The scripture for today, March 17, is Zephaniah 3:17 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Oldoldstory-COVER-KINDLE“The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

God sings? It’s right there in the Bible! God sings! We were created in his image. Everyone has music in his or her heart. We inherited it from God.

Therefore, today while riding or walking somewhere, or just sitting at home, why not join God and sing? Sing about salvation. Sing of a mutual love between you and God.
It will delight him…

…and quiet your soul.

The scripture for today, March 15, is Colossians 3:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Bible Puzzles for Young And Old-Cover“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Paul was encouraging the Christians at Colossae to get along with each other. After all, they were all members of the one body ~ the one church. In the next verse he even told them to sing to each other; not only get along, but be thankful their brothers and sisters were who they were.

What a wonderful way to mend a rift. Begin singing. Sing with the person you are not getting along with. Watch the smile on your face drift over to them. Watch the smile on their face rise up out of a heart that really does want to love you.

Let not little things interfere with your love for each other. You do not want to cause pain to your heavenly Father when his children do not get along. Let us please each other ~ and sing!

The Scripture for today, March 13, Is Ezra 3:13 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Kindle-small

Solomon’s great temple had been destroyed and the Jews forced to go to Babylon. Now, 70 years later, they were back and had rebuilt the temple. The older Jews who had seen Solomon’s temple wailed in grief because it was not nearly so grand as Solomon’s. The younger ones shouted for joy because at least they now had a temple again. So the laughing of the young people and the crying of the old people mingled.

Sometimes the laughing and crying around us get too loud and put our lives in confusion. We don’t understand what is going on.

Sometimes the laughing or crying is our own. Sometimes we need to get away from the loud laughing and crying.

Turn off the television. The radio. The phone. The computer. Don’t answer the door. Go into a room where you can be alone in complete silence. Then pick up the Bible and begin to read Luke about the life of Christ, or Philippians about peace, or the Psalms about overcoming adversity, or James about the direction your life is going. Read the whole book in one sitting.

Be still. Hear it now?

It is God calling your heart to his heart.

The scripture for today, March 10, is Colossians 3:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK EIGHT-COME FLY WITH ME-Cover“And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Did you ever make something with your hands and were so proud of it that you would stop at nothing to take care of it and make sure that it lasted forever? You were its creator and it was, in a sense, a part of you.

Do you resist knowing the Bible because you think of it as being full of rules from a God who doesn’t really like you and is just giving you a hard time so you can’t have any fun?

Think again. He is your Creator. He loved you enough to make you, and you are a part of him. Now he wants to take care of you so that you can last forever.

The scripture for today, March 8, is Philippians 3:8 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.”

Wow! Paul, who wrote this, considered everything he had previously owned and every position he had ever held as rubbish ~ garbage ~ compared with belonging to his Lord.

Paul apparently came from a well-to-do family since he was born in today’s Turkey but went to school in Jerusalem. He also apparently held a position in the Jewish ruling body, the Sanhedrin, since he could vote on whether to execute someone. So he probably owned a lot of things and had an honored position. The King James Version of the Bible says he considered it all as dung ~ manure.

Where are your priorities? What do you spend most of your time on? The things you just have to own, physical pleasures you just have to have, the power you just have to claim? All to enhance the little inch of your life on earth? Or the deep and unconquerable love of Christ Jesus your Lord who will enhance your eternity?

The Scripture for today, March 7, is Titus 3:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

REV-Cover-Kindle“So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Being “just” means being correct, being law abiding, being perfect. No one is. Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

But God wants you to live in his home so much that he was willing to overlook your sins and pretend that you are correct, law abiding, perfect ~ just. When you follow God and obey the few commands he has for you in the New Testament, in his eyes you become just.

Not only just, but God has put you in his last will and testament, what we call the New Testament. It contains his guidelines and what you will inherit. It is explained in large part in Revelation ~ God’s heaven. And what an inheritance!

 

The scripture for today, March 6, is Proverbs 3:6 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Bible Women-Createspace“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Our life has so many twists and turns in it, so many short cuts that never work out, so many detours, so many mountains to climb and valleys to make our way through. Life on earth does have its problems, and those are our assignments from God ~ to follow his way instead of Satan’s way.

Our path to heaven is another matter. Our path to heaven is straight. The Bible ~ God’s Word ~ is a path for us. He has done everything in his power to straighten our path and make it easy for us to reach him. How? By providing his Son to die in our place for our sins, and by providing us with His Word to read any time we want and as often as we want.

Paths in this life can and will be bumpy and crooked. But the path to heaven ~ thanks to our merciful God ~ is straight. What path are you on?

The scripture for today, March 5, is Titus 3:5 in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

God is perfectly good and cannot dwell with imperfection. How, then, can we ever live with him in his heaven? After all, as hard as we try, we cannot be perfect. But God loved us so much that he solved our dilemma. He sent his Son to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live.

Then, his perfect “Lamb of God” took our punishment for our sins by paying the fine. Romans 3:23 says the wages of sin is death ~ physical death (separation from this world) and spiritual death ( separation from God).

Jesus took all of God’s anger, terrors, rage, fury saved up from the beginning of time and about to burst ~ all hurled down on sin to destroy it. That would have destroyed us, but Jesus took it all for us. And that included being completely separated from God. At the worst of it, Jesus cried out to God, “Why have your FORSAKEN me?” That’s when Jesus died spiritually for awhile. It was we who deserved to be forsaken by God.

Sin and its power now destroyed, God said if we do as Jesus did and follow what he said, he will consider us perfect also. Such amazing, amazing love!

And this washing mentioned here. It is interesting that here is the “washing of rebirth”, for in Acts 22:16 it says, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins” and in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism in order that…we too may live a new life [rebirth].” God took care of the hard part. He gave us the easy part.

The scripture for today, March 4, is James 3:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“Take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”

James, in this scripture, is talking about the tongue being a small thing, but it can get our entire lives into a lot of trouble. Once we say things, we cannot take them back. What do we spend our day saying to people? We do have a choice. People do more good things than bad things. Do we respond to them with more good or more bad words? It is our choice.

When we compliment someone, they will take heart and try to do that good thing even more. When we berate someone, they will lose heart and probably do the bad thing again. Years ago there was a saying, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” Are your words honey or vinegar?

Jesus said out of our heart comes our words. If we normally say nice things to others, it shows we have a nice heart. If we normally say hard things to others, it shows we have a hard heart. Jesus also said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Just for today go out of your way to say nice things to people. All day. You’ll be a happier person for it. And so will they.

The scripture for today, March 3, is Genesis 3:3 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Bible Women-Createspace” ‘But God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.’ “

This is a conversation Eve is having with Satan in the Garden of Eden. She was a little put out by God that he would withhold even one item from her. So she misrepresented God. What God actually said was….

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Eve had added to what God had said: “You must not touch it.”

Do we do that? When we get put out by someone, do we embellish a little and add a few little things to an event in order to make the other person look worse than s/he really is? Are we in the habit of making ourselves a victim so we can get other people’s sympathy and maybe get other people to act on our behalf?

1st Corinthians 13:5 says love does not keep a record of wrongs. If you have a feud going with someone, try breaking the cycle . 1st Corinthians 13:7 says love protects, always trusts, always hopes. Bring hope back. Then keep hope alive.