Foundational Passages

Sometimes I like to reflect on Scripture passages that really grab me, that help me to worship, to reflect on who God really is or to reflect on who I really am in Him. I need to do this from time to time in order to be reminded of the real truth or things can get kind of fuzzy. I don't want to be fuzzy, I want to be clear and focused. Here are a few of those Scriptures for me:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." -Revelation 4:8

God is sooo much bigger than anything I can conceive. I can trust He can handle all I face.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects 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 transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." - Ephesians 2:1-5

I was DEAD before I met Christ. I deserved to be DEAD too, but God didn't give up on me. And Jesus made me ALIVE.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." - 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

God's work in me is to make me new in every respect and He has the power to carry it out.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29-30

Living for Jesus isn't about achievement. Its about taking on and living out of His yoke of grace and mercy. I am not seen through my sin, but through the eyes of God's grace. That grace changes me from the inside out and I can follow that yoke because of the power He gives me.

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:10-14

That is what I want to be my life mission. At my best, those are the driving forces of my life. They ground me. They remind me of what really matters and they give me a clear vision for the future.

There are many more passages that I could mention, but these are some of the most powerful to me. What passages are foundational for you? How often do you reflect on them and what happens when you do?