Month: July 2014

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The scripture for today, July 11 n(7/11), is Matthew 7:11as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“If you, then, though you are ‘evil’, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

The Creator of the Universe our Father?  The Master-Mind behind the intricacies of our bodies our Father?  The One who can be everywhere at once our Father?

How unworthy we are.  All we can do is fall at his feet and whisper, “You are so great.  I am so small. I am overwhelmed by your love.”

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The scripture for today, July 10 (7/10), is Psalm 7:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.”

We wouldn’t need a shield if everything on earth was good.  But God gave us free will to love Him or not, to follow Him or not.  He did not want robots to love and follow Him, for that is not true love or true commitment.

And so each of us has an assignment in life:  To bloom where we are planted.  To be strong in the Lord when others want to tear us away from Him.  To be an example.  And when sometimes things get too difficult for us (and they do from time to time), God stands ready to shield us while we rest.

He loves us so.

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The scripture for today, July 9 (7/9) is Deuteronomy 7:9 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”

Our amazing God!  He loved our great great grandparents and He will love our great great grandchildren.  The average age of having children is 30.  Therefore, if we took this literally, 1000 generations would be 30,000 years.  In that case, we’ve only just begun.

If taken figuratively, 10 to the Jews meant all inclusiveness, and 1000 is 10 x 10 x 10 or all inclusiveness times all inclusiveness times all inclusiveness.  This means God will love us all inclusive years, times all inclusive years, times all inclusive years ~ for eternity!

And God gives everything we ask of him if it is good for us.  All He asks in return is for us to give the little bit that He asks of us ~ faithfulness and keeping his few commandments.   What a grand arrangement!

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The scripture for today, July 8 (7/8), is Ecclesiastes 7:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.”

Years ago there was a little boy who belonged to the Pee-Wee Baseball League.  A lot of teams played in different parts of a very large ball field.  He would get in line to wait his turn to bat the ball.  But he’d become impatient, feeling that he should be able to bat as often as he wanted.

So he’d take off across the field and get in the line of another team, hoping his turn at bat would come sooner.  When he didn’t go to bat as soon as he thought he should, he’d take off across the field in yet another direction and get in line of yet another team, hoping his turn at bat would come sooner.

After doing all that, he’d finally give up and come back to his own team.  By that time, if he had just stayed in line with his own team, he could have come up to bat 2 or 3 times.  His pride got in the way, his impatience got in the way, and he ended up losing all his turns.

What we hope and dream for may happen today, or a year from now, a decade from now. Let us learn to wait for our turn.

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The scripture for today, July 7 (7/7), is Matthew 7:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

How beautiful.  The Creator of the universe pays attention to each and every one of us. How does He do it? How does He even sort us all out when thousands of us are praying to Him at the same time?

Sometimes we may not think He is listening to our prayers.  But it takes time to answer some of them.  If I am praying to meet my future husband or wife, God may have to move him or her from the other side of the country, get a new job for him or her, and arrange for us to “accidentally” bump into each other.  This is just one example.

Also, when Jesus said whatever we seek will be given to us, he had already explained that we must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).  So only within that context, God will give us our heart’s desire.

Maybe today you can do a little bit of extra seeking and extra knocking.

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The scripture for today, July 6 (7/6), is Mark 7:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“He [Jesus] replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:  “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ “

It is the trend today to say that all religions ~ even those who teach opposing things ~ are right and all are good.  But Jesus did not say this.  Well, then, how do we know which religious things we are taught and do today are from God and which from men?

You are smart.  Read the sacred writings of all major world religions for yourself.  Do they have built-in proofs they are really sacred ~ scientific, archaeological, ancient inscriptions, prophecies fulfilled?  Here is a website with nearly 400 proofs the Bible is from God:

www.churchofchrist-cg-az.com/Bible   How Can I Know the Bible is from God?

Then, if you conclude the Bible is true, use a concordance and do a study of everything the Bible says about any topic.  That way you will have God’s opinion, not men’s.

Here is a website with an online Bible concordance and it’s easy to use:

http://bibletab.com/

You can find out for your self, you can KNOW, whether what you were told to believe by family, friends, and leaders is what God told you to believe.

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The scripture for today, July 6 (7/6), is Mark 7:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“He [Jesus] replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:  “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ “

It is the trend today to say that all religions ~ even those who teach opposing things ~ are right and all are good.  But Jesus did not say this.  Well, then, how do we know which religious things we are taught and do today are from God and which from men?

You are smart.  Read the sacred writings of all major world religions for yourself.  Do they have built-in proofs they are really sacred ~ scientific, archaeological, ancient inscriptions, prophecies fulfilled?  Here is a website with nearly 400 proofs the Bible is from God:

www.churchofchrist-cg-az.com/Bible   How Can I Know the Bible is from God?

Then, if you conclude the Bible is true, use a concordance and do a study of everything the Bible says about any topic.  That way you will have God’s opinion, not men’s.

Here is a website with an online Bible concordance and it’s easy to use:

http://bibletab.com/

You can find out for your self, you can KNOW, whether what you were told to believe by family, friends, and leaders is what God told you to believe.

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The scripture for today, July 5 (7/5), is  2nd Corinthians 7:5ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn ~ conflicts on the outside, fears within.  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him.  He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.”

Oh how much we need each other.

Sometimes in life we go into our own Macedonia where we have no rest and are full of fear. Our Macedonia may be religious or political or medical; or it may be at work, out on the street, or at home.

At such times we need a Titus to help us, to encourage us.  Our Titus may be a relative, a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger.

Have you been a Titus to anyone lately?  Look around.  Be a Titus to someone today.  You are so very needed.

The scripture for today, July 4 (7/4) is Romans 7:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”

This is not talking about just any law.  It is talking about the law, a specific law ~ the Law of Moses.

Have you ever tried wading through Leviticus, the third book of the Bible?  It’s full of all those laws in the Law of Moses (over 600 of them).  Thank God Jesus nailed them to the cross and we are no longer bound by killing animals, stoning people for adultery, tithing, having priests, burning incense, going to the temple 3 times a year, only traveling 1/3 of a mile on the Sabbath, paying for traveling mercies, and on and on.

How did “we” in today’s scripture die to the law?  He said in the previous chapter (6:4) “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” and in Colossians 2:14 where Christ “having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” and in Hebrews 9:13, 10:1 “By calling this covenant ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear….The law was only a shadow of the good things that are coming.”

God now freely gives us His gifts through Jesus Christ our Lord.  How amazing.  How blessed.

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The scripture for today, July 3 (7/3) is Acts 7:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.'”

This is part of a speech by Christian Stephen soon after the church began. He was reminding the Jewish leaders how God told their ancestor Abraham to leave his religion, home and family, and move to where God had something special for him ~ to begin the Jewish nation and religion.

But when Stephen got to the part where now God wanted them to leave the Jewish religion and move on to a still better one ~ the Christian religion ~ they got mad. They were not like Abraham; they did not want to change. So, not liking the message, they killed the messenger. These religious leaders stoned Stephen to death.

It is hard to change. It takes a great big “leap of faith.” But when God does the recommending, we can know he has something special in mind for us. So gear up and get ready for that leap!

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