Promise Me One Thing

Promise 118: The Power Of Love

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
1 Corinthians 13
New Living Translation
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
 
 
1 Corinthians 13
The Message
 13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.Love cares more for others than for self.Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.Love doesn’t strut,Doesn’t have a swelled head,Doesn’t force itself on others,Isn’t always “me first,”Doesn’t fly off the handle,Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,Doesn’t revel when others grovel,Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,Puts up with anything,Trusts God always,Always looks for the best,Never looks back,But keeps going to the end.
8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
 
 

Promise 117: Hearing The Good News

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Romans 10:17
New Living Translation
17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
 
 
 
Romans 10:14-17
The Message
14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!Grand processions of people    telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Promise 116: Hope In His Unfailing Love

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Psalm 147
New Living Translation
Psalm 147
1 Praise the Lord!
How good to sing praises to our God!    How delightful and how fitting!2 The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem    and bringing the exiles back to Israel.3 He heals the brokenhearted    and bandages their wounds.4 He counts the stars    and calls them all by name.5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!    His understanding is beyond comprehension!6 The Lord supports the humble,    but he brings the wicked down into the dust.
7 Sing out your thanks to the Lord;    sing praises to our God with a harp.8 He covers the heavens with clouds,    provides rain for the earth,    and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.9 He gives food to the wild animals    and feeds the young ravens when they cry.10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse    or in human might.11 No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him,    those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
12 Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem!    Praise your God, O Zion!13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates    and blessed your children within your walls.14 He sends peace across your nation    and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.15 He sends his orders to the world—    how swiftly his word flies!16 He sends the snow like white wool;    he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.17 He hurls the hail like stones.[a]    Who can stand against his freezing cold?18 Then, at his command, it all melts.    He sends his winds, and the ice thaws.19 He has revealed his words to Jacob,    his decrees and regulations to Israel.20 He has not done this for any other nation;    they do not know his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
 
 
Psalm 147
The Message
147 Hallelujah!It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God;    praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.
2-6 God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,    who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.He heals the heartbroken    and bandages their wounds.He counts the stars    and assigns each a name.Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;    we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.God puts the fallen on their feet again    and pushes the wicked into the ditch.
7-11 Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn,    play music on your instruments to God,Who fills the sky with clouds,    preparing rain for the earth,Then turning the mountains green with grass,    feeding both cattle and crows.He’s not impressed with horsepower;    the size of our muscles means little to him.Those who fear God get God’s attention;    they can depend on his strength.
12-18 Jerusalem, worship God!    Zion, praise your God!He made your city secure,    he blessed your children among you.He keeps the peace at your borders,    he puts the best bread on your tables.He launches his promises earthward—    how swift and sure they come!He spreads snow like a white fleece,    he scatters frost like ashes,He broadcasts hail like birdseed—    who can survive his winter?Then he gives the command and it all melts;    he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!
19-20 He speaks the same way to Jacob,    speaks words that work to Israel.He never did this to the other nations;    they never heard such commands.Hallelujah!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Promise 115: God Shows No Favouritism

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Acts 10:34-35
New Living Translation
34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.
 
 
 
Acts 10:34-36
The Message
34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! 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. 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.
 
 
 
 
 

Promise 114: A People Custom-Made to Praise God

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Isaiah 43:21
New Living Translation
21 I have made Israel for myself,    and they will someday honor me before the whole world.
 
Isaiah 43:16-21
The Message
16-21 This is what God says,    the God who builds a road right through the ocean,    who carves a path through pounding waves,The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—    they lie down and then can’t get up;    they’re snuffed out like so many candles:“Forget about what’s happened;    don’t keep going over old history.Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,    rivers in the badlands.Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’    —the coyotes and the buzzards—Because I provided water in the desert,    rivers through the sunbaked earth,Drinking water for the people I chose,    the people I made especially for myself,    a people custom-made to praise me.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Promise 113: A Clean Heart

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Psalm 51
New Living Translation
 
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,    because of your unfailing love.Because of your great compassion,    blot out the stain of my sins.2 Wash me clean from my guilt.    Purify me from my sin.3 For I recognize my rebellion;    it haunts me day and night.4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;    I have done what is evil in your sight.You will be proved right in what you say,    and your judgment against me is just.[a]5 For I was born a sinner—    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.6 But you desire honesty from the womb,[b]    teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean;    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Oh, give me back my joy again;    you have broken me—    now let me rejoice.9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.    Remove the stain of my guilt.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.    Renew a loyal spirit within me.11 Do not banish me from your presence,    and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,    and make me willing to obey you.13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,    and they will return to you.14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,    that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.    You do not want a burnt offering.17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—    with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.    Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
 
 
Psalm 51
The Message
51 1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!    Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.Scrub away my guilt,    soak out my sins in your laundry.I know how bad I’ve been;    my sins are staring me down.
4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen    it all, seen the full extent of my evil.You have all the facts before you;    whatever you decide about me is fair.I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,    in the wrong since before I was born.What you’re after is truth from the inside out.    Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,    set these once-broken bones to dancing.Don’t look too close for blemishes,    give me a clean bill of health.God, make a fresh start in me,    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.Don’t throw me out with the trash,    or fail to breathe holiness in me.Bring me back from gray exile,    put a fresh wind in my sails!Give me a job teaching rebels your ways    so the lost can find their way home.Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.Unbutton my lips, dear God;    I’ll let loose with your praise.
16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,    a flawless performance is nothing to you.I learned God-worship    when my pride was shattered.Heart-shattered lives ready for love    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,    repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.Then you’ll get real worship from us,    acts of worship small and large,Including all the bulls    they can heave onto your altar!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Promise 112: The Mighty Power Of God

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Colossians 2:12-13
New Living Translation
12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
 
 
 
 
Colossians 2:12-15
The Message
11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
 
 
 
 

Promise 111: My Sheep Follow Me

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
John 10:27-28
New Living Translation
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
 
 
John 10:27-30
The Message
25-30 Jesus answered, “I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”
 
 

Promise 110: Joyful Praise

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Psalm 47
New Living Translation
 
1 Come, everyone! Clap your hands!    Shout to God with joyful praise!2 For the Lord Most High is awesome.    He is the great King of all the earth.3 He subdues the nations before us,    putting our enemies beneath our feet.4 He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance,    the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he loves. 
5 God has ascended with a mighty shout.    The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;    sing praises to our King, sing praises!7 For God is the King over all the earth.    Praise him with a psalm.[a]8 God reigns above the nations,    sitting on his holy throne.9 The rulers of the world have gathered together    with the people of the God of Abraham.For all the kings of the earth belong to God.    He is highly honored everywhere.
 
 
 
Psalm 47
The Message
47 1-9 Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo!    Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!God Most High is stunning,    astride land and ocean.He crushes hostile people,    puts nations at our feet.He set us at the head of the line,    prize-winning Jacob, his favorite.Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain,    a ram’s horn blast at the summit.Sing songs to God, sing out!    Sing to our King, sing praise!He’s Lord over earth,    so sing your best songs to God.God is Lord of godless nations—    sovereign, he’s King of the mountain.Princes from all over are gathered,    people of Abraham’s God.The powers of earth are God’s—    he soars over all.
 
 

Promise 109: The Cornerstone

Listen to music about God's promises after today's episode. Check out Promise Me One Thing's Spotify Playlist here 
 
Acts 4:11-12
New Living Translation
11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected    has now become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
 
 
Acts 4:11-12
The Message
11-12  Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”