“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of 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.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. 

This too is meaningless.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed- and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors- and they have no comforter.

There will be a time and there will be a place where God will bring justice and judgement to both the wicked and the righteous. Until then, we live in the knowledge that God is big and we are small.

155383

God’s purposes unfold at the intersection of place and time.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.

All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better [TOV] than to eat and drink and find satisfaction [TOV] in their own toil.