52 Verses to Purpose: Discovering and Acting Upon God's Purpose for Your Life!

By Niki Lee Flemming

52 Verses to Purpose is a book that repairs and replenishes your relationship with God while ushering you onto your path of greatness! Watch as the Holy Spirit fills the unexplainable void and insatiable hunger of your soul!

52 Verses to Purpose and its accompanying prayer manual and workbook is a practical literary piece

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685562410

Niki Lee Flemming

Niki Lee Flemming is a first-generation American to native parents of Georgetown, Guyana, in South America. She grew up in New York City and Long Island until moving to Houston in 2013. From infertility to God's healing power, she and her husband, Dawayne, are the proud parents of three boys and one girl born between 2014 and 2019.Niki found the Lord in elementary school and came to the realization of who Christ was at the tender age of nine years old, a time at which her faith was further fortified due to a vision she had while in church. In a trance-like moment, Niki saw the Lord Jesus touch her. That experience established her faith in Christ and caused her to believe that there was a calling from God on her life. Every experience has led her to this moment in writing her very first book as instructed by the Holy Spirit. Niki is equally artistic, literary, and practical in her wealth of knowledge and talent as a trained singer and academician, having studied a Bachelor of Arts in English, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Master of Business Administration. She is an avid Bible reader and thanks God for the divine knowledge and understanding of His Word that He has given her. For more information, please feel free to follow Niki on Instagram @NikiFlemming. God bless!

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52 Verses to Purpose

Niki Lee Flemming

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

• A self-improvement book!

• Insight to become a better you!

• Master the Bible in as little as 52 days!

• Discover who the Creator of the universe says you are!

This Book is:

The Prayer Partner’s Manual

The Basics & Must-Haves of Christian Biblical Teachings

The Bible Handbook & Companion

The Christian Compact Apologetic Manual

Classic Christianity & Christianity 101

Sunday & Sabbath School Aid

Discipleship 101

Discover:

The Fundamentals of Christianity

52 Spiritually Provoking Scriptures

Weekly Devotional & Scriptural Nuggets

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

52 Verses to Purpose

Copyright © 2022 by Niki Flemming

Scripture quotations marked AFV are taken from the Holy Bible, A Faithful Version © 2020 A Faithful Version. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ERV are taken from Easy-to-Read Version. Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition). Copyright © 1982 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God’s Word Mission Society.

Scripture quotations marked LEB are taken from Lexham English Bible. 2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Unless otherwise noted.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TLV are taken from Tree of Life Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked TPT are taken from The Passion Translation. The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.

Used by permission. All rights reserved. thePassionTranslation.com. Scripture quotations marked Voice are taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Cover design by Jeff Summers

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-68556-240-3

E-ISBN: 978-1-68556-241-0

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all of my loved ones. I dedicate it to my husband and high school sweetheart, Dawayne Flemming, whom I met at the age of fifteen years old and married on August 10, 2014. Dawayne, I am who I am because of your unending love and support of me. After God, you have shown me from a young age what it truly means to be loved, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I also dedicate this book to my children: Uriah, Ari’el, Azariah, and Ramiah Flemming, to whom I owe my success. They have been my driving force, the apple of my eye, and after God, the very reason I exist. To my children, I encourage you to love the Lord always, seek God and follow His plans for your life, and know that I love you all with every inch of my being.

This book is also dedicated to my mother, Joy Lee, who has been my biggest cheerleader since the day I was born, ushering me into godliness and womanhood. I am forever grateful and blessed to call her mother. Mom, the mold that made you ceases to exist. You are unlike any woman I have ever known. You have been my support through it all, a confidant, a spiritual mother, and a life coach. My goal in life has always been to make you proud, and I hope I have accomplished that. The words thank you will never be enough to express the love and gratitude in my heart for you. You are amazing!

To my brother, Lee-Cavin, and sister, Michelle, in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, pastors, and church family, I love you all very much. Thank you to my father and uncles for always believing in me and providing me with words of encouragement, cheering me on, and acknowledging God’s divine favor over my life. To my grandmother Ismay Richards in heaven, you are still loved. God bless you all!

Ismay Richards

December 19, 1915 - July 17, 1999

Statement of Faith

I have been non-denominational for the majority of my Christian walk of over twenty years. This book is for all denominations. Regardless, if you identify as Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Orthodox, or Protestant, we all believe in Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, crucified, and resurrected. All scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are quoted in the New American Standard Bible version. You may ask why I have chosen this version instead of more familiar translations such as the King James Version. I have no problem with any other version of the Bible. In fact, I grew up reading the King James Version throughout most of my life. However, the New American Standard Bible falls closest to the word-for-word translation of the original Bible and is considered the most faithful and accurate.

I believe in God, the Father, who sovereignly created and rules over the heavens and the earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God made manifest in the flesh, who came to earth to offer eternal life and salvation to those who would confess with their mouth and believe in their hearts that God had raised Him from the dead. I believe that Jesus lived, died, was buried in a tomb, resurrected, and then ascended back to heaven where He is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father and will return again on Judgment Day.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity who actively works in the life of believers and ushers the unbeliever to the saving knowledge of Christ. Finally, I believe in the Bible as the basic instructions before leaving earth and the true, infallible word of God more than adequate to supply the needs of the believer and the entire Body of Christ while ushering growth in holiness and righteousness unto God.

Table of Contents

Introduction xv

Verse 1. God’s Love Through Jesus 1

Verse 2. Studying the Bible 3

Verse 3. Faith 6

Verse 4. The Ten Commandments 9

Verse 5. Jesus is Life 16

Verse 6. The Beatitudes 21

Verse 7. Jesus Only 26

Verse 8. The Person of the Holy Spirit 28

Verse 9. The Fruit of the Spirit 32

Verse 10. The Desires of the Flesh 38

Verse 11. All Things Work for Your Good 44

Verse 12. Hope for Your Future 48

Verse 13. Forgiveness 51

Verse 14. Power in Prayer 55

Verse 15. The Great Commission 57

Verse 16. Women in the Church 61

Verse 17. The Lord’s Prayer 65

Verse 18. Leading with the Heart 69

Verse 19. Natural Elements and the Power of Prayer 71

Verse 20. No More Anxiety 75

Verse 21. True Love 78

Verse 22. Doing What’s Right and Seeking God’s Heart 82

Verse 23. Wait on the Lord 86

Verse 24. The Prayer of Jabez 90

Verse 25. Solid as a Rock: Building Your Life on a Firm Foundation 94

Verse 26. Count It All Joy: Gaining Patience Through Pressure 97

Verse 27. Press Towards the Mark 100

Verse 28. Love Your Enemies 103

Verse 29. Rejecting Selfishness: The Good Samaritan 106

Verse 30. Do Not Judge a Book by Its Cover 110

Verse 31. Wired for Worship 114

Verse 32. No More Half-Stepping: On Being Lukewarm 118

Verse 33. The Power of the Tongue 122

Verse 34. Afflictions of the Righteous 126

Verse 35. The Path of the Just 129

Verse 36. God is Able 132

Verse 37. Seek First the Kingdom of God 136

Verse 38. You Are the Head and Not the Tail 140

Verse 39. Spiritual Warfare 144

Verse 40. No Weapon Formed Against You Will Prosper 151

Verse 41. The Secret to Happiness 155

Verse 42. A Living Sacrifice 159

Verse 43. The Race of Faith 162

Verse 44. The Suffering of the Present Time 166

Verse 45. By His Stripes, We Are Healed 170

Verse 46. Jesus’s Triumphal Entry: The Meaning of Palm Sunday 174

Verse 47. The Seven Things that God Hates 178

Verse 48. Spiritual Gifts 182

Verse 49. The Tithe and Offering 187

Verse 50. The Names of God 191

Verse 51. The Holy Trinity 194

Verse 52. On Remembering the Year 2020 197

About the Author 200

Book 2 202

The Sinner’s Prayer 203

Verse 1 204

Verse 2 206

Verse 3 208

Verse 4 210

Verse 5 212

Verse 6 214

Verse 7 216

Verse 8 218

Verse 9 220

Verse 10 222

Verse 11 224

Verse 12 226

Verse 13 228

Verse 14 230

Verse 15 232

Verse 16 234

Verse 17 236

Verse 18 237

Verse 19 239

Verse 20 241

Verse 21 243

Verse 22 245

Verse 23 247

Verse 24 249

Verse 25 251

Verse 26 253

Verse 27 255

Verse 28 257

Verse 29 259

Verse 30 261

Verse 31 263

Verse 32 265

Verse 33 267

Verse 34 269

Verse 35 271

Verse 36 273

Verse 37 275

Verse 38 277

Verse 39 279

Verse 40 281

Verse 41 283

Verse 42 285

Verse 43 287

Verse 44 289

Verse 45 291

Verse 46 293

Verse 47 295

Verse 48 297

Verse 49 299

Verse 50 301

Verse 51 303

Verse 52 305

Introduction

I believe we need the word of God. Whether we have been Christians for ten years or ten days, we all have a spiritual man within that needs to be built and fortified. Oftentimes, we focus on our physical bodies: eating food to nourish our bodies, working out to make our bodies healthier, nipping and tucking, and regularly self-grooming. As a culture, we have become preoccupied solely with beautifying our physical man. The problem is that we are physically strong and beautiful all while our spiritual man is dying.

We are spirits within a body with a soul, and our entire beings are suffering from a lack of nutrition of the word of God. Third John 1:2 (NKJV) says, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. First Peter 2:2 (LEB) says, Like newborn infants long for the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation.

It is evident today, more than ever, that we are spiritually starved because we are experiencing sadness, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, feelings of inadequacy, and so many diverse negative feelings. This is because we need the living, breathing, and moving word of God. We need the Bible, which as an acronym stands for the basic instructions before leaving earth. We need these instructions. Pass this message on. Not all of us are preachers, teachers, or pastors, but we all can join in the Great Commission and help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ by sharing this book one person at a time. Thank you in advance for doing so.

verse 1

God’s Love Through Jesus

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

A quite familiar verse, John 3:16, is the premise of all Christian thought. It is Christianity 101 because there is no Christianity without Christ coming to earth. This scripture is one of the most widely quoted verses from the Bible. In fact, it represents the entire message of the Gospel, which is the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Let us break down John 3:16: For God so loved the world. God loves the world, and He created the world. He said in Genesis 1:26a, Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness. Naturally, we can conclude that God loves us because He created us just like we love our children when they are born. However, when Adam and Eve, the first created man and woman, sinned, a disconnect was created between God and man, and from that point, we were all destined to die and be eternally separated from God. At that moment, women were also condemned to painful labor during childbirth as a result of their sin. This is the reason that Jesus Christ had to come to earth as a man. He came to reconnect us back to the Father and give us a chance at eternal life after we die. God loved us so much that He caused Jesus to divest Himself of His heavenly throne, be born of a virgin, live, be beaten, die, and resurrect from the grave.

We may then ask why Jesus had to die? Jesus had to die and shed His blood for us because Hebrews 9:22b (AFV) says, Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. What does this mean? Before Christ came, the blood of animals had to be shed when people wanted to approach God and ask for forgiveness of their wrongdoings. Thus, Jesus became like a lamb who was led to the slaughter for you and for me so that our sins would be forgiven and so that we would be saved from eternal death, hell, and the grave. He laid down His life. He became the sacrificial lamb so that we as people could approach God boldly and ask Him to forgive us of our sins and wrongdoings and bless us.

Jesus was beaten, bruised, chastised, and subjected to carry a heavy cross up a hill. He also became a curse for us because Galatians 3:13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ This verse refers to the crucifixion where Jesus was hung on Calvary’s cross.

Crucifixion was capital punishment in the days of Rome. It was considered the most shameful way to die and excluded Roman citizens for that very reason. God on His throne could not even look at Jesus. He hung on that cross and was despised and rejected. This is not a fairy tale. Jesus also did not have to stay there because He had the power and authority as God to call down a legion of angels to come and take Him off of the cross, but He chose to die for you and for me. Christ gave up everything so that you and I could have everything.

The latter does not mean that we will have everything here on earth because we know that life is temporary. The truth is some of us will endure some terrible things in this life. Some of us will live to forty, sixty, eighty and some maybe just to five years old. One thing for sure is that we will all die. Life is terribly short, and this is why Christ came to earth so that when our physical bodies die, our spiritual man, which cannot die, will spend eternity with Him in heaven. He came so that if we believed, we would be saved. Trust and believe today that God loves you and accept the free gift of Christ’s eternal salvation.

verse 2

Studying the Bible

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

Second Timothy 2:15 is also a foundational scripture as it describes the reason that we study the word of God. This scripture is the foundation and premise of Christian schooling, the premise for the study of theology, Bible institutes, and Bible colleges. It is the reason for degrees like apologetics and masters of divinity and the reason that we attend midweek encounters, Bible studies, and Sunday services.

Other versions of the scripture begin with the imperative to study to show oneself approved unto God. Why do we study? We study because God asks us to. He tells us to be diligent in the study of His word so that we can handle it accurately. God says, Study this word so that you can show that I have approved you. Sometimes it seems like we do not grasp the importance and the value of Bible study. Easily we can get caught up in the everyday rhythm of life, spending so much time completing our daily routines that we then leave very little time in the day, if any, to read our Bibles. This is a trick of the enemy to make us so busy in our physical lives that we completely neglect our spiritual lives.

As I have mentioned before, the Bible is the basic instructions before leaving earth. The Bible has every tool that we need to be successful in life. The Bible answers every question that we are unsure of. The Bible corrects us when we are heading down the wrong path. Psalm 119:105 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The Bible is considered a lamp to the Christian’s path; it is a guide for our lives. The Bible encourages us to live righteously, to walk the straight and narrow path, to love one another, and to pray without ceasing. The Bible is our road map. Matthew 4:4 says, But He answered and said, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ Therefore, food for our physical bodies should not be our only sustenance in life. The word of God is our most important food, so we need to know it. However, in order to follow this road map, we must know what it says. We must study it.

Our scripture likens us to a workman. In the same way that we get up Monday through Friday and go to work to fulfill our craft and to better our craft is the same way that God expects us to get up daily and study our Bible. The scripture also speaks of accurately handling the word of truth. Not only is this scripture declaring that the word of God is the truth, but it is also stating that we have a responsibility to rightly divide it or interpret it. This means that we have to be careful and make sure that we handle the scriptures correctly. We are expected by God to know the Bible from cover to cover because as we familiarize ourselves with His word, we will then be able to live out His word in our daily lives. In this way, we can also be strong disciples of Christ.

The scripture also talks about being a workman who does not need to be ashamed. Christians are quick to say that we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but how can we boldly declare a Gospel and exclaim it to the rooftops if we do not know what it says? God does not want us to be caught off guard by unbelievers, atheists, and agnostics who ask His children questions, and we cannot answer them. He does not want us to be tripped up when people present the beliefs of other ideologies, philosophies, and religions to us. The truth is, if we do not stand for something, we will fall for anything. Therefore, if we do not study the Bible and stand for the Bible, then we will fall subject to the competing beliefs and ideologies that are outside of the Bible. He wants us to defend His Gospel, and, unfortunately, there are consequences of not obeying this command.

Failing to study the Bible eventually causes us to doubt God. No wonder some of us were once strong Christians, and now we find ourselves unsure of who Jesus is. We find ourselves into out-of-body experiences and meditation that are not Christ-centered. We may find ourselves doing all sorts of things that are not characteristically Christian. If we ever wonder why, it is because we have not strengthened ourselves with the word of God, and so we have become subject to alternate ideologies. We even begin to doubt whether or not Jesus is real. We doubt whether Jesus is the only way to God. This is because we have failed to study our Bible and keep ourselves abreast of the word. We have to study our Bible because when we pray, we are speaking to God, but when we read His word, God is then speaking back to us.

I challenge you to study God’s word and see if you do not become better and stronger in every aspect of your life. Commit to reading one chapter of the Bible a day and see the difference—see how strong you become, see how your fears subside, watch how your doubts go away as you read His word. All of the latter will come to pass because God’s word is life.

verse 3

Faith

Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for,

a proof of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Faith is believing without seeing. We have never physically met Jesus. Neither have we seen the Father in heaven, but we are convinced that God is real. Believers are convinced that Jesus lived, died, and rose from the grave. We are convinced that He sits at the right hand of the Father and is coming back on the Day of Judgment.

It may be hard to believe because it can sound like a fairytale. Some will question how we can believe in a God we have never seen? However, there are many realities we have not seen that we still believe in. We have never seen oxygen, but we know that we need it to breathe. Better yet, if someone places their hand around our neck and begins to squeeze tightly, we would fight and pray for them to let go so that we could breathe in this oxygen that we have never seen.

We have never seen gravity. It is invisible. One thing we know is that it does exist. Therefore, we believe in gravity. None of us would go to the top of a ten-story building and jump off of it because we know that if we did, we would then land on the ground and most likely die on impact. Thus, we do not have to see God to believe in God. God expects us to believe in Him just like we believe in the things that He has created here on earth and are unseen. He expects us to trust Him. He expects us to follow Him, to honor Him, and to obey Him because He is our