23,24 "It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

21-23 "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

23,24 "It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

21-23 "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

23,24 "It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

38 "Master, I believe," the man said, and worshiped him.

10 Jesus’ refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness."

8 Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness."

1,2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

1,2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

33-36 Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?

Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?

Anyone who has done him such a huge favor

that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;

Everything happens through him;

Everything ends up in him.

Always glory! Always praise!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

"As I live and breathe," God says,

"every knee will bow before me;

Every tongue will tell the honest truth

that I and only I am God."

So mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

6,7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,

on your knees before God, who made us!

Oh yes, he’s our God,

and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

6,7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,

on your knees before God, who made us!

Oh yes, he’s our God,

and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

1-6 Hallelujah!

Praise God in his holy house of worship,

praise him under the open skies;

Praise him for his acts of power,

praise him for his magnificent greatness;

Praise with a blast on the trumpet,

praise by strumming soft strings;

Praise him with castanets and dance,

praise him with banjo and flute;

Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,

praise him with fiddles and mandolin.

Let every living, breathing creature praise God!

Hallelujah!

1-6 Hallelujah!

Praise God in his holy house of worship,

praise him under the open skies;

Praise him for his acts of power,

praise him for his magnificent greatness;

Praise with a blast on the trumpet,

praise by strumming soft strings;

Praise him with castanets and dance,

praise him with banjo and flute;

Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,

praise him with fiddles and mandolin.

Let every living, breathing creature praise God!

Hallelujah!

4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!"

Make yourselves at home, talking praise.

Thank him. Worship him.

1,2 Bravo, God, bravo!

Gods and all angels shout, "Encore!"

In awe before the glory,

in awe before God’s visible power.

Stand at attention!

Dress your best to honor him!

1-4 All together now—applause for God!

Sing songs to the tune of his glory,

set glory to the rhythms of his praise.

Say of God, "We’ve never seen anything like him!"

When your enemies see you in action,

they slink off like scolded dogs.

The whole earth falls to its knees—

it worships you, sings to you,

can’t stop enjoying your name and fame.

16-20 All believers, come here and listen,

let me tell you what God did for me.

I called out to him with my mouth,

my tongue shaped the sounds of music.

If I had been cozy with evil,

the Lord would never have listened.

But he most surely did listen,

he came on the double when he heard my prayer.

Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,

he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

8-10 There’s no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord,

and nothing to compare with your works.

All the nations you made are on their way,

ready to give honor to you, O Lord,

Ready to put your beauty on display,

parading your greatness,

And the great things you do—

God, you’re the one, there’s no one but you!

1,2 O my soul, bless God.

From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!

O my soul, bless God,

don’t forget a single blessing!

1-6 Hallelujah!

Thank God! Pray to him by name!

Tell everyone you meet what he has done!

Sing him songs, belt out hymns,

translate his wonders into music!

Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,

you who seek God. Live a happy life!

Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;

be alert for signs of his presence.

Remember the world of wonders he has made,

his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

O seed of Abraham, his servant,

O child of Jacob, his chosen.

1 God—you’re my God!

I can’t get enough of you!

I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,

traveling across dry and weary deserts.

2-4 So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,

drinking in your strength and glory.

In your generous love I am really living at last!

My lips brim praises like fountains.

I bless you every time I take a breath;

My arms wave like banners of praise to you.

9-11 Every time the Animals gave glory and honor and thanks to the One Seated on the Throne—the age-after-age Living One—the Twenty-four Elders would fall prostrate before the One Seated on the Throne. They worshiped the age-after-age Living One. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,

Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God!

Take the glory! the honor! the power!

You created it all;

It was created because you wanted it.

6,7 I saw another Angel soaring in Middle-Heaven. He had an Eternal Message to preach to all who were still on earth, every nation and tribe, every tongue and people. He preached in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory! His hour of judgment has come! Worship the Maker of Heaven and earth, salt sea and fresh water!"

2-4 I saw something like a sea made of glass, the glass all shot through with fire. Carrying harps of God, triumphant over the Beast, its image, and the number of its name, the saved ones stood on the sea of glass. They sang the Song of Moses, servant of God; they sang the Song of the Lamb:

Mighty your acts and marvelous,

O God, the Sovereign-Strong!

Righteous your ways and true,

King of the nations!

Who can fail to fear you, God,

give glory to your Name?

Because you and you only are holy,

all nations will come and worship you,

because they see your judgments are right.

8,9 I, John, saw all these things with my own eyes, heard them with my ears. Immediately when I heard and saw, I fell on my face to worship at the feet of the Angel who laid it all out before me. He objected, "No you don’t! I’m a servant just like you and your companions, the prophets, and all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"

10-13 David blessed God in full view of the entire congregation:

Blessed are you, God of Israel, our father

from of old and forever.

To you, O God, belong the greatness and the might,

the glory, the victory, the majesty, the splendor;

Yes! Everything in heaven, everything on earth;

the kingdom all yours! You’ve raised yourself high over all.

Riches and glory come from you,

you’re ruler over all;

You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand

to build up and strengthen all.

And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you,

praising your splendid Name.

34-36 Give thanks to God—he is good

and his love never quits.

Say, "Save us, Savior God,

round us up and get us out of these godless places,

So we can give thanks to your holy Name,

and bask in your life of praise."

Blessed be God, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Then everybody said, "Yes! Amen!" and "Praise God!"

* * *

34-36 Give thanks to God—he is good

and his love never quits.

Say, "Save us, Savior God,

round us up and get us out of these godless places,

So we can give thanks to your holy Name,

and bask in your life of praise."

Blessed be God, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Then everybody said, "Yes! Amen!" and "Praise God!"

* * *

8-19 Thank God! Call out his Name!

Tell the whole world who he is and what he’s done!

Sing to him! Play songs for him!

Broadcast all his wonders!

Revel in his holy Name,

God-seekers, be jubilant!

Study God and his strength,

seek his presence day and night;

Remember all the wonders he performed,

the miracles and judgments that came out of his mouth.

Seed of Israel his servant!

Children of Jacob, his first choice!

He is God, our God;

wherever you go you come on his judgments and decisions.

He keeps his commitments across thousands

of generations, the covenant he commanded,

The same one he made with Abraham,

the very one he swore to Isaac;

He posted it in big block letters to Jacob,

this eternal covenant with Israel:

"I give you the land of Canaan,

this is your inheritance;

Even though you’re not much to look at,

a few straggling strangers."

9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

13-15 So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This "insider world" is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.

* * *

28,29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge drafts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

* * *

25,26 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

3-5 All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.

3,4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

4,5 Strong King, lover of justice,

You laid things out fair and square;

You set down the foundations in Jacob,

Foundation stones of just and right ways.

Honor God, our God; worship his rule!

Holy. Yes, holy.

8-11 Just as each day brims with your beauty,

my mouth brims with praise.

But don’t turn me out to pasture when I’m old

or put me on the shelf when I can’t pull my weight.

My enemies are talking behind my back,

watching for their chance to knife me.

The gossip is: "God has abandoned him.

Pounce on him now; no one will help him."

1-4 Up with God!

Down with his enemies!

Adversaries, run for the hills!

Gone like a puff of smoke,

like a blob of wax in the fire—

one look at God and the wicked vanish.

When the righteous see God in action

they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,

they’ll laugh and sing for joy.

Sing hymns to God;

all heaven, sing out;

clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.

Enjoy God,

cheer when you see him!

5,6 Father of orphans,

champion of widows,

is God in his holy house.

God makes homes for the homeless,

leads prisoners to freedom,

but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

17 I’m thanking God, who makes things right.

I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

22-24 Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,

and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:

Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;

give glory, you sons of Jacob;

adore him, you daughters of Israel.

He has never let you down,

never looked the other way

when you were being kicked around.

He has never wandered off to do his own thing;

he has been right there, listening.

3-6 The enemy hunted me down;

he kicked me and stomped me within an inch of my life.

He put me in a black hole,

buried me like a corpse in that dungeon.

I sat there in despair, my spirit draining away,

my heart heavy, like lead.

I remembered the old days,

went over all you’ve done, pondered the ways you’ve worked,

Stretched out my hands to you,

as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.

11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

1,2 Keep me safe, O God,

I’ve run for dear life to you.

I say to God, "Be my Lord!"

Without you, nothing makes sense.

10-12 So, rebel-kings, use your heads;

Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:

Worship God in adoring embrace,

Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!

Your very lives are in danger, you know;

His anger is about to explode,

But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

1,2 I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,

I’m writing the book on your wonders.

I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;

I’m singing your song, High God.

4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

13-16 "Tear down their altars, smash their phallic pillars, chop down their fertility poles. Don’t worship any other god. God—his name is The-Jealous-One—is a jealous God. Be careful that you don’t make a covenant with the people who live in the land and take up with their sex-and-religion life, join them in meals at their altars, marry your sons to their women, women who take up with any convenient god or goddess and will get your sons to do the same thing.

7-10 Moses used to take the Tent and set it up outside the camp, some distance away. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who sought God would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. It went like this: When Moses would go to the Tent, all the people would stand at attention; each man would take his position at the entrance to his tent with his eyes on Moses until he entered the Tent; whenever Moses entered the Tent, the Pillar of Cloud descended to the entrance to the Tent and God spoke with Moses. All the people would see the Pillar of Cloud at the entrance to the Tent, stand at attention, and then bow down in worship, each man at the entrance to his tent.

1-8 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to God, giving voice together,

I’m singing my heart out to God—what a victory!

He pitched horse and rider into the sea.

God is my strength, God is my song,

and, yes! God is my salvation.

This is the kind of God I have

and I’m telling the world!

This is the God of my father—

I’m spreading the news far and wide!

God is a fighter,

pure God, through and through.

Pharaoh’s chariots and army

he dumped in the sea,

The elite of his officers

he drowned in the Red Sea.

Wild ocean waters poured over them;

they sank like a rock in the deep blue sea.

Your strong right hand, God, shimmers with power;

your strong right hand shatters the enemy.

In your mighty majesty

you smash your upstart enemies,

You let loose your hot anger

and burn them to a crisp.

At a blast from your nostrils

the waters piled up;

Tumbling streams dammed up,

wild oceans curdled into a swamp.

10,11 You blew with all your might

and the sea covered them.

They sank like a lead weight

in the majestic waters.

Who compares with you

among gods, O God?

Who compares with you in power,

in holy majesty,

In awesome praises,

wonder-working God?

25,26 "But you—you serve your God and he’ll bless your food and your water. I’ll get rid of the sickness among you; there won’t be any miscarriages nor barren women in your land. I’ll make sure you live full and complete lives.

19-21 You must treat foreigners with the same loving care—

remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.

Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,

back up your promises with the authority of his name.

He’s your praise! He’s your God!

He did all these tremendous, these staggering things

that you saw with your own eyes.

5-7 Instead find the site that God, your God, will choose and mark it with his name as a common center for all the tribes of Israel. Assemble there. Bring to that place your Absolution-Offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and Tribute-Offerings, your Vow-Offerings, your Freewill-Offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. Feast there in the Presence of God, your God. Celebrate everything that you and your families have accomplished under the blessing of God, your God.

15-18 Jeshurun put on weight and bucked;

you got fat, became obese, a tub of lard.

He abandoned the God who made him,

he mocked the Rock of his salvation.

They made him jealous with their foreign trendy gods,

and with obscenities they vexed him no end.

They sacrificed to no-god demons,

gods they knew nothing about,

The latest in gods, fresh from the market,

gods your ancestors would never call "gods."

You walked out on the Rock who gave you your life,

forgot the birth-God who brought you into the world.

16,17 But be vigilant, lest you be seduced away and end up serving and worshiping other gods and God erupts in anger and shuts down Heaven so there’s no rain and nothing grows in the fields, and in no time at all you’re starved out—not a trace of you left on the good land that God is giving you.

13,14 The Master said:

"These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their hearts aren’t in it.

Because they act like they’re worshiping me

but don’t mean it,

I’m going to step in and shock them awake,

astonish them, stand them on their ears.

The wise ones who had it all figured out

will be exposed as fools.

The smart people who thought they knew everything

will turn out to know nothing."

1-5 God, you are my God.

I celebrate you. I praise you.

You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders,

well-thought-out plans, solid and sure.

Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble,

the strong city to a pile of stones.

The enemy Big City is a non-city,

never to be a city again.

Superpowers will see it and honor you,

brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence.

They’ll see that you take care of the poor,

that you take care of poor people in trouble,

Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,

provide a cool place when it’s hot.

Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard

and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert.

But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun,

shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.

42,43 "God wasn’t at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike—and live with the consequences, consequences described by the prophet Amos:

Did you bring me offerings of animals and grains

those forty wilderness years, O Israel?

Hardly. You were too busy building shrines

to war gods, to sex goddesses,

Worshiping them with all your might.

That’s why I put you in exile in Babylon.

18,19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.

1-3 Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don’t go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. Don’t let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master’s arrival has come and gone. Don’t fall for any line like that.

3-5 Before that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a partner in crime with Satan. He’ll defy and then take over every so-called god or altar. Having cleared away the opposition, he’ll then set himself up in God’s Temple as "God Almighty." Don’t you remember me going over all this in detail when I was with you? Are your memories that short?

20 Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshiped:

21 Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

naked I’ll return to the womb of the earth.

God gives, God takes.

God’s name be ever blessed.

10,11 When the workers laid the foundation of The Temple of God, the priests in their robes stood up with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise God in the tradition of David king of Israel. They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to God:

Yes! God is good!

Oh yes—he’ll never quit loving Israel!

11-13 All the people boomed out hurrahs, praising God as the foundation of The Temple of God was laid. As many were noisily shouting with joy, many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first Temple, when they saw the foundations of this Temple laid, wept loudly for joy. People couldn’t distinguish the shouting from the weeping. The sound of their voices reverberated for miles around.

36,37 "At the same time that I was given back my mind, I was also given back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that’s why I’m singing—I, Nebuchadnezzar—singing and praising the King of Heaven:

"Everything he does is right,

and he does it the right way.

He knows how to turn a proud person

into a humble man or woman."

22-24 "This is what makes you so great, Master God! There is none like you, no God but you, nothing to compare with what we’ve heard with our own ears. And who is like your people, like Israel, a nation unique in the earth, whom God set out to redeem for himself (and became most famous for it), performing great and fearsome acts, throwing out nations and their gods left and right as you saved your people from Egypt? You established for yourself a people—your very own Israel!—your people permanently. And you, God, became their God.

2-5 Nothing and no one is holy like God,

no rock mountain like our God.

Don’t dare talk pretentiously—

not a word of boasting, ever!

For God knows what’s going on.

He takes the measure of everything that happens.

The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces,

while the weak are infused with fresh strength.

The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts,

while the hungry are getting second helpings.

The barren woman has a houseful of children,

while the mother of many is bereft.

4,5 A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God, their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless God, your God, for ever and ever!"

5,6 Blessed be your glorious name,

exalted above all blessing and praise!

You’re the one,

God, you alone;

You made the heavens,

the heavens of heavens, and all angels;

The earth and everything on it,

the seas and everything in them;

You keep them all alive;

heaven’s angels worship you!

17-19 Though the cherry trees don’t blossom

and the strawberries don’t ripen,

Though the apples are worm-eaten

and the wheat fields stunted,

Though the sheep pens are sheepless

and the cattle barns empty,

I’m singing joyful praise to God.

I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.

Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,

I take heart and gain strength.

I run like a deer.

I feel like I’m king of the mountain!

(For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)

12 "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.