Scripture for Sunday, October 23 (10/23)

The scripture for today, October 23, is Jeremiah 10:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”

Just how are we supposed to know what steps God has directed us to take? Do we have to guess, rely on a feeling, depend on the movement of our heart, a vision?

Actually, we have a guide, a road map.

Jesus said in John 14:16-17 that after he left, the Father would send another Counselor ~ the Spirit of Truth. In John 16:13 Jesus said The Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth.” In John 17:17, Jesus said, “Your Word is truth.”

Yes, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, guides us through the Word of God, the Bible.

We don’t have to guess! We don’t have to wonder! We don’t have to get discouraged! God has given us his Word to direct our steps. All we have to do is open his Word and read the map.

#Guide, #HolySpirit, #SpiritOfTruth, #Bible, #RoadMap, #Direction

Scripture for Monday, October 17 (10/17)

The scripture for today, October 17, is Romans 10:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

The King James version reads “Therefore, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Faith is not just a feeling or responding to what a friend tells us. It is not responding to a spiritual book or to a religious movement. Faith is the result of hearing/reading the Word of Christ, the gospel ~ for ourselves ~ all of it!

Faith is based on knowledge; zeal is not enough (Romans 10:1). Faith is based on considering the evidence; a feeling in one’s heart is not enough (Hebrews 11:1).

All who study the Bible for yourself are doing the right thing. Do not rely on anything but what you have read for yourself. All other religious people are going to be judged by God just like you and I are. When compared to God’s Word, their word is not important.

We are trying to please God, not people. We are worshiping God, not people. Let us rely only on what He says, and know for sure.

#Bible, #GodsWord, #Creeds, #Opinions, #Worship, #Choice, #Faith, #Truth

Scripture for Sunday, October 16 (10/16)

The scripture for today, October 16, is Acts 10:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.”

This is about a vision where God let down a sheet full of animals that were “unclean” or not allowed to be eaten according to the Law of Moses. (See Leviticus 11:1-8.) God told Peter he could now eat them.

Peter already knew that Jesus nailed the Old Law of Moses to the Cross (Colossians 2:14). But it just hadn’t sunk in yet. As many times as Jesus told his apostles about his Sonship of God and proved it with astounding miracles, it wasn’t until just before his death that Jesus told them, “You believe at last!” (John 16:31).

Similarly, sometimes we read the same scripture over and over and it goes right over our heads. We are not seeing what God wants us to see. We assume that what we’ve always been doing will always be right. We assume that others in church do things a certain way, so it has to be right.

Let us search everything in the scriptures on topics that we assume we know all about, and get everything God has to say about it. Then let us compare.

It IS possible to get God’s opinion on things, and that is priceless.

#EyeOpening, #Awareness, #Acceptance, #Prejudice, #Defiance, #Bible, #Scripture, #God’sOpinion

God is calling to you from the Bible. Open it and listen.

god-calling-fm-bible-open-listen-medium

Scripture for Tuesday, October 4 (10/4)

The scripture for today, October 4, is Romans 10:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

When Jesus nailed the Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14) it came to an end. Thank God. There were over 600 commandments in the Law of Moses, not just the “ten commandments.” They were tedious. Try reading Leviticus and see if you can keep every commandment in it.

Jesus was the only one who ever kept the Law perfectly (Hebrews 4:15). Once that occurred, he could be the Perfect Lamb of God without blemish, and he could be sacrificed on the altar of the world (the cross) in our place ~ take the punishment for our sins.

And with his death came the introduction of a New Law covered in the New Testament. Read the New Testament in its entirety. It is not tedious. It is beautiful. Let us not try to dip back into the Old Law and bring back showy worship practices done back them. The Book of Hebrews explains it all. He put the Old Law to death and gave us a new and wonderful and simple law of grace and love.

#LawOfMoses, #LawOfJesus, #Cross

Scripture for Saturday, October 1 (10/1)

The scripture for today, October 1, is Romans 10:1f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Acts of the Apostles-Cover-Kindle“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for ______ is that they may be saved. For I can testify bout them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.”

Being “religious” isn’t enough. There are lots of religions. Feeling “spiritual” isn’t enough. There are lots of differing religions that induce a “spiritual” feeling. Confidence of salvation isn’t enough. There are lots of differing religions that create questionable confidence of salvation. Dedication to prayer isn’t enough. There are lots of differing religions that require much prayer.

Sincere Christian leaders today may want us to rely on feelings and inducements and confidence and dedication, but they can be sincerely wrong. If we base our salvation on feelings and inducements and confidence and dedication only, we have zeal, but our zeal is not based on knowledge. Some may defensively call “knowledge” legalism.

God gave us his Word ~ the Bible ~ for a reason. He wanted us to reason. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is accepting the evidence ~ not wishful thinking. Romans 10:17 says faith comes from hearing/reading the Word of God for ourselves ~ not someone’s sermon. Let us search the scriptures daily for ourselves. And, let us not be afraid to approach our religious leaders and try teaching the teachers.

Then their zeal, as well as ours, can be based on knowledge.

#zeal, #knowledge, #salvation

Scripture for Friday, September 30 (9/30)

The scripture for today, September 30, is Luke 9:30f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”

Hebrews 5:7 says something very startling to most people. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.”

Jesus did not look forward to going to the cross, even though many thousands of others had died that way. Why was it different for him? Because he had to take on all our sins as though he had committed them himself ~ every lie we’ve told, every gain from cheating, every insult, every slander campaign against another, every adultery, every murder ~ everything ~ all our sins! How could he bear it?

Not only that, but he had to experience both physical and spiritual death. Spiritual death means being separated from, being forsaken by God. What a terror to experience!

And so, a few weeks before his crucifixion, as he prayed on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared to him and they spoke about his death. They surely gave him courage to do what had to be done to save you and me who deserve hell.

The crowning glory of this conversation with Moses and Elijah is that God reassured him by announcing, “THIS IS MY SON! WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN! LISTEN TO HIM!”

Jesus was to nail the Old Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14). He had promised people, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

Indeed, by the time Jesus returned to heaven, he had lived the Old Law introduced by Moses perfectly ~ something no man had ever been able to do. And by the time he returned to heaven, he had fulfilled every prophecy about his birth, life, and death, the first such prophet being represented by Elijah.

Oh the things Jesus went through for us. We fall at his feet and worship him.

#Law, #crucifixion, #hell, #death, #prophecies

Scripture for Thursday, September 30 (9/30)

The scripture for today, September 29, is Matthew 9:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 3-HEARTS AFIRE-COVER“Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’ “

Sometimes when we pray for healing during sickness, a well-meaning friend will say, “Well, you haven’t been healed because you didn’t have enough faith.” But Jesus did not heal everyone according to their faith.

The boy in Nain he brought back to life (Luke 7:14-15) did not have any faith at all. The girl in Capernaum he brought back to life (Luke 8:51-56) did not have any faith at all. When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-9) the hosts did not have any faith at all.

This is encouraging because often we pray for the healing of non-religious friends. It would be futile to ask God to bring them back to health if it depended on their faith all the time. But he is not a God of futility. He is a God of hope.

#Faith, #Hope

Scripture for Sunday, July 24 (7/24)

The scripture for today, July 24, is Matthew 7:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

The problem we have with putting into practice the Words of God is that we sometimes read blindly. We don’t see the significance of something. We may read it over and over for years and never see its significance.

Take, for example, the story of Jesus’ birth. We sometimes see pictures of baby Jesus in a stable with the shepherds and three wise men all gathered around him. But Matthew 2:11 says by the time the wise men arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. Further, the Bible does not say how many wise men there were; it just says they gave three kinds of gifts ~ gold, incense and myrrh.

How about 1st Timothy 3:2? “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.” This word “overseer” is sometimes translated bishop, sometimes elder, and sometimes pastor. It’s all the same office. We might think at first glance that we believe all this. But do we glaze over the fact that he must have a wife? Hmmm….

Here’s another one. At funerals we often quote Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.” But for the Christian, there are no shadows in the valley of death. Jesus

was born “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:79).

Oh, so many things we overlook ~ meaningful things. Let us continue to study God’s Word daily with our mind and heart open to new things we never realized before so that we can build the house of our lives “on the rock.”

Scripture for Friday, July 22 (7/22)

The scripture for today, July 22, is 2nd Samuel 7:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”

How do we know there is no God but the God of the Bible that we read about and “hear with our own ears” (when scriptures are read aloud)?

How do we know our God is the only true God, and our Bible his only true words? Numerous built-in proofs. Prophecies fulfilled of people and entire nations as given in the Bible and verified in secular encyclopedias. Scientific facts not known in early centuries. Over 300 archaeological facts.

Therefore, Christians can KNOW what God is like, what he wants and how he views us, for we have heard with our own ears and seen with our own eyes. How lucky we are. How blessed.