Rumination Journal

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Gracious and merciful God, In Your boundless love and grace, You have saved me through faith in Your Son, Jesus the Christ, not by my own work or merit, but as a gift from You, according to the riches of Your grace. I humbly come to You. Grant me the wisdom to comprehend the depth of Your love and the magnitude of Your gift, that I may walk in gratitude and humility, knowing that it is by Your grace alone that I am saved, redeemed, and reconciled to You. Help me to live out my faith with a heart filled with thanksgiving, and may my life be a testament to Your unfailing love and mercy, as I strive to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. I pray all this in His holy name. Amen. See James' publications on  Amazon.com .

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Almighty and Everlasting God, You are love. In Your divine presence, I find the essence of love revealed. Grant me the grace to abide in Your love, that I may reflect Your light in my life. Help me to love others fervently, as You have loved me, for in love I find true fellowship with You and with others. May Your love overflow in my heart, casting out all fear, and may I be an instrument of Your love in a world longing for Your peace. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. See James' publications on  Amazon.com .

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. O God of peace, who surpasses all understanding,  I come with a heart full of gratitude. Teach me to be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let my requests be made known to You. Grant me the peace that surpasses all understanding, guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amid life's uncertainties, may Your comforting presence reassure me, and may Your grace sustain me.  I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. See James' publications on  Amazon.com .

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. O God,  You, through the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus, have given me new life. Grant me the grace to live by faith in Him who loved me and gave Himself for me, so that I may die to self and live for Him who lives in me. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, may I be crucified with Jesus the Christ, and yet live, not for myself, but for Him who died and rose again for me. I pray in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus, Your Son. Amen. See James' publications on  Amazon.com .

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Gracious God, In the wisdom of Your Word, You have instructed me to trust in You with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. Grant me the humility to acknowledge Your sovereignty in all aspects of my life. May I surrender my plans and desires to Your divine will, knowing that You will direct my path. Strengthen my faith to rely on Your guidance and wisdom, that I may walk in Your ways and experience the fullness of Your blessings. I pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Your Son. Amen. See James' publications on  Amazon.com .

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. Heavenly Father,  I come with a grateful heart, reflecting on the freedom I have received through Christ Jesus, Your Son. I thank You for the gift of Jesus, who liberated me from the chains of sin and death. I praise You for the freedom to live in righteousness, peace, and joy through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Help me, Father, to stand firm in this freedom, to resist the temptations that seek to entangle me once more. Grant me the strength and wisdom to walk in the light of Your truth, not returning to my former ways but embracing the new life I have in Christ Jesus. Let my life be a testimony of Your love and grace, a beacon of hope to those still bound in darkness. Father, keep me steadfast in our faith, vigilant in my actions, and always mindful of the sacrifice that secured my freedom. May I honor You in all that I do, living as a true chi...

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

1 Peter 4:8-9 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

1 John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrificed for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, an...

1 John 3:11-24 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer. By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: Even ...

1 John 3:1-24 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works o...

1 John 2:7-11 Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Colossians 3:9-17 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways. But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all t...

Philippians 2:1-11 Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the eart...

Galatians 3:19-21 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Ephesians 4:1-3 As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Ephesians 3:12-19 In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence. So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. . . . for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Ephesians 2:1-10 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in...

Galatians 5:1-6 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Galatians 3:19-21 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation! We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger; in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everythi...

Romans 11:13-23 It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of ...

Romans 13:8-10 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Bible meditation, excerpt from collection,  Love: Bible Meditations  available on  Amazon.com .