Plans you can only imagine

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-NewThe scripture for today, July 30 (7/30), is John 7:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“At this, they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.”

Even thoughm, during the last two years of his life, many people wanted to kill Jesus out of jealousy or fear or pure meanness, he was never afraid to keep teaching. Why? Because he knew he was life and truth and that he came forth from the Father of lights.

Do you feel fear sometimes because of things going on around you? Do we fear failure, or ruin, or false rumors, being stricken by Covid-19, or  imprisonment, or your life? Remember, each life is in the heavenly Father’s hands.

So do not fear. Keep on keeping on. Hold fast. Stand firm. Do the right thing. Stand up for Jesus. And, when someday, your time does come, know that God has everything under control.  He had big plans for Jesus at his death, and he has big plans for you.  Plans you can only imagine.

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewCOME FLY WITH ME is the last book in the 8-novel series THEY MET JESUS. Witness his apostles hiding for fear they will be crucified next. In the depths of despair because all their dreams are dead.  Witness as he interrupts their meal. The tomb really is empty! Witness their last days with him and hoping he really won’t leave them.  Witness as they move their families to Jerusalem then gradually scatter. Witness John, now an old man, reunite with his friend, Jesus, in the heaven of heavens. Click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/ComeToHeaven

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/

 

You can prepare the way for…

The scripture for today, July 27 (7/27), is Luke 7:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

05-Joseph-KindleMedium“This is the one about whom it is written: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ “

Jesus had a difficult task ahead of him.  He had to prove to the world who he was while not scaring them to death with lightning strikes out of the sky or being a giant, or striking unbelievers dead.  So, John the Baptizer announced his coming ahead of time, smoothing out the crooked roads in the hearts of people.

Do you know a dreamer who is struggling to accomplish something very important to them? Have they been in trying to overcome all the obstacles for weeks or months or years?  Do you know anyone who is an obstacle for them? Can you say or do  something to that obstacle in order to help smooth the way for the dreamer? Does this dreamer need something in their climb that you can provide for them? How about encouragement? 

On the other hand, do you have a dream and sometimes slump into times of discouragement or depression? You can prepare “the way” for yourself.  We all have our ups and downs. You know yourself better than anyone. You know best what you need to hear when you are down in order to lift you back up.  Write yourself a letter. Tell yourself what you need to hear. Then put your letter away in preparation for one of your down times.

Life is hard. It is full of both promise and discouragement.  Today, sit down and write yourself that letter.  Then contact someone else for whom you can begin to prepare “the way.”

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05-Joseph-KindleThumbnailJOSEPH is storybook #5 in A CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES.  Joseph was a dreamer.  His dream came true but his path to fulfill it was full of “monsters” and pits and darkness.  Great for children up to age 12 with “think and do” at the end of each chapter. Get the whole set of 10 books.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-bible-heroes-book-5-joseph/

But they acted so holy

Our scripture for today, July 21 (7/21), is Matthew 7:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “

Evil doers?  Church people evildoers?  There are hundreds of denominations and sects out there all contradicting each other. It’s impossible for them all to be right. They cannot all be on different roads going to the same place. They cannot all be pleasing God if we decide opposing things please him.

You can never rely on what someone else says just because they look and act holy and say all the right holy words and phrases and pray such holy-sounding prayers. You must never rely on your religious leaders to tell you what to believe. Shall you take their opinion or God’s opinion?

Romans 10:1 in the Bible mentions some people who had a lot of zeal for God, but were lost because it was not according to the proper knowledge.

Well, how do you get God’s opinion? Read the Bible for yourself! Use a concordance (lists every word in the Bible and every scripture with that word ~ Bible Hub has one on the internet) and look up your chosen subject.  Then, having found the truth, why not go back to your religious leaders in love and try to teach your teachers? Some just might listen to you.

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00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-ThumbnailWORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY is a collection of scriptures (1st-century Christians), statements of famous theologians going back centuries, and statements of 2nd-century Christians about the way God wants to be worshiped, not the way we want to “worship” him. The reader is taken gently step by step toward understanding and acceptance.  It ends with a history of the churches of Christ mostly in Europe from the third to the 18th century.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-worship-the-first-century-way/

Are you frustrated & confused?

The scripture for today, July 18 (7/18), is Acts 7:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.”

Does God really answer prayers? When the Jews first arrived in Egypt, they received “royal treatment” because they were relatives of “Prime Minister” Joseph. Then he died, but his Jewish relatives stayed. Eventually they were resented as foreigners, then feared, then made slaves of the Egyptians.

For the following 400 years, the Jews prayed for God to release them from their slavery. Generation after generation died believing that God does not answer prayers.

But God saw the big picture. He saw that the 70 relatives of Joseph who originally went to Egypt would become more than three million over the next four centuries. Then and only then would they be large enough to begin a new nation ~ the Jewish nation. In Egypt during those centuries, they were in a form of “protective custody”.

Are you frustrated and confused because God is seemingly not answering some very important prayers? Perhaps you are part of a bigger picture that God only knows about. Perhaps your job is to stay where you are and just keep hanging on. Waiting is hard to do. Are you up to the task God has assigned  you?

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Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail365 SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S is one of the TOUCHING GOD trilogy.  Beautiful gift book with papyrus font inside and original art work on the cover by famed watercolorist Betsy Kemp Thompson.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2AeBR4I

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/365-silver-winged-prayers-your-spirit-to-gods/

He just hung on

The scripture for today, July 13 (7/13), is in Job 7:13ff in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail“When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”

Job was extremely depressed. It happens to everyone sometimes. His depression was certainly valid ~ he had lost all his income and all his children in a recent storm. Now he had what the Bible translated as “boils” but the symptoms indicate he had a form of leprosy called Elephantiasis.

This particular form leads to nightmares in addition to the physical problems. Job had every right to be depressed. So depressed was he, that he no longer wanted to live, for his life no longer had meaning.

But, as miserable as Job was, he hung on. Patiently he hung on during the bad times. Sometimes during your bad times, the greatest thing you can do is “hang on” ~ be patient.

Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good to those who love the Lord. Job loved the Lord. Even in his misery and desire to die,  he continued to love God and trust Him.

And, although at such times you may believe your misery will never end and you will never even smile again, it will happen. The misery comes to an end. It did for Job. He got his health and wealth back and more children to comfort him. God will see you through too.

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Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail375 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS is book 2 in the TOUCHING GOD SERIES.  Each day has one proverb and a passage from Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or Song of Songs.  Cover is original art by famed watercolorist and Christian, Betsy Kemp Thompson.  Interior is dramatic papyrus font.  Beautiful gift book.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3epvDgU

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/365-pearls-of-wisdom-gods-soul-to-yours/

Intellectually Lazy

The scripture for today, July 6 (7/6), is Mark 7:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible.   

“He [Jesus] replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ ”

It is the trend today to say that all religions ~ even those who teach opposing things ~ are right, and all are good. It is the trend today to say all gods are the same God, and we are all going to the same heaven if we’re at least pretty good.

It’s not that simple. Jesus did not say this. Well, then, how do we know which religious things we are taught and do today are from God and which from men?

You are smart. Don’t be lazy.  Read the holy books of all major world religions for yourself. Who knows? What you have been told all your life may be wrong.  Do the other holy books have built-in proofs they really originated from God?  Perhaps scientific, archaeological, ancient inscriptions, prophecies fulfilled? Here is a website with those holy books on it:  https://www.sacred-texts.com  Here is a website with nearly 400 proofs the Bible is from God:

casagrandechurchofchrist.com/bible-proofs/

If you conclude the Bible is true, use a concordance and do a study of everything the Bible says about any topic. That way, you will have God’s opinion, not men’s. Here is a website with an online Bible concordance and it’s easy to use: bibletab.com 

You can find out for yourself,~ you can KNOW ~ whether what you were told to believe by family, friends, and leaders is what God told you to believe.  Stop being intellectually lazy.  Your eternity depends on it.

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THE HOLY SPIRIT: 592 VERSES EXAMINED.  There is no other study of the Holy Spirit in existence like it.  Look at every verse in the Bible about God’s Spirit and know for sure.  It is time to stop chasing after people’s favorite sayings and beliefs and learn the truth.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3f1c9ju   

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-the-holy-spirit-in-365-scriptures/

Too much to fathom

I praise you, Jehovah, Creator of everything I observe and more.  You are too large to see all of you. You are too small to perceive your intricacies, too much to fathom, too wise to comprehend. You are my monarch, my sovereign, my emperor, my king.  You reign over my heart, my mind, my spirit, my soul.  And one day I will see you face to face. What will it be like? Actually seeing he who made the universe with over two trillion galaxies filled with one hundred thousand million stars.  And you know them all by name.   Better, you know me by name. 

There are people in the world who are unholy unbelievers in you. The only time they accept your existence is to blame you for bad things happening.  I do not always know what to say to them. I cannot get past their bitterness toward you and their degradation of me for being so naïve to believe in you. Lord, forgive me for not reading more of their writings so I can tell better what is motivating them and what will open their heart. 

Thank you for the rain we had to nourish my thirsty garden. How do you make such fantastic things out of tiny seeds? Beets with one seed, carrots with another seed, radishes with another, corn, wheat, beans, tomatoes ~ all from tiny seeds.  I put them under ground, they die, then they come back to life in delightful assorted sizes, shapes, colors, and tastes. Oh, how you must enjoy creating and giving life. Such pleasure you must receive from watching my little garden grow. I do too, Lord. I do too. 

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Clouds in blue sky

CHRISTIANITY OR ISLAM: THE CONTRAST can be given to a Muslim without offending them.  One third of the book quotes from the Quran and then from the New Testament on the same subjects. The second third explains misunderstandings Muslims have of Christianity. The third third is statements of 100 Muslims I have taught who believe Jesus is the Son of God and not just a prophet.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….   https://bit.ly/3ivhamD

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Twelve Trillion Dollars

The scripture for today, June 30 (6/30), is 1st Kings 6:30 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.”

About 50 years ago, it was figured that Solomon put $3 trillion worth of gold in the temple to line the ceiling, walls, and floor. And that figure would probably be around $12 trillion today. Talk about streets of gold in heaven!

There are some people today asking for money to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Even if they accomplished it, what would it do for Christians? The book of Hebrews in the New Testament explains to the Hebrew (Jewish) Christians that they no longer need or want the temple. Why? Hebrews 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant (Testament) ‘new’ he has made the first one [Old Testament] obsolete.”

Let’s look at the temple in a spiritual sense through the eyes of a Christian ~ and of Jesus himself in Hebrews 9.  1 “Now, the FIRST  COVENANT  [TESTAMENT]  had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 7 Only the High Priest entered the inner room [Most Holy Place]…and never without blood.…. 11When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle [temple] that is not man-made. 12. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood [He being the Lamb of God ~ John 1], having obtained eternal redemption. 24. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered HEAVEN  ITSELF. For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a NEW  COVENANT  [TESTAMENT].’

Why in the world would anyone want an imitation temple and holy of holies made with hands back in Jerusalem again, along with all the animal sacrifices on the altar, and priests who would have to be of the Tribe of Levi, and tithing and all the other over 600 laws of Moses? It makes no sense.

Thank God, we live in a more spiritual age ~ the age of Christ and the temple of heaven itself.

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WORSHIP THE FIRST CENTURY WAY is one of a pair on worship. The other is WORSHIP CHANGES SINCE THE 1ST CENTURY.  Each chapter is about a different form of worship and quotes the Bible, famous theologians, and 2nd century Christians.  Written for religious leaders of all denominations.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/37akvlF

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-worship-the-first-century-way/

Invincible Faith

The scripture for today, June 29 (6/29), is John 6:29 , as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

“Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: To believe in the one he has sent.’ “

Yes, it is true that the gift of salvation is just that ~ a gift, a free gift. That’s because God was the only one powerful enough to overcome Satan.  Satan wanted God’s death as a ransom in order to free you from your bondage to him. God gave Satan what he thought he wanted because it resulted in Jesus destroying the power of Death.

And it is true that you cannot be good enough to earn salvation from Satan because you don’t know how to be sinless, and heaven can only be occupied by the perfectly sinless. Satan is always lurking in the shadows to lure you back. It only takes one sin to be a dinner.

But at the same time, James 2:18 says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” In other words, there are things you need to do to obtain salvation. You have to believe there is a gift for you somewhere, walk over to it, reach out, and grasp it.

Believing is a work because you have to find and spend time listening to or reading the Word before you can believe. And Jesus himself said believing (faith) is a work.

How do you go about obtaining faith? By believing what other people tell you to believe? Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing/reading the Word of God ~ the Bible. It is going directly to God’s Words to find out for yourself. It takes a little bit of work to read through it. But then, you can know that what you believe is really what God said.

What a marvelous, delightful, magnificent thing it is to find out what this invisible God did for you and to bask in the glory of such knowledge through invincible faith.

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NAAMAN’S MAID is storybook #3 in A CHILD’S BIBLE KIDS.  Often it is the children who teach the grownups.  This little girl has so much faith, she was sure her master could and would be healed by the prophet Elisha.  Such examples the little children are for us.  “Think and Do” at the end of each chapter. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………https://bit.ly/38dRhmK

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What kind of building is your body?

The scripture for today, June 19 (6/19) is 1st Corinthians 6:19f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”

Your body is pretty valuable. The purchase price was high.  Jesus bought you back from Satan with something very expensive ~ his body and the blood within it.

This world’s temples are sometimes small and sometimes large. Sometimes plain, sometimes fancy. Sometimes there is complete silence in a temple. And sometimes it echoes with song. Sometimes it has many people, sometimes it stands alone. People can usually figure out that each is a temple, whether or not it has a sign.

Can people tell what you are without you having to tell them? When your family and friends need a place of quiet and rest, can they come to you? When people need a place of joy, can they come to you? After you part company with someone, are they glad you’re gone, or do they feel good about themselves and look forward to the next time they can be with you?

What kind of building would you describe your body?

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0-Mefiboset-KINDLE ThumbnailMEFIBOSET: CRIPPLED PRINCE had a deformed body.  he could not walk, even with crutches. His legs atrophies. But he was handsome like Grandfather Saul and had no enemies like father Jonathan.  With his sense of humor and “trick crutches” he got out of messes everywhere he went.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2ywrqJi

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