Saturday 9/14 ~ Have a day of gratitude

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

0-BK 6-PromiseKeeper-Cover-thumbnail-new-kindleHow 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 punishment for 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? Aren’t you overjoyed that he 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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Friday 9/13 – Rise up! Experience the Victory!

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

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“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.”

Life is a mixture of highs and lows. You sometimes experience difficult things ~ some minor, some major. Do you let them define your entire life? 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 a 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 he can make “all things work together for good” to those who love him (Romans 8:28). He did not say bad decisions will end up with the best result. He said even the worst situation he will turn in to some kind of good for you.

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.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailIn SHADOW OF DEATH, you live through the last night and day of Jesus life and death. Why did he do it? He went through a hideous death to pay the ransom to set us free from Satan who kidnapped our souls the day Adam and Eve sinned. It freed all good people (everyone sins) in the past and still does today. Of course, after giving Satan what he wanted as the ransom ~ the death of God ~ Jesus tricked him and came back to life. The ransom had been paid and now Jesus had overcome death for us.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2I7VgFk

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Thursday 9/12 ~ Out of disaster came beauty

The scripture for today, September 12 (9/12), is found in Genesis 9:12f in the Old Testament of the Bible:

02-Noah-KindleThumbnail“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

 On the technical side, how can it be that there was never a rainbow before Noah’s time? Genesis 2:5b-6 explains, “The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.”

Up until the time of Noah, people lived to be several hundred years old. Christian scientists have said that, before the flood, the earth had a constant cloud covering with a thick ozone layer that created the greenhouse effect of vapors and protected man from the aging process. It was much like Venus.

So rainbows were not possible when the sun could never break through the ever-present clouds. It was because of a terrible worldwide cataclysm that the beauty of the rainbow was made possible.

On the faith side of this story, we see a man who had such faith in God that, although he probably had never seen rain, believed it would happen. Such amazing faith! Later, through the pain of losing his stubborn father and probably other extended family in the flood, he was blessed with the lives of his direct family members. Then God gave him one more reward ~ the rainbow ~ that he could not only enjoy in his generation but for generations even today.

Out of disaster came beauty.

 

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Wednesday 9/11 ~ You will be delighted; they will be fascinated

The scripture for today, September 11 (9/11), is Matthew 9:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Applied Christianity“When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and “sinners”? ‘ “

Jesus did not make friends with people who could lift him up. He made friends with people who he could lift up. You are not divine, so we need both. It is true that your closest friends should be Christians. However, many brag those are their only friends. That isolates and insulates them.

You must make some friends among the lost in order to show them God’s love, and try to lift them up. They can be people at work, in a club, in your neighborhood, someone you sit next to waiting for a bus, or even someone you meet by accident while waiting in line at a store.

You must always be on the watch. Always prepared to become more than just casual acquaintances. Always be prepared to get “up close and personal” with some of your friends. Most people have questions about the Bible. So, ask them if they do. If you don’t know the answer, look it up in a Bible Concordance and pass it on to them. You will be delighted and they will be fascinated.

Jesus did it. He was our example.

 

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Tuesday 9/10 ~ Friends of the Great I AM

The scripture for today, September 10 (9/10), is Psalm 9:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

The Lord has a name?  Let’s check this out.

What does “Lord” mean in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament? It is Yahweh. Translated into the Greek of the New Testament it is Adonai.

In Exodus 3:15b God told Moses what his name was: ” ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers…This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’ “

And what does Yahweh mean? Exodus 3:14 explained, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites; ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “

God is the great I AM.

What is our relationship with I AM? Today’s verse does not say the Great I Am will keep you from all harm. What it says is that he will go with you into that harm and stay with you the whole way, giving you strength and courage.

And so, in peace or war, in comfort or pain, in well-being or devastation, he will be right there with you. He will never forsake you. Therefore, never forsake him.  Keep on worshipping ~ the Lord our God, the Great I AM.

 

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Monday 9/9 ~ Glory in the “new”

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

Matthew's Life of Christ-Cover-thumbnail“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Most people think Jesus riding on a donkey made him humble. Not at all. Donkeys and mules were rides of kings.

Judges 5:9-10 says, “My heart is with Israel’s princes….you who ride on white donkeys.” Supreme Judge Jair led Israel 22 years and had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys (Judges 10:3-4). Supreme Judge Abdon, who ruled Israel 8 years, had 70 sons and grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys (Judges 12:14).

II Samuel 18:9 says Absalom, King David’s son, rode on a mule. In I Kings 1:33,38,44, David ordained that his son, Solomon, ride on his own mule through the street as one proof that he chose Solomon to be the next king.

The people of Jerusalem knew Jesus was not only riding the ride of kings when he entered their capital city, but he was also, at last, fulfilling the centuries-old prophecy they all knew so well (today’s scripture).

This is the humility that Jesus did exhibit: He rode on the colt of a donkey.

Do you blindly follow whatever our religious leaders tell you? Do you know the scriptures as well as you think you do?

Glory in learning new things about your King of Glory.

 

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Sunday 9/8 ~ Nero and your government

The scripture for today, September 8 (9/9), is Daniel 9:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“O Lord, we and our kings, our princes, and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.”

Have you prayed for your government lately?  I Timothy 2:1 & 2 says “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone ~ for kings and all those in authority.”

At the time of this writing, Nero was Caesar. First-century historian Tacitus said this about Nero in his Annals 15:44:

“But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called “Christians” by the populace.

“Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.

“Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”

If the Apostle Paul could pray for such a government leader, can you not follow his instructions? Why don’t you stop and pray for your own government right now?

 

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Saturday 9/6 ~ Set free to give out of love

The scripture for today, September 7 (9/7), is 2nd Corinthians 9:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

NF-WorshipChanges-WorshipFirst“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

There are many religious leaders who insist that Christians tithe. They want your money for selfish reasons. But tithing was part of the Law of Moses, which we no longer keep.  If we pick one item, we have to pick them all including stoning people.  Let’s look at Law-of-Moses tithing:

Actually, the Jews were required to give more than a tenth. (1) Deuteronomy 26:12 said the Jews had to give an extra tithe every three years for their welfare program. So, if someone tithed $900 a year, s/he would have to tithe an average of $300 more per year for the welfare program, equaling $1,200 year. If the yearly income was $9000, this would take it up to 13.3% a year.

(2) Also, according to Leviticus 27, they had to pay for their vows, which in many cases were really special prayer requests. (3) They also had to buy animals for sacrifices for intentional sins, unintentional sins, and sins requiring restitution.

(4) If they wanted to thank God for anything, they had to buy grain for a sacrifice (Leviticus 1-5). If they didn’t have to buy the animals or grain, they had to take them out of their own supply, thus depleting their own “pay check.”

(5) And every time one of their flocks or herds had a first-born, they had to sacrifice it ~ another depleting of the “pay check.”

So the good Jew under the Law of Moses did not just tithe. He ended up giving about one-third of his income.  Galatians 5:3 says that, if we keep one part of the Law, we have to keep all of it. There were over 600 burdensome commandments in the Law of Moses!

In today’s scripture, Christians are being released from this burden. Instead, they are being told to decide in their own heart. Christians are released from serving and giving through obligation and set free to serve and give out of love.

(And, by the way, what percent of your congregation’s contributions goes for other things besides salaries and the church’s building?)

 

 

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From former atheist John Clayton

Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

“The past 25 years we have seen science verify the fact that before the physical creation in which we exist there were a large number of things being carefully and intelligently produced. We are just beginning to understand from a scientific perspective how electric charge, magnetism, mass, gravity, and time were created.

‘Science has demonstrated to us that there are dimensions beyond the three dimensions we know about, and that those dimensions have a relationship to us. Scientific discussions about string theory and brane theory argue about eleven spatial dimensions. Studies of light have taught us that two-dimensional objects like photons behave differently than us three-dimensional beings. Understanding that God is not limited as we are allows us to understand more about why God created us. It helps us to understand the nature of our moral choices and why after our physical bodies no longer function we have an existence beyond the physical.

9/6/19 ~ The son is the father and is God who created himself

 The scripture for today, September 6 (9/6), is Isaiah 9:6 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnail“For to us a child is born! To us a son is given! And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!”

This is one of the most amazing scriptures in the entire Bible explaining how God is One and self-existent. It is as astounding as John 1:1,14 that says, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

This child predicted to be born unto us was both Father and Son and God. He created Himself. He was self-existent.

He is the image of the invisible God, God materialized  ”For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:15, 19; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4). The men who saw Jesus Christ saw God (John 12:45, 14:9). God’s blood (God’s Word in flesh) was shed on the cross (Acts 20:28).

In America, we sometimes say about a son, “he is the spitting image of his father.”  Jesus said, “If you want to look at the Father, look at me.” God is a Spirit but created us in a material world. So, sometimes God materialized in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, he materialized as Jesus.

This is so amazing. And we have been so blest beyond full comprehension.

 

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