Inspirational Bible Verses

I was never a fan of The Bible, and admittedly there are some parts I don't understand or necessarily agree with.

But this year I started reading it for the first time from the beginning, having never been able to finish it up till now.

Luckily, there have been many verses since then that I have come across and that have meant something to me.

Here are just a few:

Exodus, Chapter 15, verses 2 and 6: " -- my strength and my song, He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will exalt him" and "Your right hand -- was majestic in power, your right hand -- shattered the enemy."

When I read a passage such as this, it brings me comfort to know that my Higher Power can and does serve as a reassurance to me when it comes to my enemies and dealing with them.

Exodus, Chapter 17, verse 1 is titled "Water From the Rock" and reminds me of a place I went to once with the same name, to obtain free career clothing and shoes for interviewing purposes when I was out of work.

In Exodus 20, Chapter 3 states as part of The Ten Commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me" and every day I pray this as I struggle with worshipping certain people, past and present. It also comes to mind when I see many cults in action today with cult leaders who have had disastrous effects on people such as David Koresh and, most recently, a man who operated a sweat lodge movement, resulting in numerous followers dying because he told them everything was okay.

Commandment 16 states that "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." When I read this now I can't help but think about a friend of mine who had someone make up lies about her and her son to Child Protective Services a couple of months ago, causing her much grief and havoc in her and her family's lives. He had obviously premeditated this action way in advance because the list of lies was long and outlandish and clearly had taken some planning on his part.

In Verse 6 of Exodus 22, it is stated that "If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution." This kind of goes along with the above passage in that the "friend" who started the fire, i.e., spreading the lies about our mutual friend to CPS, should make amends for what he did. Instead, he does not feel or think he did anything wrong and so there continues to be strife between them.

Verse 23 says, "Do not spread false reports."