.

In this passage, Jesus tells us that there are two paths to take in life. One is broad and wide and most people take it. But, it leads to death. I believe that what Jesus is referring to by the broad path is religion (as defined in man's efforts to save himself). Jesus suggests that the other path is much narrower and most people never find it. This path is a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus.

In this powerful passage, God calls those who are hungry to come to Him. He is looking for those who want more out of life than they have found thus far. Those who want more life can come to God and buy it. That which we need to truly live can only be found in God. He offers us everything we need and more. He advises us not to waste our life pursuing the worthless things that will not bring us lasting life. We must choose to buy it if we want it. Yet, the only cost is to desire it, and simply turn and ask Him for it.

A Wise Builder (Luke 6:46-49)

This is a powerful passage in which Jesus asks people why they bother with calling Him Lord when they don't do what He says. He reveals that although it may not be immediately apparent now, doing what He says is the wisest thing we could possibly do.

In this passage, Jesus gives us some sound advice. He suggest that we store up our treasures in heaven where they will last. He says that if we store up our treasures here in this life, we will eventually lose them all (by theft, destruction, wear, or to leave them behind when we leave this place). He indicates that the wisest strategy is to invest our time and resources in this life making preparations for eternity. An added benefit to this stratefy is that it naturally leads us to focus our life on the realm where our treasure is located.

This passage reveals that that we shouldn't judge others. If we do, God will judge us for doing so. None of us has the wisdom, knowledge and insight to be able to make a right judgment about any other person. It also tells us that we will be judged by the same measure by which we judge others. If we judge others harshly, so will God judge us. If we judge mericfully, so will God judge us. If we don't judge others, neither will God judge us.

In this passage, God speaks of His desire to cleans us from all of the junk in our lives. We don't need to hide our faults and failures from Him; indeed, all things are in plain sight to Him. He wants us to come to Him so that He can remove all of the baggage we carry around with us so that we can experience true life.

This passage shows us the incredible kindness and goodness of God's heart toward us. If you meditate upon it, you will discover that it erodes all of the fears that God is not completely for you and unconditionally in love with you. His desire to know you, personally and intimately, comes through with clarity. He wants you to discover the life He has for you and in this passage tells you how to find Him and the abundant life He yearns for you to experience.

In this passage, we hear from the heart of someone who has tasted of God's wonderful life. This person has come to experience the magnificent of knowing the glorious infinite source of all life. Anyone who has tasted of God can testify of the truth of these words. It is a challenge to look beyond your preconceived notions of God all allow Him to reveal Himself to you as He really is - filled with wonder, awe, glory, majesty and love.

Every Spoken Word (Matthew 12:36-37)

This passage reveals that a day of judment is coming. Although justice is not provided on earth, it will be thereafter. We will be judged according to our words and behavior. This doesn't mean that we are saved by our deeds. Rather, it means that if we have received eternal life, it will clearly be demonstrated in the fruit of our live. Whether the trasformation has taken place in our heart will be evident in our words and actions.

Call Unto Me (Jeremiah 33:3)

In this passage we discover the depths of God's desires for us. He wants us to call out to Him so that He can show us marvelous things about Himself that will captivate our hearts. He will not do so unless we ask Him to because He protects our freedom of choice at all costs. He is anxiously awaiting us to turn toward Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to us. This passage lead can to great discoveries of life.

A Calloused Heart (Matthew 13:15)

This passage discretely reveals from foundation principles about how God interacts with us. It shows a direct link between our faith system and God's freedom to work in our lives. When we refuse to believe and trust God, He is not given any room to interact with us. He honors our freedom of choice at all costs.

A Secure Reward (Matthew 10:42)

This passage reveals Jesus teaching that He will reward us in eternity if we choose to invest in others in this life. How we treats others in this life will directly correlate with our treatment forever. This is a challenging and insightful passage to consider how to apply it to your life.

This passage describes God's view of religion. Without personal relationship with God, religion is simply a bunch of worthless rules. The words of our mouth are not as important to God as the condition of our hearts. If our hearts are open to God, that is the essence of true worship.

The Good Teacher (Isaiah 48:17-19)

In this passage, we discover God's heart toward us. We find that He always teaches us what is best. His desires are to prosper us in all of our ways. Yet, we are given the freedom to ignore Him and His ways and to suffer the consequences. He shows us the right path and if we choose to follow it, we will enjoy abundant peace, life and long legacy.

They are My People (Zechariah 13:9)

This is an amazing passage when you understand what it is communicating. Here, we hear the heart of God being communited to us. This is His chief purpose in creating life. He wants to call us His very own people and He wants us to call Him our own. He wants to establish, friendship, relationship and intimacy with us. He tests and refines us with the challenges and circumstances of life in order to draw us into a place where we will call on Him for real life. As the only source of life, He yearns for us to come to Him and find what we need.

This tender passage speaks of God's protective nature over us. He wants to cover our shame and humiliation. He is aware of the guilt we carry over our past failures and He desires to permanently remove it. It describes our widowhood and God's desire to be our husband. At one level, this deals with our spiritual lack (the loss of provision - the loss of a husband as our spiritual provider). One another level, it speaks of God's desire for us to know Him as our provider and intimate eternal companion.

Come to Me (Matthew 11:28-30)

In this passage, Jesus tells everyone who is weary and burdened to come to Him. He declares that unlike the heavy burden of religion, His is easy and light. He declares that He is the resting place for our souls. There is more to this passage than may be immediately apparent. Jesus is offering a totally different paradigm for living life. It is about moving out of self strength and provision and turning to Him as the source for life in all its facets.

The Engraved Palms (Isaiah 49:15-16)

This is a profound passage in which God declares the intensity of His affections for us. He compares His inability to forget about us and fail to be compassionate toward our sufferings to a mother''s ability to forget about her infant. Although Isaiah wrote this passage seven hundred years before Christ, it is apparent that God was foreshadowing His coming and suffering by indicating that He had engraved us in His palms (engraved by the nails on the cross). He views those scars as His statement of love over us. He cherishes enough to give up His life for ours.

Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:43-48)

In this passage, good. He is kind to everyone (even those who are evil). We must be the same way. We shouldn't be kind to good people and bad toward evil people. This is not the way God is. Love is able to transform anyone, including those who are evil. By loving those who do bad things to us, we empower God to touch them and give them life.

You Must Be Born Again (John 3:3)

In this passage, we find Jesus revealing insights into the keys to getting into heaven. It is a short but powerful passage that warrant investigation and contemplation.

This passage describes how God's strengthens those who are weak and weary. Those who do not trust in their own strength and abilities but turn to God for help, will be saved by Him. God is able to do great things with those who are weak and broken because their pride do not get in His way of using and empowering them. He make the weak stronger than the strongest. He takes broken people and gives them wings to fly.

This passage finds Jesus revealing the most important principles in life to a group of followers. If you want to know what Jesus taught as the most important pursuits in life, this is the passage for you. It may be one of the most important passages in the Bible because in it Jesus defines what God says are the most important things to give your life to here on Earth. As such, it warrant our time to investigate its insights thoroughly.

This passage describes the future event in which all of mankind will be judged so that justice can be restored to every person. Although justice doesn't seem to happen in this life, this passage reveals that its coming is certain. This short verse packs a lot of power and insight worthy of consideration.

Freedom for Prisoners (Luke 4:18-19)

This is a passage being quoted from the Old Testament. It is a prophecy about Jesus and His purpose for coming into the world. It is a proclamation of good news. His purpose is to set us free and bring us life.

In this passage, we get a fresh perspective on how differently God thinks and sees things. We learn some foundational differences between us and God He wants us to understand that He is not bound by the same limitations as us. His ways and strategies are not limited by human perspective. We mustn't think of Him in terms of our own capabilities and lives. We can come to Him when we need greater provision and insight than we can find on our own.

This is an intensely moving passage about intimate love. Many, including myself, believe that this book is a metaphor describing God's passionate love for us and His desire to be united in eternal embrace with us. It speaks loudly of our beauty in the eyes of God. This passage is meant to be soaked in and meditated upon at length. Stay in this passage for a while and allow it to transform you.