That Great Gettin’ Up Morning

TOldOldTunes-mediumhe scripture for today, July 31 (7/31), is 1st Corinthians 7:31b as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“For this world in its present form is passing away.”

How easily that which you have slaved for over a period of years can pass away. It can happen as the result of fire, flood, storm, war, economic crisis. Every day something in this world “is passing away.”

Life plods on and on. It seems so slow and so long ~ Year after year, month after month, minute after minute.  If you live to be 90 (not uncommon these days), that means nearly 33,000 times you get up in the morning, 100,000 times you eat a meal, some 25,000 times you may leave your house and go to work to earn a living. On and on.  

You were put here on earth for a reason:  To prepare yourself for the other world.  That is your real home. That world will never end ~ for good or bad. It will never pass away. It’s hard to stay focused on the other world when there are so many things that need to be done to survive in this world.

The other world seems so far away. But you will be there before you know it.

What are you working for day after day? Are you making time to prepare for “That Great Gettin’-Up Morning” when you say goodbye to this world forever?   What are your plans for today? How about this week?  How often do you worship?  

Here is a link to hear singing of “That Great Gettin’-Up Morning”  http://bit.ly/2Mxfqf1

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OldOldTunes-ThumbnailTHE OLD OLD STORY SET TO OLD OLD TUNES has 40 songs about the Old Testament and 40 songs about the New Testament. They are all set to old folk tunes and are loads of fun to sing. Great for teachers and grandparents when the grandkids come for a visit.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/BibleSongBook

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/links-to-some-of-my-fun-bible-stuff/the-old-old-story-set-to-old-old-tunes/

What is God like?

00-cover-kindle-medium-newAh, my Lord, your love is as sweet as honey and tart as a lemon that becomes a tantalizing pie. Your love is as soothing as milk and comforting as macaroni. Your love is as fresh as peaches and as appetizing as fried chicken. Oh, my. If you had not made all the different kinds of foods, my understanding of your love would have been diminished. As your Apostle Paul told the Romans so long ago, if anyone wants to know what God is like, just look around.  And I do. You are everywhere.

Thank you for summertime when the grass grows green, the flowers bloom in every color and competing only with the glorious rainbow. Thank you for white clouds bumping into each other against a deep blue sky.  And for raindrops that slip down the sky and tumble into rivers, creeks and mud puddles. Thank you for potatoes and beets and carrots and radishes that play hide and seek with me under the ground until I find them. And thank you for corn and strawberries and green beans. And for trees that produce olives and avocados, peaches and pears. How I love summertime. Thank you, my Lord and Creator of all things good.

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00-Cover-KINDLE-Thumbnail-NewAPPLIED CHRISTIAINITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS. What a great way to fill your alone time during this pandemic than to check out different kinds of good works you may not have ever thought of that you can begin doing.  Great for adults and children both.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/500GoodWorks

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-applied-christianity/

You draw me like a magnet

000-COVER-KINDLE-ThumbnailMy Lord and God, steadily I climb toward you. You draw me like a magnet. You seem so much closer with each step. With one step I strive to have the kind of mercy for others you have for me.  With another step I try to be more forgiving as you are to me. With yet another step I struggle to make time for others as you make time for me. Then there are the steps of purity, patience, pride and so many others that I dread to take because I am so weak to keep them in my life. Sometimes it is very hard to keep going.  But you keep drawing me. Where I lack the strength, you reach out and say, “Take my hand. I will help you.” Keep drawing me toward you, Lord. Help me keep climbing and walking, climbing and walking, until at last I walk through the gates into heaven and see you as you are.

Thank you, God, for your Book divine, the Book wherein you pour out your heart to me. How you have agonized with all of us these past centuries and millenniums. At the same time, you have shared in the victory march of each Christian who overcomes an enemy of action, an enemy of attitude. You never stop tugging at my heart and mind. You keep saying through your Book, come to me. Come to me!  I can give you strength. Thank you for being willing ~ no, anxious ~ to lift me up. How I adore and worship you.

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000-COVER-KINDLE-ThumbnailLAZARUS: THE SAMARITAN lived through most of Jesus’ parables.  No one showed up at their wedding, so her father sent out to the highways and byways. He found a treasure in a field and sold everything he had to buy it. His daughter had ten virgin attendants who ran out of oil waiting for her groom. He was the Good Samaritan near Jericho.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2AfVBoR

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/books-more-biblical-historical-novels/more-biblical-historical-novels/

Even now I see your glory

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewAh, my Lord, just as you fed the slaves who escaped Egypt and wandered forty years in a wilderness, you feed me food for my body to keep me alive and food for my soul to make me eternal.  Just as you provided water for them in their wilderness, you provide clean water for me and the spiritual water that flows on forever. Just as you led them in a column of fire at night, you lead me with fire in my heart for you and fires of cleansing to make me pure.  Just as you led them in a cloudy column by day, you lead me with cloudy mists of what it will be to follow you right into heaven. When this wilderness comes to an end, I will be forever home.

I adore you, Jehovah, my God, my Creator, my Savior, my Father, everlasting who was, who is, and who evermore shall be. You are so much better to me than I deserve. I live in a free country and you have saved me to live in your heavenly country. I am sinful but you keep forgiving me even and share your holiness with me. The angels declare who you are and it echoes from world to world. The saved who have gone before me fall prostrate before you. Cherubim and seraphim worship you.  Though I cannot see you, my soul through a mist senses you all around me, hovering over me,  swirling softly around me, and lifting me up to soar with you.  Even now I see your glory.

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewCOME FLY WITH ME is biblical lyrical novel #8 in the THEY MET JESUS series.  It begins with the eleven (promising Judas has committed suicide) in hiding in a house in Jerusalem, sitting in their agony, no one talking.  Only the dark, dark mourning over what should have been and is forever lost.  It ends with all the apostles on their thrones in heaven and old John, one of their number, visits heaven with the one who was dead and now is alive in glory forevermore.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2OzEnXc

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/

The Creator of the universe wrote me a love letter

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLord God, you are so good to me. Though I do not talk to you every hour of the day, you keep my food growing from the ground, the sun coming and going on time, and you watch over me every hour of every day. You do not treat me as I do you. I am sometimes weak and ungrateful, taking what you do for me for granted.  You are loving and forgiving, never stopping for a moment. You even watch over people who have a Bible and never read it, people who worship you only in public and never at home, people who resent you and even refuse to believe you exist. Still, you watch over everyone. You are hurt that they do not return your love, but you continue to watch over them and take care of their needs.  None of us is worthy.  You are as beyond our understanding of you as the earth is from the farthest star.

Ah, thank you, my Lord, for quietness balanced with someone to talk to.  Thank you for sun balanced with darkness to rest. Thank you for the chirping of little birds balanced with the rumble of thunder. Thank you for living where there is perfect peace prepared for me. And for a copy of your actual Words ~ Words that lift my spirit, enchant my heart, challenge my mind, keep promises with my soul. Just think. The Creator of the universe wrote me a love letter!

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Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS BRIDE, ECCLESIA.  Based on the Song of Solomon, hundreds of footnotes refer to the love of Jesus for the church in the New Testament.  A great classbook.  Beautiful Papyrus font makes it a perfect gift book also.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2Vl3dhi

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I’d die if I had to do that.

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailThe scripture for today, June 17 (6/17), is Matthew 6:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face.”

This is interesting because Jesus did not say “If, you fast,” but rather “When you fast.” It was as though he was teaching us to take for granted that we would fast ~ it would be second-nature to us. In a sense, it is, for when most people go through a sudden tragedy such as loss of a loved one, they often cannot eat.

But what about voluntary fasting? The early church sometimes fasted. Acts 13:2 says a congregation in Antioch, Syria, fasted and worshiped, then chose men to go out as missionaries. Queen Esther fasted before going to the king uninvited with a request he might not like (Esther 4:16). Isaiah 58:3 says people fasted in order to humble themselves.

Some people respond, “I’d die if I had to fast.” Perhaps that’s kind of the idea. We know we would die if we went without food long enough. So perhaps one day of fasting is a way of saying, “God, I would die for you if I had to.” Yes, fasting is a humbling experience and frightening to some people. But perhaps that is the point.

Is something important coming up that you know you will be urgently praying about? Once you skip one meal, you will have conquered your desire to eat. Then, with your brain not having to concentrate on digesting food, it will be able to focus more on that important thing happening in your life. Your prayers will be more focused. You will be more focused with your eyes more clearly on God.

So, take a shower, comb your hair, put on some nice clothes, and look like you have something important to do. Then fast.

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR did everything he could think of to convince people his religion was good.  He recruited help.  At night they would sneak pages of scriptures under rocks, inside people’s houses, nailed to statues of the gods.  They met in secret and worshiped. Then publicly they would march.  And they fasted as Queen Esther had done.  If it worked for Esther, surely it would work for Stephen and his zealous friends. Would it backfire? To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/2XBFXvJ

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All-night prayer?

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnailThe scripture for today, June 12 (6/12), is Luke 6:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“One of those days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

How in the world did Jesus think of enough things to say that he could pray all night? Most of us, on a good day, only manage a 5-minute prayer. The next verse says that the next morning he selected his twelve apostles. Aha! He had a list. He had probably spent at least half an hour each praying about them by name, as well as about others he was considering. Jesus knew what his apostles would be facing someday. Which ones would be loyal enough, stubborn enough, strong-willed enough to someday in the future endure persecution, torture (skinned alive, beaten to death, burned), and martyrdom for him?

Who do you pray for by name? Do you have a prayer list? How about opening the newspaper and praying for all those people in the news ~ perpetrators, victims, causes, governments, situations? Or everyone you work with? Or everyone your children go to school with? Or all their teachers and administrators? Or the clerks in the stores you go to regularly? Or members of an organization you belong to? Or every member of your congregation? What about countries where people become Christians at risk of their freedom and even their lives?

There are always people in need of prayer. And one of the joys of such a prayer life is now and then telling people whom you know that they are in your prayers, or writing a note to someone who is a stranger to you telling them that you pray for them.

Some people have never heard their names in prayer. Some people have never even been told that someone prays for them.

God loves to answer prayer. Do you love prayer?

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Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail365 SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S is book 3 in the TOUCHING GOD series along with a book on daily wisdom and a book on daily scriptures.  Includes daily praise and thanksgiving. Prayers of forgiveness are taken from the various lists of sins in the Bible.  Requests are left to the reader.  Five minutes or less for morning, noon, or evening meditation.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2AeBR4I

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An odd way to beat poverty

The scripture for today, June 10 (6/10), is Proverbs 6:10f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Applied Christianity“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ~ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

Oh! This scripture really comes to the point, doesn’t it? Perhaps during difficult economic times for some people, this can be a gentle reminder. If you can’t work for money, you can work for free. There is always work to do as a volunteer either in an organization or just by yourself. All it takes is for you to look around.

Well, if you’re already in the clutches of poverty, what will volunteering do to help the situation? People will notice you. They will notice your work ethic and your cheerfulness and your thoughtfulness.  They will know you are out of work and just might tell people looking for someone to hire. And in the process, you are helping others. That in itself can make you feel rich ~ even if you’re not.

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS gives ideas for every age group, every town size, every congregation size in a step by-step manner.  Some congregations have even used it as a class book.  Great for teen classes and home-schoolers too.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  bit.ly/APPLIEDCHRISTIANITY

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Love like ocean tides

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newYour love, Oh God, is like the ocean.  When I need you the most, the tide moves in closer and refreshes my soul.  When it is time for me to work on an assignment from you to help people blaming you for their problems, the tide ebbs and moves out to tend to someone else.  Then, when I need refreshed by you, here comes the tide flowing in again. Just like clockwork. You are never far away.  I can always depend on you. You never change. You are from eternity to eternity.

Thank you for being my example. Your feet walked a thousand miles back and forth across Palestine looking for people who needed you. Your hands touched a thousand people with diseases and frailties and handicaps and you healed them all. Your lips parted a thousand times to speak words of hope to people in the clutches of Satan who convinced them they were happy.  They weren’t. Satan convinced them they were safe with him when they really weren’t. Satan convinced them God hated them when you really loved them beyond understand. In some ways I am those people. Yet you kept right on walking and touching and speaking. Thank you, my Lord.  And, Lord, may I walk and touch and speak as you did.

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0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newFOLK HERO is biblical historical novel #4 in the series THEY MET JESUS ab out 100 people Jesus met and struggled with.  Written in present tense, it puts you there where you see, hear, and touch what they did.  And you feel what they felt.  To BUY NOW, click a book cove or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2U4kZ7L

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Today’s Mosaic

Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailGod of the universe, you think of everything.  You gave us morning, day, evening, and night. All good in their own way for starting, doing, stopping, and resting.  Each day has its own mosaic Seasons of the year are a mosaic too. Life is a mosaic. So are my friends you gave me, and my enemies too.  Even you are, for I was fashioned like you. All things work together for your pleasure and mine as long as I follow you. I wonder what you have in mind for my mosaic today. What color will today be? Whether light or dark, bright or dull, I will praise you for it.

My Father, sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing between pride and spreading the word about something I have done that will inspire others to do. Keep me from pride.

Ah, my Lord, how can I thank you for loving me and saving my soul? Thank you for preparing a place for me in your eternal home? Oh, how I long to transfer from this world to your perfect one. And thank you for the opportunities I have in this world to stand up for you and fight those who imitate Satan with their wiles and false promises of happiness.  Working for you is sometimes hard, but it makes me stronger and more like you. And I know that, whatever you promise, it will come true. I worship you.

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER: 52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS is perfect to read as personal meditation while partaking of the Lord’s Supper or aloud by people leading the congregation.   To BUY NOW, click a book cover, or paste this………. https://bit.ly/2ZvCTDS

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