Saturday 4/13 ~ Someday you will smile and rise again

The scripture for today, April 13 (4/13), is Philippians 4:13 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

000-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Life is not easy. Plans are scattered, dreams are shattered, and even predictable every-day things sometimes give way to the unknown and unforeseeable. Maybe you have made bad decisions, or you weren’t prepared for emergencies, or you are an innocent victim of someone else’s problems.

There is Someone who knows everything that is happening to you and who will walk beside you down whatever path you find yourself. And, as amazing as it sounds, even if you lose faith in Him, He will not lose faith in you.

When you don’t feel like it, reach out to God. Pray, even if all you can think of talking about is how terrible things are right now. At least you’re talking. And read the Bible, for that is God talking to you. Keep the two-way communication going. Amidst your weeping when you fall, God will give you strength. And someday once again you will rise and smile again.

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Friday 4/12 ~ You will be astounded

(Sorry for some of my messages being delayed. I must be doing something wrong. I’ll double check from now on.)

 

The scripture for today, April 12 (4/12), is Colossians 4:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“He is always wrestling in prayer for you.”

Do you have fast-food prayers? Drive in, ask for something for yourself, and drive out two minutes later?

How about trying gourmet prayers ~ where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer but are very special and rewarding.

Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people you know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.

Then tell these people you are praying for them. You may think you’ll get some strange looks, but mostly, even from the unreligious, you will get a smile and a whispered thank you. Some will actually reply, “No one has ever told me they were praying for me.” After a while, you will begin receiving word from people you are paying for, “Guess what? Your prayer worked.”

Prayer is powerful and wonderful. God loves to answer prayer. It is most wonderful when it centers, not on what you want for yourself, but on struggling in prayer for other people.

One by one you will begin seeing amazing answers in the lives of those you pray for. Don’t believe it? Give it a try. You will be astounded.

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Thursday 4/11 ~ God has an assignment for you

The scripture for today, April 11 (4/11), is Exodus 4:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail“Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

This is a dynamic verse, for it helps answer the question: “If God is so good, why did he allow me/my relative to become deaf/blind?”

Here is the answer.  Satan is the prince of this world.  So, God takes countermeasures to defeat him.  Everything Satan does God can undo.  But he does it in his own way.  He does it through us.

God gives each of us an assignment. We all have something God wants us to overcome. Why?  Because it makes us spiritually stronger. It is intended to turn us into spiritual giants. Perhaps he has something special in mind for us in our eternal world.

His assignment may be the family we were born in to, the country we were born in, an earthquake, a flood, an unfair professor, a mean boss.  Amidst our tears, as we face sometimes unbearable assignments, the challenge is for us to carry on with the smile of faith on our lips.

Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 12:10, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses…For when I am weak, then I am strong!” If God did not believe you or your relative or friend could handle your affliction, he would not allow you to have it.

It’s almost as if the more affliction you have, the more faith God has in you.  After all, 2nd Corinthians 6:1 says we are workers together with God.

Has God given you an assignment? What a privilege!

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Wednesday 4/10 ~ Small Beginnings

The scripture for today, April 10 (4/10), is Zechariah 4:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-Thumbnail“Who despises the day of small things?”

We tend to admire big things ~ big buildings, big empires, big trees, big causes.  Sometimes it is difficult to remember that those things started out small.

Have you been wanting to accomplish something big? All buildings started out with one board or one stone. All empires started out with one person. All big trees started out as one seed. All big causes started out with one dream.

Perhaps your dream started out small but stayed small. That doesn’t mean it will always be small. It may become big years from now, or even in someone else’s lifetime. Don’t despise what you have now.

Have you been putting off trying to make your dream reality because it won’t be big and people will laugh at you and you will get depressed?   Do not fear it. Have faith in it.  Plant that small seed.  Do not despise it. Embrace it. Nourish it. 

Make today the day of your new beginning. Launch your dream. Soar with it, even if you’re the only one

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Tuesday 4/9 ~ How perplexing

The scripture for today, April 9 (4/9), is 1st John 4:9f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

How perplexing. We are stymied. There is no solution. We humans do not have the will to live perfect lives. We give in to sin. We can never get it right. Romans 6:23 says the wages we earn for sinning is death. In the Old Testament era, God held Satan at bay from us by telling people to kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned. But it had to be done over and over. Still, every time we sinned, our souls died a little more. Then came our rescue our solution. But the cost.  It was so high.  God sent his Son to us for a while with a body so his Son’s body could be killed (collecting our wages, the cost of our sins) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to bring our souls back to life through him ~ that is, become Christians. How do we become alive through Jesus? Of course, we know about believing Jesus was the Son of God and repenting of our sins. Also, Romans 6:4 says when we are baptized and come forth out of the Spirit’s watery womb, our souls are born again and we now have a new life.

Still, it does not stop there. We must try the best we can to live as Jesus lived, speak as Jesus spoke, love as Jesus loved. With Jesus living in us, we are his mouth, his hands, his feet. It is then that we offer our own bodies as daily sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

Ah, Lord God.  I want to do this. I truly do. Help me.  Help me.

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Monday 4/8 ~At the end

The scripture for today, April 8 (4/8), is 2nd Timothy 4:8 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day ~ and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

The Apostle Paul was somewhere around his seventies at this writing. He’d been converted probably in his thirties. He’d spent the past forty years telling people how to escape a place they didn’t believe they were going to and disrupting the religion they already had.  

Forty years of tolerating persecution, sometimes hungry and cold and beaten and hated. Forty years of seldom staying in a city longer than a few months, always on the go.  Forty years of never being satisfied with the number of people he had reached with the Good News of their escape from Satan, the Good News of a God who actually loved them, Good News of heaven.

Now he was in prison.

“I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Oh, that we all could say this at the end of our life.

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Saturday 4/6 ~ Your heart will soar

The scripture for today, April 6 (4/6), is 1st Corinthians 4:6 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“…learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”

Periodically through the Bible there appears this same warning for us to not “go beyond what is written.” 2nd Peter 1:20 says prophecy is scripture. Prophecy was needed before the New Testament was written, but no more after that, for by then, the prophecy of the apostles had been written down and were being passed around.

It is important to find out if what we are being taught is “beyond what is written.” It can be done. How? Simple. Use a concordance. A concordance is the size of an unabridged dictionary and includes every word in the Bible alphabetically, and every scripture that contains each word. Many libraries have one. Or you can order one from your local bookstore. There are some concordances on the internet too. Here is one:  http://bibletab.com

You are an intelligent person. Don’t take for granted what others tell you, no matter how holy they look and act and how much they smile at you or threaten you.  Check things for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. Decide for yourself whether any of your church leaders have gone “beyond what is written.” You can do it: Find out for sure.

It is liberating. Your heart will soar and your soul will embrace God in a whole new way.

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Friday 4/5 ~ A forever thing

The scripture for today, April 5 (4/5), is Micah 4:5 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.”

Nations rise and fall. Nations come and go. Nations are founded upon terror and aggression, or peace and democracy. Some nations follow religions which declare that peasants are peasants as punishment for previous lives, so must remain peasants. Some nations follow religions chosen by their national governments and which must be followed upon pain of death. Some nations deny religion completely and destroy anyone who believes anyway.

What kind of nation do you live in? As strong as your nation is, it cannot control your heart, your spirit, your soul. As strong as your nation seems to be, as much power as your government uses to control its citizens, it will not and cannot last forever.

Always remember, there is a forever nation ~ the nation of God, the kingdom of God. No matter what nation you live in, you can have “dual citizenship”. And by being a citizen of God’s forever kingdom, you will walk in it forever and ever and…

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Thursday 4/4 ~ A sinless anger?

The scripture for today, April 4 (4/4), is Psalm 4:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail“In your anger do not sin.”

You’ve gotta be kidding!  That’s impossible! When you get angry, it’s time to lash out at everyone. And yell and call them names. And show our temper? Maybe even throw a few things? After all, that’s the only way to get across to the other person that you are really angry.

Hold on. If, for instance, you told your child not to do something for their own safety but your child did it anyway, of course you would become angry. Why? Your child put himself in danger because of his action.

You can choose to lash out at your child wildly so that your emotions mask your words. Or you can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers your child was put in because of that action. Maybe punishment is in order. You can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is. You can calmly punish your child without losing your temper.

It is the same way with adults. If you lose your temper and shoot daggers with your eyes and rant and rave, all your actions distract people from your words. Aren’t your words of explanation more important than the emotionalism and yelling? If you were hurt, just say so. If they hurt themselves, just say so.

 And with other adults, tell them how you feel, not how they feel; you don’t really know. Tell them what you want, not what they want; you don’t really know.

While we’re at it, not all words help. Name calling does not help. Name calling is done when you choose not to explain how you feel. Name calling such as, “You’re irresponsible,” locks the other person in and sets them up for future failures between you and them. Losing your temper during anger gets you off the issue and into sin.

If I’m angry because it rained, I do not lash out at the rain. I calmly deal with it and go on with my life.

Next time you are angry at a person, try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that they can truly listen to and learn from. If you have trouble doing this, practice when you’re alone. It will come to you in the right way. It will teach you to remain calm when you’re angry.

Anger is not the same thing as sin. What you do with it can be. Choose a calm anger.  Thereby, you will have a peace that passes understanding.

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Wednesday 4/3 ~ Discovering real truth

The scripture for today, April 3 (4/3), is 1st Timothy 4:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00- Worship Changes KC COVER-thumbnail“They [false teachers] forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.”

It is hard for you to think that smiling, humble, Bible-quoting, holy-looking church leaders could be false teachers and condemned by the God they claim to represent.  We want to think well of everyone. Isn’t that the way Christians are to think? But sometimes thinking well of someone and thinking well of the truth can clash.  Now you have a choice to make ~ a hard choice.

The Apostle Paul, warned of false teachers in the church that would come in the future. Indeed, it did happen. A time came when certain Christians were ordered not to marry, and not to eat certain foods (for instance, on Friday. They claim it is a sin to disobey them and don’t show you the scriptures they refuse to obey.

Remember, your church leaders are going to be judged by God just like everyone else. Always, as the Apostle Peter once warned, “We ought to obey God and not men” (Acts 4:19). Besides, do you think this is one reason people have turned against “organized religion”?

This is why it is important to read the Bible for yourself. Use a concordance to look up all scriptures in the Bible with any keyword and you will learn what is true and not true. Isn’t it time for you to sort through everything you have been told?  Isn’t it time for you to discover pure truth?

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