Sunday 7/7 ~ Extra seeking and knocking

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

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

How beautiful. The Creator of the universe pays attention to each and every one of us. How does he do it? How does he even sort us all out when thousands of us are praying to him at the same time?

But sometimes you may think he is not listening to your prayers. But it takes time to answer some of them. If I am praying to meet my future husband or wife, God may have to move him or her from the other side of the country, get a new job for him or her, and arrange for the two of you to “accidentally” bump into each other. This is just one example.

At other times you may ask for something like winning a ball game. When Jesus said whatever we seek will be given to you, he had already explained that you must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). So, within that context, God will give you your heart’s desire.

Maybe today you can do a little bit of extra seeking and extra knocking.

 

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnailSILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRT TO GOD’S contains 365 prayers of praise, repentance, and thanksgiving. It is up to you to decide what to ask for, but I think after the other three parts, your requests will be a little bit you and a whole lot others.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/32fgoSL

 

 

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Friday 6/28 ~ It’s okay to smile again

The scripture for today, June 28 (6/28), is Luke 6:28f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 

There was a book published several years ago entitled, Hurt People Hurt People. Have you been hurt? Perhaps by an insult, a neglect, an illness, losing your job?  Have you turned bitter? Do you lash out at everyone, or a group of people or a particular someone?

One method of lashing out is when someone tries to console someone who has lost a loved one in death by saying, “I know how you feel.” Then the hurt person lashes out at the other person and says, “You DON’T know how I feel!  How dare you pretend that you do!”

That is a hurt person trying to hurt someone else. It’s as though they are bragging, “My hurt is so amazingly great, any effort on your part to understand is puny and not worthy of the greatness of my hurt.”

How do you react to your pain? Do you run people off?

Stop letting that old hurt punish you. Stop putting your life on hold and living in the moment over and over for eternity. Stop being the victim and the aggressor both. You’re killing yourself ~ your mind, your spirit, your soul.

It is okay to smile again. Try it in private. Then in public. It is okay to let it go and hand it over to God. It is okay, when you feel cursed, to not curse back. It is a blessing to bless.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailTHE GOD-KING:  SHADOW OF DEATH tells of Jesus’ last few hours before and during his death.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/322IUXp

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Tuesday 6/25 ~ It’s your assignment

The scripture for today. June 25 (6/25), is Matthew 6:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

06-Moses Thumbnail Cover“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

Do you sometimes wonder how God can allow people to starve with such a promise as this?  Try to remember the Big Picture.

Remember the Jews being in slavery in Egypt for 400 years? They must have prayed thousands of times to be freed, but most died still in slavery, believing their prayers never had been answered. God had a greater plan for them ~ a plan to give them time to multiply from the original 70 people who went to Egypt to the over 3 million who left Egypt.

So, too, God has a Master Plan for each person and each nation. It is your assignment to hang on and keep believing in Him and that which you do not understand. That means you may have to sacrifice something important to you for a future generation. It may even mean sacrificing your life for a future generation.

You may not understand, but God always does.

06-Moses Thumbnail CoverA CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES: MOSES is understood from ages 3 and up.  Large print and hyphens between long words to help the early reader.  “Think and Do” at the end of each chapter for the child to do a good work like sing a song, take a cookie to a neighbor.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2ZWOgBZ

 

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Monday 6/24 ~ The Lord bless & keep you

The scripture for today, June 24 (6/24), is Numbers 6:24f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAIL“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

This beautiful blessing from the Bible has been set to music and turned into a spiritual song. Enter this on the internet, and you should be able to hear it sung: http://bit.ly/1HAztLI

Sit back, close your eyes and imagine you singing or saying this to someone who does not understand God.

 

LOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS BRIDE, ECCLESIA is an adaptation of Song of Solomon with each chapter a love letter to or from the church, Jesus’ bride.  A great gift.  A great reminder of who we are. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2IEkSdE

 

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Friday 6/21 ~ Slave Trading

The scripture for today, June 21 (6/21), is Romans 6:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-LUKE-KINDLE Cover-Thumbnail“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Sometimes you do things you are ashamed of and decide God would be too ashamed of you to accept you as his child. But God can get rid of the shame, for he can forgive so completely, it is as though you never did those things.

Do you bristle at the phrase “slaves to God” or “slaves to Christianity” or even slavery at all? But we’re all slaves to something ~ a big car, high position, beauty, a hobby, chasing after the opposite gender, reading, eating, music, sports, etc.  What are you a slave to?

From the beginning of time, anyone giving up their perfection by sinning always belonged to Satan who rewarded anyone following him with death. Death means “separation”, and in the case of sin, it means separation from God and belonging to Satan instead. God appeased Satan and held him off in Old Testament times whenever a sinner (everyone) killed a perfect animal in their place. But they had to keep doing it throughout life. Then Jesus came as our perfect Lamb of God and allowed himself to collect the wages for all of everyone’s sins and be killed in our place.

The reward of death was collected from Satan by Jesus.  Yes, Satan paid mankind’s wages to Jesus. He set us free from Satan. Now we voluntarily make ourselves slaves to the one who freed us.

00-LUKE-KINDLE Cover-ThumbnailLUKE: SLAVE & PHYSICIAN  is about a young man raised by Theopholis as his slave. But Theopholis learned to love him, gave him a medical education, and set him free.  Then Luke became a slave to Jesus.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2ZDMkOk

 

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Tuesday 6/18 ~ Incredible, amazing, mind-boggling

The scripture for today, June 18 (6/18), is 2nd Chronicles 6:18a as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you.”

Did you ever want to see God, to talk to him face to face? Perhaps something bad had just happened in your life and you had this urge to bawl him out, then let him explain why.  Or did you ever want to touch God? Perhaps you were so very lonely that you desperately needed his arms around you, and feel his touch as he brushed away your tears.

But, if you could see him and touch him, it would mean that he could not be with others in the world at that time and could not hear anyone else’s prayers at that time except yours. Try to be grateful that you cannot see and touch him for now. He is always available to you, regardless of where you are in this vast world and regardless of how many others are praying to him at that moment.

How he can sort out all our prayers at once is mind-boggling. How he can be everywhere at once is amazing. How he can love each one of us as though we were the only person alive is miraculous and incredible.

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnailBook 3 in TOUCHING GOD SERIES 365 SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S.  Book 1 is inspirational thoughts and Book 2 is wise sayings.  To buy now, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2IDpgbF

 

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Thursday 6/6 ~ Are you satisfied?

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

0-Titus-Cover-Lg Thumb“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

Still, don’t we all do it? Compare what we own with what our neighbor owns? Work and strive to gain more and more stuff?

A long time ago, a man wrote a book called, How to Want What You Have. He emphasized that, to people who are never content with what they have, happiness is always right around the corner. If we could just buy that object, or get that house, obtain that promotion. But once we get it, we are only satisfied briefly before happiness slips away again, and we decide we would truly be happy if we could buy yet another object, or get yet another house, obtain yet another promotion. And so we live our lives.

Dare to look around today and tell yourself, “I have all I need.”

 

0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbTITUS: THE ARISTOCRAT was raised in the finest palacia in Antioch a city of elitists who only spoke Latin, not the common Greek.  But his father would hardly speak to him. He vowed when he had children someday, he would give them all the attention they desired.  It happened as he had hoped. Now he had everything. He became a Christian and Paul sent him to help new congregations. Then one day, he gave up all his wealth. Paul sent him to the barbarian lands of Albania. Perfect FATHER’S DAY gift.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2Im8xts

 

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Tuesday 5/14 ~ You will not be able to stop

The scripture for today, May 14 (5/14), is 2nd Corinthians 5:14a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“For Christ’s love compels us….”

On a distant hill a very long time ago, something unbelievable happened.

Jesus ~ God materialized ~ died both physically and spiritually in your place! (Remember when he said God had forsaken him?) He knew you couldn’t come back from either kind of death on your own, so he did it for you. Such terrible things he went through for you so you wouldn’t have to and would fail.

Love is powerful! It causes you to do things for someone you love that you never wanted to do and never dreamed you could do.

How powerful is your love for Christ? And for those he was compelled to die for? Do you share his love with others? 1st John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Reach out to people who think Jesus will ruin their fun, or has too many rules, or could never forgive them, or wouldn’t stop a tragedy. If not in person, tell them in a note, a phone call, email, even a song. There are ways.

 Reach out. You can if Christ’s love compels you. You will not be able to stop.

Image result for "Buy the book" button redSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR became obsessed with the Lord he loved and for people around him who did not know about Jesus’ love. This young man was so compelled, nothing stopped him ~ not even death. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2QcCWhr

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Saturday 5/11 ~ So ask. Again.

The scripture for today, May 11 (5/11), is 1st Peter 5:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

03-Abraham-ThumbnailCover“To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

God has the power to do more for you than you ever dreamed. He can take you in new directions in your life; arrange for you to meet wonderful people; provide the ability to overcome not-so-good things in your life.

All you have to do is ask. Perhaps more than once. Perhaps many times. But he wants you to ask. Why?

Parents sometimes tell their children “no” the first time they ask for something. Maybe it’s because children need to find out for themselves how badly they want something. It’s in the asking they find out. So, God waits for the request. Sometimes the request never comes. And so, the blessing never comes.

Remember, God has the power. He probably has something (in his eyes) special in mind for you. So, ask. Again.

Image result for "Buy the book" button redA CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES: ABRAHAM reminds us of the greatest man of faith in the history of mankind. Though it is written for a child, it wouldn’t hurt more adults to read it as a gentle reminder that we must keep asking and keep waiting. Be patient. Your big blessing will come.  To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2w0XYX3

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Monday 4/22 ~ He poured out his heart

The scripture for today, April 22 (4/22), is Proverbs 4:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail“…for they [my words] are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.”

God poured out his heart and soul in the Bible. He revealed his most inner feelings ~ all his desires and disappointments, all his moments of highest joy and deepest sorrow, all his dreams and plans and hopes for us.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever bared your heart and soul to someone else? Would you do it for just anyone? Would you do it if you did not trust the person, especially if the person did not even like you?

That’s what God did. The thought escapes my mind and soars to galaxies unknown. They begin in a mist and burst forth in reality. To know the inner-most thoughts of my God and my Creator!

With that thought in mind, why not read the entire Bible, beginning to end? Perhaps you can read a chapter a day. Or, if you want to read it through in a year, you can count the total number of pages in your Bible, divide by 365, and read that number of pages each day. Or, if you have time, why not go all out and read it in just a few sittings? They will take on new meaning for your life. No matter how many times you read it, there are always new meanings waiting for your mind to grasp it, cling to it, and grace your life.

So much comfort. So much information. So much of answering our questions of how and why.  So much of reading God pouring his heart out and filling an empty soul.

Image result for "Buy the book" button red365 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS covers daily readings from the wisdom books of the Bible. Each day is one proverb and one passage from Job, Ecclesiastes or the Psalms. This is book 3 in the TOUCHING GOD gift-book series.  Only $6 for paperback. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2UOHcJx

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