Month: November 2017

Scripture for Wednesday, November 22 (11/22) ~ Is it a Myth?

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The scripture for today, November 22 (11/22), is Genesis 11:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Medium“When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.”

How can it be that people could live so long in the early centuries of the world? Isn’t that stretching things a bit? Isn’t it just folklore and myth? Here’s more.

Noah had his first son at age 502 (Genesis 5:32, 11:10). Noah lived a total of 950 years (Genesis 9:29). Noah’s son, Shem, had his first son at age 100 and lived a total of 600 years (Genesis 11:10-11). Now we have Serug, the 7th-generation grandson of Noah, who had his first son at age 30 and lived a total of 230 years (see above).

Do you see the trend downward of ages after the flood? Most of Noah’s life was lived before the flood. Some of Shem’s life was lived before, but most of it was after the flood. All of Serug’s life was after the flood.

Many scientists believe that the earth originally had a constant cloud covering like the planet Venus does. Genesis 2:5-6 says it had not rained yet, but a mist rose to water everything. The King James Version of the Bible regarding the flood in Genesis 7:11 says the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 8:2 says the windows of heaven were stopped.

Notice, it did not say the windows of heaven were closed; they were just stopped, meaning it could rain again periodically after that. If indeed, Earth did have a constant thick cloud covering before the flood, then humans would have been protected from radiation from the sun, and therefore could live longer. After the change in Earth’s atmosphere after the flood, humans being exposed to more radiation would have lived shorter lives.

Something to think about…. And, one more thought ~ rainbows wouldn’t be possible with a constant cloud covering. The flood brought us rainbows! (Genesis 9:13)

 

Scripture for Tuesday, November 21 (11/21) ~ A Little Church

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The scripture for today, November 21 (11/21), is Acts 11:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Medium-“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”

What had just happened? Some Christians in Phoenecia (today’s Lebanon), Cyprus (the Mediterranean Island) and Cyrene (in today’s North Africa), went to Antioch in Northern Syria near the southern border of today’s Turkey. There they established a congregation.

This little congregation ended up being the home congregation of Paul and Barnabas for many years. It started small; we don’t know the size it grew to. Regardless of the size, it had foresight and eventually did great things.

Perhaps you live in a town full of churches, but you’ve compared them with the New Testament, and none of them follows that pattern. Perhaps you have even given up going to church because of this problem. What is stopping you from beginning a little congregation after the New Testament pattern in your home?  

New Testament churches were simple ~ not elaborate like those mega-churches out there. And those simple churches have always been dynamic in their simplicity. Who knows but that your new little congregation will someday produce a Paul or a Barnabas….

 

Scripture for Monday, November 20 (11/20) ~ Children

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The scripture for today, November 20 (11/20), is Hebrews 11:20ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Strip Child's Cartoon-Medium

“By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons….By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.”

Do we have children that were so loving and good when they were young, but when they became older they changed? Do we sometimes wonder, “How could I have gone so wrong with my children?” True, they have free will. But do we feel like failures because our children did not turn out the way we had hoped and prayed?

Have faith ~ the faith of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Isaac blessed his sons with his land, even though he did not yet own the land. Jacob blessed his sons with power, even though they did yet not have power. Joseph blessed his sons and his brothers’ sons with the land, yet they no longer lived in it.

They all blessed their children with something they believed would happen someday, even though the evidence was not there. Why? Because they had faith in their children? Actually, it was mostly because they had faith in God. They had faith in what God would do for their children.

Let us keep on keeping on. Let us never stop having faith in what God (even after we die) will do for our children.

 

 

 

 

Scripture for Sunday, November 19 (11/19) ~ Worship

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The scripture for today, November 19 (11/19), is Ezekiel 11:19 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

Although the 600+ commandments in the Old Testament Law of Moses were nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14), God has always had laws to keep us safe. In the New Testament era, he does not have a lot of laws, but he still has them.

What is our worship like? Is it full of things God never asked us to do? Does our worship elevate God or ourselves? When we’re done worshiping, do we say, “We were so great!” or “God is so great!”?

We add all kinds of things to our worship that were commanded only under the Law of Moses, or things we think would “add to the effectiveness” of our worship. If, for example, it’s okay to add things to our singing and praying because then they would sound better, then it is okay to add lemon pie to the Lord’s Supper because then it would taste better.

Again, the question: Who are we worshiping and trying to please? God or ourselves? Do we deep down have a heart of stone, but put on our halo and say, “Surely not me”?

 

Scripture for Saturday, November 18 (11/17) ~ Governments

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The scripture for today, November 18 (11/18), is Deuteronomy 11:18f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

Sometimes the country we live in goes through very bad times. We pray for the bad times to end, but they do not. What is going on? The above warning was to the Israelites just before they entered their promised land. God had just said through Moses, don’t worship idols.

Perhaps your country is going through bad times because of idol worship. Probably not like the hand-made idols of ancient times, but idols of money and power and immorality. There have been times in the Bible when a good man prayed, “God, I am the only one left who worships you.” God would reply that there were a few others. But he did not reply that he was going to stop the punishing. The nation hadn’t turned back to God yet.

Therefore, when we are suffering unjustly for what a majority of our countrymen have been doing, we must do it bravely. And while we “wait it out”, let us continually remind ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our countrymen of the righteous ways they should be acting.

In bad times, this is our assignment. Let us be brave and spread the news. Let us keep reminding and be as patient with them as God is with us. Perhaps someday they will listen.

 

Scripture for Friday, November 17 (11/17)

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The scripture for today, November 17 (11/17), is 1st Chronicles 11:17f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-HeartsAfire-Child'sCartoonCover-Medium“David longed for water and said, ‘Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.’ So The Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David.”

The people who followed David admired him because he knew how to be a good leader. So many were willing to do anything to make “Captain David” happy. David had been born and raised in Bethlehem. Now he was grown and had a following of those evading power-hungry King Saul, many of whom were brave soldiers. They had traveled throughout the country either evading or defending themselves against this and other enemies.

Their travels took them back to David’s hometown which was being held by enemy Philistines. For old-times sake, he wanted a drink from the well he had drunk from many times in his youth. Three of his men risked their lives to bring their captain, David, that drink of water.

How much do we admire the Captain of our Salvation, Jesus? How much are we willing to sacrifice for him? Do we say, “I’m too busy to do anything for Jesus and his kingdom today”? Do we say, “I’m afraid if I say something about Jesus to so-and-so, s/he will insult me”? Do we say, “Someone at church offended me, so I’m not going to worship anymore?” Do we admire Jesus enough to put ourselves in the slightest danger just to do the smallest thing for him?

 

Scripture for Thursday, November 16 (11/16)

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The scripture for today, November 16 (11/16), is John 11:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“Then Thomas…said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go that we may die with him.’ “

This apostle is most often called “Doubting Thomas.” We’ve all heard the story about Thomas being absent when Jesus appeared to the other apostles, then later said he wouldn’t believe Jesus was alive again unless he could touch him. Well, the other apostles hadn’t believed until they saw him either.

After returning to life, Jesus first appeared to the women. Then, “when they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others…But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24:9-11).

Now let’s look at our scripture for today. In the months before Jesus’ death, he had been traveling everywhere except to Judea where Jerusalem and the religious leaders were. Those leaders were after Jesus’ life, and everyone knew it. Then Lazarus died and was buried about six miles from Jerusalem. It was dangerous for Jesus to go there.

John 11:7-8 says, “Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?’ “

After explaining that he needed to get to Lazarus, it was Thomas who bravely spoke up and said, “Let us also go that we may die with him!”

Doubting Thomas? Far from it! Brave Thomas. Devoted Thomas. Thomas who was willing to follow his Lord to the death. That was the real Thomas.

 

Scripture for Wednesday, November 15 (11/15)

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The Scripture for today, November 15 (11/15), is Revelation 11:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever!’ “

 Each of us belongs to a kingdom/nation within our world. It is not perfect. Its leaders can sometimes do very bad things. And we wonder how we can stand some of the terrible things that sometimes happen within a government.

But our worldly kingdom/nation is not the only one we can live in. Colossians 1:13 says Jesus “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Rescued! Brought us! Past tense! The kingdom isn’t something in the future. It is here now. And it goes by yet another name. Verse 18 says, “And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church.”

So, when we become discouraged about the kingdom/nation in our world that we live in, take hope. We can have dual citizenship! For there is another kingdom here, a spiritual one. The king of that kingdom will actually love us. Forever and ever.

 

Scripture for Tuesday, November 14 (11/14)

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The scripture for today, November 14 (11/14), is Job 11:14f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.”

Job’s misguided friend, Zophar, was advising Job that, if he would become perfect (“allow no evil”), he would stand firm before God.

Oh, Zophar! Hadn’t he caught on yet? Hadn’t he yet realized that we cannot be perfect? At the end of this book, God told Zophar and his friends to repent of their words to Job.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Jews tried unsuccessfully to be perfect with the help of the Law of Moses, but they couldn’t do it. In the meantime, the nations that had not received the Law were left to try with their own methods to be perfect, and they couldn’t do it either.

The only thing that ever has allowed mankind to be perfect has been the blood of Jesus. He was the perfect Lamb of God. So finally, eons after Zophar said those words, we who follow Jesus are able to stand firm because Jesus can make us perfect, washing away our sins (John 1:29; Acts 22:16).

 

Scripture for Monday, November 13 (11/13)

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The scripture for today, November 13 (11/13), is Zechariah 11:13 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ ~ the handsome price at which they paid me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.”

The book of Zechariah is full of prophecies about Jesus, especially circumstances surrounding his death. Compare the above scripture with this:

“Then one of the Twelve ~ the one called Judas Iscariot ~ went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him [Jesus] over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins” (Matthew 26:15).           and….

“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests….So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself….So they [chief priests] decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners” (Matthew 27:3, 6-7).

The prophet Zechariah wrote this prophecy some five centuries before Jesus. The prophet had been long dead before it was fulfilled. This could not possibly have been contrived to fit such a distant future ~ the exact sum Judas was paid, the money being thrown into the temple and then to buy a potter’s field.

This is only one of many proofs. The Bible is the only religious book in the world with built-in proofs it is of divine origin.

 Religion is not a matter of likes or dislikes, or of giving them all equal chance.  There is only one God.  Which God? Go to the proofs. Examine the proofs.