Category: Bible

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 4, is 1st Timothy 2:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“[God]…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLDSome people say, “You don’t choose God; God chooses you out of all the other people of the world.” But God wants to choose us all. He wants everyone to be saved. So in what sense does he choose us?

He is kind of like an employer who is looking for people to fill certain positions. He chooses those who qualify. He doesn’t have to choose anyone. By the employer’s grace he chooses people to fill certain positions. He doesn’t have to be in business and he doesn’t have to give someone else a job. He could do the work himself. But he chooses to hire help and give them part of his money.

So how do we qualify for God’s grace? We never deserve it; but because God loves us, he asks just a few things to qualify. Believing is just the first step. Read Romans 10 and Acts 2. Those two chapters pretty much sum up what we do to be qualified. Not many things, but they do qualify us if we follow them.

And remember 2nd Peter 3:9 ~ “He [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance.”

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 3, is Philippians 2:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 4-FOLK HERO-COVER“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

This is probably among the top ten hardest-to-keep commands in the Bible. It’s right up there near loving our enemies.

One time Jesus said that, when we are invited to a banquet and can seat ourselves, we shouldn’t sit at the head table because that seat may be reserved for someone else. If so, someone would have to ask us to move and we would be humiliated. He suggested that instead we sit at one of the back tables. Then, if someone goes to us and says, “Sit up here closer to the front,” we will feel honored. (See Luke 14:811)

Jesus was always a server, helping others to be better. The last time he ate with his apostles before his death, he put on an apron and went around washing their feet.

Apparently none of them felt they should stoop so low as to do it. So the Son of God did it.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 2, is Matthew 2:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

000-BOOK 1-STAR SONG-PRINT COVER-Small“[the Magi/Wisemen] asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

There are people who believe the “star of Bethlehem” was in the east. But the star wasn’t in the east; the wise men (Magi) were in the east.

Many believe the star led the wise men the whole way. But Matthew 2:9 & 10 says, “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they HAD seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

The wise men saw the star while they were in the east and headed in the direction it came from. After they were in Jerusalem, the star reappeared ~ the star they HAD seen in the east. They rejoiced when they saw the star again, not because it had been with them the whole time, but because it had reappeared.

There are so many things about the Bible that we have heard all our life and just assume are true. Investigate things for yourself. Never take a teaching about the Bible for granted. You are smart. Check things out yourself.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 1, is Mark 2:1 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 4-FOLK HERO-COVER“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.”

Just think of it. Jesus coming home. The place where his family lives. The familiar places he’d seen walking around town in earlier years. The familiar faces. Hearing a voice in a crowd and recognizing it and automatically knowing s/he is a neighbor. Being able to walk through a market almost blind folded because the same shops are in their same places selling their same goods.

Has Jesus come home to your heart? Is it familiar to him? Does he recognize you? When he hears your prayers, does he automatically know who you are? Can he walk beside you as you walk through life, knowing the places you will be visiting? Does he live with you?

When he is in your heart, is he home? 

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 31, is Genesis 1:31 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Bkgd-desert-rainbow“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning ~ the sixth day.”

Oh how God loves to spoil us! He didn’t create a barren earth and then order us to get to work and plant something. He got everything just right. And then…. And then…. And then his crowning glory ~ he created us! Special us!

However, as perfect as he made earth, he left some joyful things for us to create ourselves, for he made us like him ~ creative. He left the jewels unmined, the buildings unbuilt, the songs unwritten, the paintings unpainted, the ships unmade, the sculptures uncarved….
Here we are surrounded by everything we need to imitate one part of God ~ his creative side. Today, create something!

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 30, is 1st Corinthians 1:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us “wisdom” from God ~ that is, our…

…righteousness,
…holiness and,
…redemption.”

What is wisdom from God? Here it is spelled out. It is three things. Let’s look at it backwards. When we are redeemed from our sins, we gain God’s holiness and God’s rightness. We don’t know how to be sinless, so we cannot have righteousness and holiness on our own. But Jesus knew how, and so became sinless for us.

We cannot let what He did for us drift by. That is not wisdom. Wisdom is to follow Jesus so He can give us His sinlessness (at least in the eyes of God). What a privilege He has given to us! And how unworthy we are!

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 29, is Colossians 1:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

FunWithBibleNumbers-Cover-Kindle“To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me.”

Wow! Hyper-active Paul, Paul who preached even while in jail, Paul who went back to preaching after he’d been beaten and told not to, Paul with the “A-type personality” said he got all that energy from Jesus Christ (see verse 28).

Who provides your energy? It depends on what you are being driven to do. It depends on what consumes you. It depends on what you’re spending your time doing. It depends on what is on your mind all the time.

Think about it today. On what things do you use the energy of Jesus?

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 28, is 1st Chronicles 1:28 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Kindle-small“The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.”

Are you a parent with a grown or nearly-grown child who is going in the wrong direction? Have you tried everything you can think of, and nothing is working? Do you know in your heart that you have been a good example and things shouldn’t have turned out like they have?

Abraham has been called the Father of the Faithful. Yet he had one son who followed Jehovah ~ Isaac ~ and one son who followed idols ~ Ishmael. Certainly Abraham tried everything he could to “talk some sense” into Ishmael. Certainly he prayed earnestly for Ishmael. So what went wrong?

Just as God has given each of us free will, our children also have free will. Just as God will never force us to follow him, we cannot force our children to follow God. You did not refrain from having your children because they may have difficulties in their life, and neither did God. And when our children rebel and break our hearts, imagine what God goes through when we rebel and break his heart.

Who knows? Perhaps your child will return to God some day in your old age, or even after you have died. If your child deep down has a good heart, that is enough for God to work with. Keep hope alive.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 27, is James 1:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“R0-Cover-KINDLEeligion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Although there are plenty of people who claim they do enough good works that they don’t have to go to church, the opposite occurs also. Do you go to church every time the doors are open, and attend all the potluck dinners, and participate in the singing, and teach a class? So far, so good.

But what about the rest? James says we must do our part to look after people in distress. If we say we don’t have time, we must look at our priorities. We take the time to do what we choose to do. James also says we can’t pray on Sunday and swear on Monday. We can’t sing on Sunday and cheat on Monday. We can’t praise God on Sunday and lie on Monday.

Christianity does include “going to church” because it was commanded in Hebrews 10:25; and Sunday is the day to keep the weekly Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7). But this must be balanced with a moral life and good works. Are you balanced?

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Inspirational, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 25, is James 1:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it ~ he will be blessed in what he does.”

A lot of people do not understand that there was the Law of Moses with over 600 commands in the Old Testament, and the Law of Jesus with very few commands in the New Testament. Colossians 2:14 says Jesus nailed the old Law to the cross. Jesus’ new law is one of freedom from all the requirements of the old law.

Do we really believe this? Some people dip back into the Old Law of Moses to bring back those old forms of worship (musical instruments, separate priesthood, etc.), or to bind people to regulations that are no longer binding (tithing, burning candles, etc.). That has all been nailed to the cross. But how are we supposed to know unless we read the Old Testament ~ not just the stories, but also the commands?

Then we can understand.

Let us truly let loose of the Old Law of Moses and cling to the “perfect Law that gives freedom” in Christ.

Then let us bow to Him in gratitude for doing this for us, and say “Thank you.”