Category: church

Scripture for Monday, April 3 (4/3)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, church, Inspirational, judging, power, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

UPDATE:  John Mark did not check in with me yesterday.  Keep praying.

changes-in-worship-cover-mediumThe scripture for today, April 3, is 1st Timothy 4:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“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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#Bible, #FalseTeachers, #FalseProphets, #ForbidToMarry, #ForbidMeat, #ChurchLeaders, #Truth, #Scriptures, #Judgement, #ObeyGod

Scripture for Saturday, April 1 (4/1) & Update on Threatened Brother

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, Daily, death, faith, governments, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, judging, persecution, power, prayer, Satan, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

Update on our brother in the Middle East whose life has been threatened:  He is in hiding, but decided not to flee to the mountains. If/when caught, he will stand and defend his faith.  In the meantime, he has sent his wife and children away and notified his oldest son to contact me if he is imprisoned or killed. Keep praying mightily for your brother. 

Note what the scripture is for today.  I wrote it ten years ago.

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-MediumThe scripture for today, April 1, is Ephesians 4:1 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“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 jaws of Satan.

No matter what they do to us.

 

#martyrdom, #faith, #preaching, #teaching, #SavingSouls, #SpreadingTheWord, #PowerOfGospel, #cost, #CountingCost, #persecution, #prisoner, #DefendingChrist, #JawsOfSatan, #heaven, #hell

Scripture for Thursday, March 30 (3/30)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, church, Daily, death, good works, Inspirational, judging, power, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 30, is John 3:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Medium“He must become greater; I must become less.”

This is John the Baptist speaking. He had a great following. People “were constantly coming to be baptized” by John (3:23). He had it made! But at the height of his popularity, he said, “I will be stepping down soon.”

Can you do this? Are you at the height of your popularity, perhaps at a club, an organization, church? Could you step down if someone more qualified than you came along? Or will you say, “I started this _______, and I was here first, so this is my project!” ?

Let us constantly look at our motives for doing good ~ whether selfish ambition or love for others. 1st Corinthians 13:1 says that, even if I offer my body to be burned and do not have love, it benefits me nothing.

Jesus warned, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Father in heaven, help me look at myself the way You do.

 

 

#ego, #pride, #selfishness, #ambition, #credit, #acclaim, #power, #recognized, #praised, #applauded, #popular, #StepDown, #reward, #humility

Scripture for Wednesday, March 15 (3/15)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, church, Daily, forgiveness, healing, Inspirational, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

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

Oldoldstory-COVER-KINDLE“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 to 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!

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#songs, #singing, #peace, #friendship, #heart, #love, #enemy, #one, #body

Scripture for Tuesday, February 28 (2/28)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, church, faith, forgiveness, Heaven, Inspirational, judging, Satan, Saved from hell, Scripture, truth, worship2 Comments

The scripture for today, February 28, is Jeremiah 2:28 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.”

Today we think the whole thing is ridiculous. How could people believe in a multitude of gods? Further, how could people make statues of them as though anyone knew what the gods looked like? On top of that, many of them looked like dumb animals. But apparently, it was the popular thing to do. In fact, a person discovering yet another god would be highly esteemed. And it seemed logical that the more gods one believed in, the more holy a person was. Or the bigger the statue of a god in one’s home, the more dedicated a person was.

We today call them myths ~ things that were made up out of people’s imaginations. Yet they thrived in their time. Why? Because of “mass hypnosis” in a sense. Because we are social beings and we don’t like being ostracized. We want to be accepted.

Do we do the same thing today? There are evangelists on television who draw crowds of hundreds and thousands. They seem so right and so holy. Yet they contradict each other. So, it cannot be a measure of rightness and holiness that a lot of people believe something.

The measure must be the Bible. Remember, no matter how many thousands upon thousands follow a religious leader, that leader will be judged by God just like everyone else.

Let us read the Bible for ourselves. Let us study the Bible for ourselves. Let us not search the scriptures for something to prove our opinion right, or a certain leader right, or our family right, or a particular religious idea right. Let us try to erase all our preconceived religious notions, and read with an open mind what God himself has to say to us.

 It is possible to know for sure.

button-learn-more

 

 

 

#knowledge, #truth, #Bible, #Scriptures, #myths, #facts, #lies, #fabrications, #idols, #church, #Christianity, #evangelists

 

Scripture for Wednesday, February 22 (2/22)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, church, Daily, faith, good works, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Scripture, truth, worshipLeave a comment

campbell-cover-kindle-lg-mediumThe scripture for today, February 22, is Ephesians 2:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Another place in the New Testament, 2nd Corinthians 6:16, says we are the temple of God. A lot of things in worship under the Law of Moses were a literal version of what Christians someday would enjoy in a spiritual and deeper sense.

We have no need for the temple in Jerusalem, for now God dwells in Christians. We have no need for the altar of sacrifice at that temple because Jesus was our final sacrifice (Hebrews 10:4-12). We have no need for the cymbals, harps and lyres played in worship because Christians play on the strings of their hearts (Ephesians 5:19). We have no need for the priestly system in the Law of Moses because all Christians are priests (1st Peter 2:5). And how do we serve as priests? Romans 12:1 explains it: “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”

What a concept! God does not dwell in temples or church buildings!

He dwells in Christians.

      He lives and moves through Christians.

          What a privilege.

              What a responsibility.

#worship, #TempleOfGod, #TempleOfSpirit, #music, #ceremony, #candles, #incense, #LivingSacrifices, #priests, #temple, #LawOfMoses, #LawOfJesus, #LawOfGrace

Scripture for Sunday, February 19 (2/19)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, faith, forgiveness, healing, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, prayer, Satan, Saved from hell, Scripture, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 19, is Ephesians 2:19 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

worship-the-first-century-way-cover-kindle“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

Let us pretend there is a nation called Occland and we want to become a citizen of that nation. Of course, citizenship would not be automatic. And in the same way, citizenship in the Kingdom of God (being a Christian) is not automatic.

Just living in a Christian nation does not automatically make us a Christian any more than just living in Occland would automatically make us a citizen.

Owning a Bible does not automatically make us a Christian any more than owning a copy of Occland’s constitution would automatically make us a citizen.

Going to church meetings every Sunday does not automatically make us a Christian any more than going to Occland’s meetings of parliament or the senate would automatically make us a citizen.

It just is not automatic. We would need to be invited into Occland, and then do things to accept Occland’s invitation. God invites us into his kingdom, but we must do things to accept his invitation.  Romans 6, Acts 2 and 1st Peter 3 in the New Testament are good places to check it out. Do so.

God has already done the hard part. Our part is easy ~ our part in accepting his invitation to be citizens in his kingdom.

#CitizensOfHeaven, #Citizenship, #KingdomOfHeaven, #KingdomOfGod, #HouseholdOfGod, #Heaven

Scripture for Friday, February 10 (2/10)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, blessings, church, Daily, faith, good works, Inspirational, judging, Satan, Scripture, Thanksgiving, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 10, is James 2:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

Do we pray on Sunday and curse on Monday? Do we sing on Sunday and lie on Monday? Do we recite a scripture on Sunday and mock someone on Monday?

On the other hand, do we use this as an excuse not to go to church? Do we refuse to attend because there are hypocrites in the church?

Do we refuse to go to work because there are hypocrites there who talk behind the boss’s back? Do we refuse to go to school because there are hypocrites there who would skip school if they could? Do we refuse to go to sporting events because there are hypocrites there that would literally “kill the umpire” if they could?

Even Jesus had a hypocrite among his 12 Apostles ~ Judas. That didn’t stop him from doing what was needed to save us from hell.

In a sense, we are all hypocrites because we go to church and sing songs about giving everything for Jesus, then we go home and don’t. Or we sing songs about going into all the world and teaching the gospel, then we go home and don’t. Or we talk about the importance of praying for everyone around us and their loved ones, then we go home and don’t.

Let us look at ourselves as others do ~ and as God does.

#hypocrites, #Judas, #mouth, #praise, #curse, #self-examination

Scripture for Wednesday, January 25 (1/25)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, church, Death of Jesus Christ, Inspirational, Scripture, truth, worshipLeave 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? Like the commands to stone for adultery, etc.

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.”

#LawOfMoses, #Tithing, #Priests, #Music, #LawOfGrace, #NewTestament, #OldTestament

Scripture for Sunday, January 22 (1/22)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Heaven, Inspirational, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 22, is Ephesians 1:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What makes this so interesting is that the church is the body of Christ. And what else is the church? Matthew 16:17-18 says the church is the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 5:25 & 32 says the church is his bride. Revelation 21:2, 9-10 says the church bride is the new Holy City Jerusalem. Colossians 1:18 says Jesus is the head of his body ~ the only head ~ on earth and in heaven.

And what does Jesus think of the church? Ephesians 5:25-27 says he loved the church so much that he gave himself up for her, to make her radiant ~ no stains, no wrinkles, no blemishes.

Why would anyone not want to be part of this?

Such love.

Such eternal love.

#ChurchOfChrist, #BodyOfChrist, #HeadOfTheChurch, #KingdomOfGod, #ChurchOfGod, #BrideOfChrist, #KingdomOfHeaven, #NewJerusalem