Saturday 9/22 ~ What kept Jesus with his goal?

On September 22, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Death of Jesus Christ, eternity, forgiveness, Heaven, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 22 (9/22) is Luke 9:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“And he [Jesus] said, ‘The Son of Man[kind] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Jesus did not look forward to his death. Hebrews 5:7 says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death….” Loud cries!

Yet, in today’s scripture, shortly after he announced to his apostles that he would be killed in Jerusalem, over in verse 51 it says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Jesus had to use every bit of self-determination he could muster up to face that terrible death he had to suffer for us. What kept him to his goal? He knew only he could save us from hell by taking the death wages from Satan (Romans 6:23). Then his work would be done ~ all would be fulfilled ~ and he could return to heaven.

Is it just too hard for you to get up on Sunday morning to go to church? Is it just too hard for you to read the Bible every day? Is it just too hard for you to invite a friend to church with you? Do you love Jesus as resolutely as he loves you?

Step back in time and follow the last days of Jesus before his crucifixion in this biblical, historical novel. Click either image or type this link: https://amzn.to/2zmUDnB

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Friday 9/21~ Jesus, I didn’t understand.

On September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Death of Jesus Christ, ego, eternity, forgiveness, Saved from hellLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 21 (9/21), is Hebrews 9:21f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“In the same way, he [Moses] sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

Jesus ended that with one final sacrifice ~ himself.

Oh, Jesus, I didn’t understand. Your flesh. It was torn for me. I was the one who should have received the lashing that turned Your back into meat. And the thorny slivers on the cross. The slivers that went into Your already shredded back to create gangrene. The lashing and thorns were supposed to be for me, not You. And the nails too, Jesus. The nails too. How could You go through that in my place

Oh, Jesus, I didn’t understand. Your nakedness. They stripped You instead of me. I was the one who’s nakedness should have been exposed, and put on display for the whole world to gawk at and ridicule. I was the one who was supposed to have been subjected to exposure, enduring both the heat of the day and the cold of that strange noon-time darkness. How could you have endured this for me?

Oh, Jesus, I didn’t understand. Your blood. It was shed for me. If I had been the only sinner in the world, You still would have had to die to free me from hell. That was my blood that was supposed to be falling off the cross that day, not Yours. How could You love me that much?

Oh, Jesus, I didn’t understand. Your every breath. Taken away from You a gasp at a time as You hung there by merciless nails tearing away at Your life, rendering Your lungs almost paralyzed, piercing Your soul. Each time You chose to ignore the screaming blood vessels in Your back and the unbearable spasms in Your arms and legs just so You could get just one more taste of air, that should have been me. How could You volunteer Your own body to be tortured like that in my place?

Excerpt from http://bit.ly/2xufXGp

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Thursday 9/20 ~ Stand and be counted

On September 20, 2018September 20, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, eternity, judging, knowledge, Saved from hellLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 20 (9/20), is Luke 9:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Clouds in blue sky

” ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ “

Jesus is still asking that question today. Who do you say Jesus is? Some people in the world say Jesus was the savior of the Christians, the same person as Moses to the Jews, and Mohammed to the Moslems, and Buddha to the Buddhists. In the name of being fair to everyone, they claim these are all saviors of different religions going by different names but of the same God.

Let us not be caught in the web of the New Age Movement that claims all saviors are the same savior and all gods are the same God.

This is an impossibility. These religions contradict each other. Read their holy books and you will discover this. So, which one is right?

The Bible is the only religious book in the world that can be proven to be divine with fulfilled prophecies of entire kingdoms. It says regarding our Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Investigate. Read. Compare. Then stand up for Jesus, THE Savior! Stand up and be counted!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quotes the Qur’an and Bible on the same subjects. Then explains misunderstandings about Christianity. Ends with quotes from 100 Muslims who have decided Jesus really was the Son of God and not just a prophet. TO BUY NOW, click one of the images or type this: https://amzn.to/2MNMFHr

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Wednesday 9/19 ~ Do you feel ordinary?

On September 19, 2018September 19, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Inspirational, joy, love, persecution, power, praise, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 19, is Acts 9:19f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food he regained his strength.”

This is the story of Saul, as he was known to the Jews and to us as Paul, who became an apostle. Notice the order he did this: He was hungry, but that wasn’t important. He had to do what was important first. He was baptized.

Why was Paul baptized? In Acts 22:16 Paul recalls that day when he was told, “Get up: be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

Further, notice who baptized him. Was he part of the clergy, someone with an ordained title in the church? No. He was ordinary and unknown. Acts 9:10 says, “In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him: ‘Go to…. a man from Tarsus named Saul’.” What title did Ananias have? None. He was just another disciple. Disciple simply meaning follower.

Little did this otherwise ordinary and unknown disciple realize that day that the person he baptized would end up writing much of the New Testament.

Do you feel ordinary like you are an “unknown disciple” to followers of Jesus around you? Find something to do, and God will make it great.

Paul took Christians to prison and tortured them. He hated Jesus, then became one of his most passional and unstoppable ambassadors in a hostile world. Read what it might have been for this terrorist turned apostle. To order, click one of the images or go here: https://amzn.to/2plwTdJ

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Tuesday 9/18 ~ Who are we really worshipping?

On September 18, 2018September 18, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn humility, Inspirational, judging, knowledge, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 18 (9/18), is Leviticus 9:18ff as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people. His sons handed him the blood, and he sprinkled it against the altar on all sides. But the fat portions of the ox and the ram ~ the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver ~ these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Lord as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.”

The Law of Moses did not have just Ten Commandments. It had over 600! They were intricate commands that had to be kept exactly. The above is just a small portion of what they were supposed to do for a particular sacrifice.

Thank God, Jesus nailed the Old Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Yet some religious leaders continue to dip back into the Old Law to copy showy types of worship ~ robes, candles, choirs, harps, incense ~ many things, and all commanded. But if they do that, they must keep all of the Law of Moses ~ stoning for adultery, giving 1/3 of their income (not just 1/10), not working on Saturday (even cooking), going to Jerusalem three times a year.

They can’t just pick and choose which ones they like. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:17 “Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised [ceremonially ~ just one command in the Old Law of Moses] that he is obligated to obey the whole law.”

James said in 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Old Testament worship was showy, elaborate, and demanding to the nth degree. New Testament worship is just the opposite.

Mark 14:26 says that after Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper/Communion, “When they had sung a [single] hymn, they went out…”

Acts 2:41-42 says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Acts 20:7 says, “On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people…”

I Timothy 4:13 says, “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

Nothing complicated about it. Just simple worship. Worship the way Jesus and his apostles worshiped. Worship the way God likes it. He said so himself.

Each chapter is about a different phase of worship beginning with quotes from famous theologians and ending with quotes from 1st and 2nd century Christians. Click images or go here TO BUY NOW: https://amzn.to/2pjg96H

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Monday 9/17 ~ “Follow my son to safety.”

On September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn ego, forgiveness, Heaven, judging, Saved from hell, truth, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 17 (9/17), is Nehemiah 9:17 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore, you did not desert them.”

Such love! Do you rebel against God (who is only trying to save you) over and over because you don’t want anyone telling you what to do? God forgives you over and over. First Peter 3:9 says “The Lord…is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

God could turn you into a robot and force you to love and obey him. But that wouldn’t be real love. God is Love, and he cannot go against his own nature.

And so God follows you around and pleads over and over, “Follow my Son to safety!”

How he hurts when you do not; how he smiles when you do.

A year-by-year tracing of each change in worship and organization from the 1st century to the 18th century and what they did to those who protested. Ends with a call to unity. To buy, click images or type: https://amzn.to/2D6pEQB

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Sunday 9/16 ~ “I will not stop until they kill me.”

On September 16, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn forgiveness, Heaven, Inspirational, knowledge, persecution, sacrifice, Saved from hell, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 16 (9/16), is 1st Corinthians 9:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

The Apostle Paul said this. An Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, said almost the same thing in 20:9: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in! Indeed, I cannot!”

Are you so full of the Word of God that you have to share it? Do you work it into your daily conversations?

I knew a lady once who took several church bulletins with her every Sunday. Then during the week, if she heard a conversation at a bus stop, she’d interrupt them and say, “I couldn’t help but hear what you were saying. Perhaps God in your life would help.” Then she’d hand them a bulletin. She’d do the same thing at a fast-food place like McDonald’s, or in the waiting room of a doctor. She could not hold it in. She had to share, even if it was with strangers.

There is a man in Afghanistan who is a partially secret Christian. When he thinks he can trust someone, he teaches them the gospel. He has run for his freedom and his life three times in the last eight years. He tells me, “I will not stop until they kill me.”

What about you? Is the Word of God overflowing in you so much you cannot keep it in? Tell someone today that God loves them. Watch them smile with a gleam in their eye that says, “I’d like to know more”.

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Saturday 9/15 ~ Just how far would you go?

On September 15, 2018September 15, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn #friendships, death, Death of Jesus Christ, ego, humility, love, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 15 (9/15), is 2nd Corinthians 9:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Can you imagine dying in the place of someone else? We occasionally hear stories from the battlefield of a man falling on a grenade so he is the only one killed, thus saving his buddies.

But closer to home, if you saw a child in the path of a car, would you run out and throw the child out of the way knowing there will be no time for you to escape death?

What if you were hiking or sailing with a friend and got lost? Would you split the food and water evenly, or would you give it all to your friend? What would you do if you were lost with someone who hated everyone? Would you give them all the food and water knowing you would die and the hateful person live on?

What if you were with a friend and were arrested for a crime the friend did? Would you take the blame and the punishment of twenty years in prison so your friend could go free? What if that person was a habitual criminal, you happened to cross paths at the wrong time, and you were both arrested for his heinous crime? Would you take the blame and his punishment (execution) for him?

Now try to imagine making your child take the blame and die in the place of every sinner in the world ~ your sinless, innocent child.

It is indescribable.

It is unimaginable.

It is unthinkable.

But God did exactly that.

How can we thank Him for his indescribable gift of Jesus redeeming us from Satan with his blood? We fall silently at His feet and worship.

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Friday 9/14 ~ Jesus’ crucifixion freed those living before him! Here’s the proof.

On September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Death of Jesus Christ, Life of Christ, sacrifice, Saved from hell, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 14 (9/14), is Hebrews 9:14f as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts [sins] that lead to death so that we may serve the living God! For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant [testament] that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance ~ now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant [testament].”

This is a very interesting passage. Just previous to this, the author was talking about the blood of bulls and goats being sacrificed for sins under the old Law of Moses [Testament]. But now that the Son of God, the Lamb of God, had been sacrificed for our sins, we no longer need any more blood sacrifices.

Further, Jesus’ sacrifice was retroactive! It reached back to the faithful who lived under the first/old covenant [Testament] and set them free from their sins too.

Aren’t you glad God did away with the old Law of Moses with all its 600+ rules and regulations, and its requirement for animal blood sacrifices, and brought us a law of grace? What a God! What a Savior! Jesus did all this to save us from hell.

Have a day of deep gratitude.

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Thursday 9/13 ~ You cannot have “victory in Jesus” unless you have a problem to be victorious over

On September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 By Inspirations By KatherynIn attitude, blessings, discouragement, power, Thanksgiving, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 13 (9/13), is Psalm 9:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises…and there rejoice in your salvation.”

We all experience difficult things in our life ~ some minor, some major. Do you let them define your entire life? Or do you cling to them, never getting over them, never letting them go, and reliving them over and over in your mind?

You cannot be “more than conqueror” (Romans 8:37) unless you have something to conquer. You cannot have “victory in Jesus” unless you have something to be victorious over.

God said that he can make “all things work together for good” to those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).

Today, with the courage of God in your heart, the love of God in your soul, and the might of God in your very being, rise up! Rejoice! Thank God for your problems. It is only when you have problems that you can experience victories.

Dare to walk with Paul crisscrossing the often hostile Roman Empire, challenging pagan priests and trying to convince Jewish rabbis to listen to him. Understand what Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, and Dr. Luke go through to keep this man alive to do what he has to do. With Paul, it is never enough. What drives him? Why can he not stop? EasyBuyLink: https://amzn.to/2Ms6owk

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