The scripture for today, April 27, is Acts 4:27b as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“…your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.”

In this prayer of early Christians, they acknowledged that God had anointed Jesus. What does anointing mean? In the Old Testament, men were anointed to become the high priest or the king.

Aaron was the very first high priest (Leviticus 6:20,22) and his son [and descendants] who succeeded him as high priest was also anointed. Saul was the very first king of the Jews (I Samuel 15:1) and he and all succeeding kings were anointed. This was a form of coronation.

And so when God anointed Jesus, he made him both high priest and king. Hebrews 4:14 says, “we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.” And in Mark 15:2, Jesus acknowledged that he was King.

And so we worship him.

Campbell-Cover-KIMBLEThe scripture for today, April 26, is Galatians 4:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.”

What is “the Jerusalem that is above”? Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Aha! The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ! So, what is the Bride of Christ? Ephesians 5:25,27 says, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy…and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

The Bible always interprets itself. Search through it, and you will find the answer to all your questions.

The scripture for today, April 25, is Proverbs 4:25 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

There are a lot of interesting and fun distractions in life, so we have to remind ourselves over and over what is most important to us. We have only so much time in a day and in a lifetime. We can run back and forth from one fun thing to another, one power thing to another, one great–looking thing to another and keep wondering what our life is for.

God pretty much treats us the way we treat him. If we don’t like being around him, he doesn’t much like being around us. If we don’t like listening to his word (the Bible), he doesn’t much like listening to our word (prayer). If we don’t like to spend special time with him, he doesn’t much like to spend special time with us. God gives us the same courtesy we give him. God will not force himself on us, for he is a Gentleman.

So what do you have in your sights to do today? Next year? The rest of your life?

The Scripture for today, April 24, is Jeremiah 4:24 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“I looked at the mountains and they were quaking, all the hills were swaying.”

REV-Cover-KindleWe have expressions that something is “as eternal as the mountains” or “as old as the hills”. Perhaps earthquakes are a good reminder to us that nothing on earth is eternal. That also includes things, people, power, position, belongings.  Eventually they quake and sway and are gone. Only that which is spiritual is forever.

The scripture for today, April 23, is Mark 4:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

FunWithBibleNumbers-Cover-Kindle“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Some of us read a passage in the Bible and say, “I know it says that, but it doesn’t mean that.” We just don’t want to hear it.

It’s hard to admit we are wrong, isn’t it? It’s human nature. And in the realm of religion, it is even harder because we’re talking about our eternal soul. So reading that we’re supposed to be doing or not doing something that we’ve never followed before is like being on a bridge over a roaring river, and suddenly realizing the bridge is breaking and we are not as safe as we thought we were. Let us take our human egos out of the way.

Let’s say, for example, you have a wood or cooking project. If you leave a major step out, it results in your creation not turning out right. You might turn a blind eye to the correct way, give up and throw your creation away so that you never have the joy of whatever you were creating. Or you may go back and check what you have done until you find your mistake, are glad you found the mistake, see it with seeing eyes, correct it, and then have the joy of your creation.

Let us not fight God like spiritual teenagers trying to boss their parents. We are God’s creation. He is just trying to help us.

Instead of spiritual blindness and deafness, let us have eyes that truly see, and ears that truly hear the Word of God.

The scripture for today, April 22, is Proverbs 4:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“…for they [my words] are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.”

Nearly everyone with a Bible picks it up at some time or another and reads something out of it. But random reading is like picking up a novel and randomly reading a few passages now and then. The passage itself may be beautiful, but does not have a lot of meaning without knowing what came before and after that passage in the novel.

It is the same with God’s Word. Read the entire Bible. Perhaps you can read a chapter a day. Or, if you want to read it through in a year, you can count the total number of pages in your Bible, divide by 365, and read that number of pages each day. This way you will know all the things that occurred before and after your favorite scriptures. Then they will take on new meaning for your life.

Proverbs even says this adds to your health. Do you suffer from any physical problems caused by anxiety? A lot of physical problems are. This is yet another reason to know the Word of God.

How amazing!

The scripture for today, April 21, is Mark 4:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?”

Jesus said something similar in Matthew 5:14f, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Do you spend your energy on yourself and family? That is good, but try going further. Do something for someone else. But who? It requires looking around. Looking around your neighborhood, your school, your job, your club, your community.

Always keep looking around. Keep searching for little nooks and crannies in the lives of others where you can bring the light of a good deed to someone’s world.

And God will be praised.

 

The scripture for today, April 20, is 1st John 4:20 as found in the New Testament the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”

Jealousy and hatred are very much akin. Are there people you are jealous of? Do they have a position you want, and so you say and do things to undermine their character or work, so you can get their position? Do you have a position you love, and there is a new person who could perform better, so you undermine that person’s ability in order to protect your position?

God eliminates jealousy this way: What you accomplish in public isn’t as important to him as what you accomplish in private.

Jesus said those who receive acclamation by people already have their reward, so will not be acclaimed by God (Matthew 6:1-5, 16-18). As much as it goes against human nature, prefer to do your good deeds in private, and God will reward you openly.

The scripture for today, April 19, is 1st Corinthians 4:19a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing.”

God knows each step you take through life. He knows all the roads you take in each phase of your life, and what is awaiting you at the other end. The road you are on today may lead you to where you do not want to be. But not being able to see the future, you do not always know that.

The writer of the above scripture was telling his friends he was coming to see them soon “if the Lord is willing.” Sometimes a decision seems so right. But there may be danger on the way. Or there may be a different road to take leading you to somewhere even better.

Thank God he does not say yes to all of our prayers. Try to remember, when you ask God for things, to add “Your will be done”. His will is for you to have the best life possible.

The scripture for today, April 18, is 2nd Corinthians 4:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK EIGHT-COME FLY WITH ME-Cover“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

In a sense, what is unseen is the true reality. We cannot see love, but we see its influence, and it is stronger than anything in the world that we can see. We cannot see God, but we can see his influence, and he is more real than anything in the world that we can see.

Sometimes we all say we wish we could see God and touch God. But if that were the case, he wouldn’t be God, for he couldn’t be everywhere at once. He would only be able to hear the prayer of one person at a time, and only able to answer the prayer of one person at a time. By being unseen by human eyes, God can be everywhere.

Thereby each of us can feel that we are God’s special ones.