Sunday Scripture

John 8:11

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.

Matthew 17:21

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Matthew 18:11

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Matthew 23:14

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Mark 11:26

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Acts 8:37

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Romans 16:24

And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

I John 5:7

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Now, I wonder, how many of you actually read these verses or just skimmed over them?  I'll confess, I'm often a "skimmer" when it comes to Bible verses in blogs and books.  That's really not good eh?  I know.  So, if you are a skimmer I would encourage you to go back and actually read the verses before you continue reading here.  Go on... read them.

Did you read them?

 Really?

No skimming allowed if you want to read the next part!

Okay... good!

Did any of these verses speak to your heart?  Were any of them a blessing or encouragement to you? Do any of them seem to be vitally important parts of Scripture?  I know, ALL Scripture is important right?  II Timothy 3:16, every bit of it is profitable.  Exactly!  Did you have a favourite verse in the above list?  Which one really stood out to you?  My favourite of the ones above is John 8:11.  I love the whole story in the beginning of John chapter 8.  It's such a beautiful picture of Christ's compassion and forgiveness!  The woman is caught right in the very act of adultery.  She's SO guilty!  There's no question and the punishment is death.  The scribes and Pharisees have her and are going to exact justice, but they want to trick Jesus.  They ask Him what He thinks.  You know what He does?  He writes on the ground!  Huh?  Then He tells them that the person without sin should cast the first stone.  One by one, they all walk away until it's just Jesus and the woman left.  The story ends with Jesus saying these precious words found in verse 11: neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.   She is forgiven!  

Did you notice anything in common in the verses I listed?  Anything at all that would tie them together?   Read them again.  No?  Nothing?  

Hmmm.... 

Well, there is something that all of these verses share, believe it or not.

Not one of them is found in the NIV.

Not one. They're not there.  Gone.

All I can think, is what beautiful, meaningful, encouraging, comforting, truthful, and blessed words those who read the NIV have missed out on!  

Were the above verses a blessing to you?  If you read the NIV, you'll never read them again.  

Think about it...