Category: Bible

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

00-COVER-KINDLE“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 who 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 before has ever told me they were praying for me.” After awhile, you will begin receiving word from some of them, “I am praying for you too.”

Prayer is wonderful. It is most wonderful when it centers, not on yourself, but on struggling in prayer for others.

One by one you will begin seeing amazing answers in the lives of those you pray for. And that’s a promise!

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, Uncategorized2 Comments

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

Bible Puzzles for Young And Old-Cover“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 questions of, “If God is so good, why did he allow me/my relative to become deaf/blind?”.

God gives each of us an assignment in life. Everyone has something to overcome. The challenge is for us to do it 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 is showing in you. And the more we have to rely on God, the more faith we can show in God.

After all, 2nd Corinthians 6:1 says we are workers together with God. This is your assignment. What a privilege!

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

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“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.”

We human 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 of sin is death. In the Old Testament era, God let people kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned, but it had to be done over and over. Then God put a stop to that by sending his Son to us for awhile with a body, so his Son’s body could be killed (paying our wages) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to “live 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, we begin to live a new life, we are born again.

But 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. We are not saved by good works because we are still sinners, but we do demonstrate our salvation through the love of God by good works (James 2). 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).

This is love.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Inspirational, Uncategorized1 Comment

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

0-BOOK EIGHT-COME FLY WITH ME-Cover“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 about in 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 hell, tolerating persecution, sometimes hunger, seldom staying in a city longer than a year, always on the go, never satisfied with the number of people he had reached with the News. Now he was in prison.

“For 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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The scripture for today, April 7, is Proverbs 4:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

The verse just before this says, “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.” And the verse just after today’s says, “Esteem her and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.”

How do we get wisdom? The Bible is full of it. Proverbs was written by Solomon, the wisest man in the world. Just reading and applying Proverbs would give a person wisdom. And the entire Old Testament gives examples of numerous people through the centuries who did or did not do right, and the result of their decisions.

Many religious people neglect the Old Testament. It is not always pleasant reading. But by reading it, we can avoid the mistakes made by many, and perhaps gain courage to imitate the courageous ones who made the right choices.

How about reading the Bible through every year? To read both the Old and New Testament through in a year would take about 20 minutes a day. Some people have read the entire Bible front to back forty or fifty times. Make this a priority in your life. It will give you wisdom.

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

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“…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 now the prophecy of the apostles had been written down.

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 a large-city telephone book in fine print and includes every word in the Bible 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. 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. And you will be liberated by what you learn.

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

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“In your anger do not sin.”

This seems like an impossibility. After all, when people get angry, don’t they lash out at other people? And yell and call them names? And show their 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.

Not so. If a child, for instance, does what s/he was just told not to do, we became angry. Angry at the dangerous consequence of their action. Angry at not doing something to make that child a better person.

We can choose to lash out at the child wildly so that our emotions mask our words. Or we can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers that child was put in because of that action, or the missed opportunities. We can even punish a child without losing our temper. We can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is.

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

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

Let us try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that the person who has angered us can truly listen to and learn from. If we have trouble doing this, practice when we’re alone. It will come to us in the right way. It will teach us to remain calm when we’re are angry. When we are angry, we must not sin.

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

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“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.”

The author, the apostle Paul, is warning 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).

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).

This is why it is important to read the Bible for yourself. You are smart enough. It is easy to understand. You can do it!

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The scripture for today, April 2, is Exodus 4:2f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied.”

God had just called Moses to go into Egypt and free his people from their slavery ~ one man against an entire nation. Moses objected that he couldn’t do it. Five times In Exodus 3 and 4 he argued with God. “BUT I’m not famous,” “BUT they won’t believe I come from the God of their ancestors,” “BUT they won’t believe God sent me, “BUT I’m not a good speaker,” “JUST send someone else.”

Then God replied, “What is that in your hand?”.

Moses had a staff. God showed him how to use it to perform miracles. Today, are you using excuses to claim there is nothing you can do for the cause of God and salvation? God challenges you: “What is that in your hand?” It is a steering wheel, a shovel, thread, a computer, a spoon, a wrench, a cookbook, a band aid. Whatever is in your hand, God can use to bless people through you.

You are God’s hands and feet. Use them.

Today.

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The scripture for today, April 1, is Ephesians 4:1 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

Jesus sometimes offended people. His apostles sometimes offended people. Specifically, the Apostle Paul sometimes offended people, and as he wrote he told people how to get to heaven God’s way instead of man’s way (which is impossible anyway).

But did it stop the Christians from telling people about the way to escape hell and go to heaven? Never. They loved people so much, they were willing to take insults and persecution and imprisonment and even death in the hopes that their persistent love would eventually lead to people becoming Christians and being saved from eternal hell. They knew their calling as Christians.

How about us today? Do we live a life worthy of our calling as Christians by standing up for Jesus and reaching out to the lost, regardless of the cost? Or do we cower and use the excuse, “Once people see my godly life, they will ask me how to be saved”?  How many times do the lost really do that?

Let us stand tall as brave soldiers of the Lord. Let us march into enemy territory and do everything we can to snatch the lost out of the claws of Satan.

No matter what they do to us.