Author: Inspirations By Katheryn

I am kind of a world traveler. I have lived in Korea, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Tokyo, Canada, Afghanistan, India and USA. I remember when President Kennedy was assassinated, watched the first human walk on the moon, Alaska became a state, President Kennedy & Martin Luther King were shot, and the first human walked on the moon. I remember when the first Star Wars movie came out, 900 religiously misguided humans committed suicide in Guyana, when Microsoft was "invented" and the Ayatollah Khoumeini took over Iran, kicked out western companies (employers) and returned his country to the dark ages. I WAS THERE WHEN MOUNT SAINT HELENS BLEW. I remember when the Berlin Wall fell, the Internet was created, the first warm-blooded animal was cloned (a sheep) and the Hubble Telescope was launched - all in the 1980s. And you?

Scripture for Saturday, August 13 (8/13)

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The scripture for today, August 13, is Isaiah 8:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 3-HEARTS AFIRE-COVER“The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary.”

“Holy” in both the Hebrew and Greek means someone or something set aside as very special. Who or what do we daily set aside as someone or something special? Do we in a sense “worship” that person or thing?

Whoever or whatever we worship, we become a slave to. Are we a “slave” to anything in our life? Is there something we cannot control because it controls us? Are we a slave to attention or food or money or power or clothes or houses or cars or etc?

Then, when there is a tragedy in your life, can you rely on those things to get you through? Who or what will be your sanctuary in times of trouble? Will you be able to say, “The Lord Almighty…he will be my sanctuary”?

DISCUSSION QUESTION: DID YOU EVER THINK YOU COULD RELY ON SOMETHING OR SOMEONE ALWAYS, BUT WHEN THINGS GOT HARD, THEY WERE UNRELIABLE?

#trouble, #problems, #refuge, #stuff, #God

Scripture for Friday, August 12 (8/12)

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The scripture for today, August 12, is John 8:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 4-FOLK HERO-COVER“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ “

Jesus had only about six months left to live. He knew the religious leaders were after his life out of jealousy. Before going to Jerusalem, he told his brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me” (John 7:7). Knowing people were wanting to execute him, he slipped into Jerusalem after everyone else got there (John 7:10, 14). Then suddenly he appeared in the middle of the Temple complex ~ the size of many football fields. He knew he was safe as long as there was a crowd.

Jesus answered some private questions, and then “he cried out, ‘You know me! You know where I am from!’ ” (John 7:28).

Every day of this feast, a priest would ceremonially pour out some water to represent the water that poured out of the rock when the Jews wandered in the wilderness. But on the last day, the priest did not do this, for it represented their ancestors finally arriving in the Promised Land. It was on this last day of the feast that Jesus “stood and said in a loud voice… ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him!’ ” (John 7:38f)

First thing the next morning at dawn he returned to the Temple court. Maybe it was a beautiful sunrise. When the sun was up and the crowds returned, he shouted something else to everyone, “I am the light of the world!” (John 8:12).

He had compared himself to the water ceremony of the day before, and now he was comparing himself to the new dawn. There he was. God the Son crying out to humanity. Come to me! I am doing everything I can to help you! Won’t you come? Please listen to me! Please come! I can save you!!!

Such stubborn love.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: DID YOU EVER WARN SOMEONE OF A DANGER SO MANY TIMES THEY BECAME ANGRY AT YOU?

#Water, #Light, #Life, #Love

Scripture for Thursday, August 11 (8/11)

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The scripture for today, August 11, is Romans 8:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

Death literally means separation. Physical death means separation from this body on earth. Spiritual death means separation of our soul from God who is Life. Whenever we sin, our soul dies. It happened to Adam and Eve who didn’t think God meant it when he said, “In the day you eat of the fruit, you will die.” They could no longer walk and talk with God in the garden because they were now separated from him, spiritually dead. With that eventually also came physical death.

There are certain spiritual laws that cannot be broken. For example, it is impossible for God to lie. It is also impossible for God to sin. Therefore, God cannot co-exist with sin. We sin. Another law is that sin demands death. For centuries, God allowed mankind to sacrifice an animal in their place to take their death punishment. But it was just a temporary fix. Finally, he sent the Son in bodily form to be sacrificed in our place and take our death punishment. Now, all we have to do is be “in Jesus” which is accomplished by baptism: Galatians 3:26 says this.

What is the role of our spirit? When we die, we say our spirit has left our body. So, as long as we are alive, it means our spirit is still in us. We are not conscious of our spirit being in us; we just know it is because we are still alive. In the same way, when we become Christians by believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized, God’s Holy Spirit enters us; Acts 2:38 says so. This is when we become spiritually alive; Romans 6:3-4 says so. We are not overtly conscious of God’s Spirit being in us, but we know it is true because our soul is now alive.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: LOOK UP ACTS 2:38. WHAT DOES IT SAY TO PROVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN US? HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD TO DO MORE THINGS THAN THIS?

#death, #Holy Spirit, #Soul, #Baptism

Scripture for Wednesday, August 10 (8/10)

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The scripture for today, August 10, is Nehemiah 8:10b as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:


“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

After exile for 70 years for forsaking God, the Jews were led by Ezra and Nehemiah back to Jerusalem. On a special day, Ezra read the Law of Moses to all the people. And they wept. They were so embarrassed and so sorry they had betrayed God. The above scripture quotation is from that occasion.

But many people find it too humiliating to admit to others that they were wrong. Others find it easy to repent, but never regroup and pull themselves up so they can try again. Still, others say, “What I’ve done is so bad, God could never forgive me.”

God can perform miracles. That means he can forgive the greatest sinner. So grieve. Ask for forgiveness. Then start over fresh ~ innocent in the eyes of God. The joy of the Lord is your strength.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: HAVE YOU EVER ADMITTED TO GOD AND THEN REPENTED OF SOMETHING BAD YOU SAID OR DID? HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTERWARD?

#grief, #forgiveness

Scripture for Tuesday, August 9 (8/9)

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The scripture for today, August 9, is 2nd Corinthians 8:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Such love! Jesus gave up streets of gold for streets full of trash. Gave up a heavenly mansion for a barn. Gave up the ability to be everywhere at once, to being confined to a body. Gave up eternal bliss for 33 years of struggle. Gave up adoring angels for crowds that hated him. And finally, he gave up sinlessness to take the blame for our sins and allow himself to take our punishment.

What have you given up for him lately?

DISCUSSION QUESTION: What kind of daily busy-ness can you give up long-term in order to do more for Christ?

#sacrifice

Election, God, and Us

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This is from the Facebook page of a distant cousin, Dr. John Maddox:

 

Scripture for Monday, August 8 (8/8)

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The scripture for today, August 8, is Zechariah 8:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”

The Jews had done terrible things against God. They had worshiped terrible idols that required ghastly things be done in their honor such as setting up brothels with so-called “priestesses” and sacrificing their children on an altar of fire. They had nailed the doors of the Temple closed. They had broken every one of God’s rules. They had sworn at him, rejected him, hated him.

So God punished them with 70 years of exile in Babylon. It was the boomerang effect. They had rejected God, so God rejected them.

But it was not permanent. God is love and has no choice but to love and give people a second chance. Isn’t He amazing? The God of Second Chances?

DISCUSSION QUESTION: DID YOU EVER GIVE SOMEONE A SECOND CHANCE WHO HAD DONE TERRIBLE THINGS TO YOU?

#SecondChance, #Forgiveness

Scripture for Sunday, August 7 (8/7)

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The scripture for today, August 7, is Hosea 8:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

This is the boomerang effect. We throw a boomerang into the air and no matter how we throw it, it always comes back to us. In the same way, God treats us the same way we treat him.

If we draw near to God, God draws near to us (James 4:8). If we don’t have time for God, God doesn’t have time for us. If we don’t want to do what he says, God doesn’t want to do what we say. If we reject God, God rejects us:

Psalm 9:15-16; Psalm 10:2; Psalm 37:14-15; Psalm 140:9; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 6:27; Proverbs 26:27; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 59:18; Ezekiel 7:8; Obadiah 1:15.

Another viewpoint is that there may be people out there mistreating us. Some day their mistreatment will boomerang right onto themselves. In the meantime, our assignment is to remain true to God with patience and calm. God will take care of the boomerang.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: IF YOU HAVE AN ENEMY, HOW CAN THIS HELP YOU HAND THE PROBLEM OVER TO GOD?

Scripture for Saturday, August 6 (8/6)

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The scripture for today, August 6, is 1st Corinthians 8:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Campbell-Cover-KIMBLE“Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord [Word], Jesus Christ, through whom all things came [by a Word] and through whom we live [by the Word]. But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols.”

We all believe in Jesus, so we think we’re not involved with idols. But we all sometimes idolize something when we should be idolizing Someone. With advertising of things all around us, we are tempted to trade God for things. Having once turned things into our idol, we set Jesus aside.

Oh, we may still worship at least once a week. And pray every morning. We may even read a chapter of the Bible every day. But what do we spend the rest of the day thinking about? Yes, when we’re on the job, we must think about giving our employers an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. And we have families we must love and attend to.

But after that…
                    Then what?

DISCUSSION QUESTION: IS THERE SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE THAT IS SQUEEZING TIME WITH JESUS OUT?

Scripture for Friday, August 5 (8/5)

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The scripture for today, August 5, is Romans 8:5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

That makes sense to a Christian. But how are you supposed to know what the Spirit desires? Certainly, God doesn’t leave you to guessing.

Jesus said in John 14:17 that he was going to send the Comforter ~ the SPIRIT OF TRUTH. And in John 17:17, talking to the same people, he said, GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH. Amazingly simple.

If you want to know what the Spirit desires, then find out what the Word desires. God has given you the Bible full of examples of every possible circumstance and experience of life ~ what works and what doesn’t work.

Someone says, “Well, I shall let the Spirit move my heart.” However, by researching all verses in the Bible where someone’s heart was moved, it was always by God the Father, not God the Spirit. Isn’t that interesting? Not what most of us have been told.

You can always rely on what the Bible says, which is exactly what the Spirit says.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TAUGHT SOMETHING ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU?