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

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)

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 29 (3/29)

The scripture for today, March 29, is Luke 3:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“…the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi….”

Who in the world were these five men: Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat and Levi? Some were named after famous Jews, but no one in this list was famous himself. In fact, nothing else is said in the Bible about any of these men. They’re just a single name in a single but long list.
Who were they that they earned even one brief mention in the Bible?

They were ancestors of Jesus on his human side. What else? They were born and survived long enough to have sons. Not important at the time? No, but eventually it was.

We read obituaries and sometimes wonder about our own. Our whole life reduced to born, married, had a job, had children, died. That’s it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just another one of billions in the world having come and gone.

Hold on! Maybe not!

Maybe your life, as ordinary as it seems now, will someday serve a greater purpose through a descendant or someone you become friends with. In a later generation ~ maybe ten or twenty generations from now ~ someone may do something extremely important for souls of the world. And it was made possible because of your “unordinary life” way back in the early twenty-first century when you survived one day at a time. So, keep on keeping on!

 

 

#survival, #alone, #lonely, #ordinary, #obituary, #list, #generations, #life, #value, #name, #unimportant

Scripture for Saturday, March 25 (3/25)

The scripture for today, March 25, is Lamentations 3:25 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 2-DreamMaker-cover-kindle-medium-new“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.”

Notice, this does not say the Lord is good to those who have faith in him. All they have to do is hope he exists and hope he loves them.

Some people have been raised by atheists, or have attended a university where professors criticize theists (believers in God). Or perhaps they have had a major tragedy in their life and can’t understand how a good God could allow that bad thing to happen. Or maybe they live among people who believe all the gods in the world are the One God, so don’t pay special attention to any of them.

Life can be confusing, so confusing that we have trouble having faith in God. But we can still hope!

Keep hope alive. Let the Lord be good to you.

 

 

#hope, #faith, #tragedies, #failures, #atheists, #agnostics, #seeking, #seekers

Scripture for Friday, March 24 (3/24)

The scripture for today March 24, is 1st John 3:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-MediumThose who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Some people think we can tell that we are obeying God and he is therefore in us by how we feel, by our emotions. But emotions are fickle. We can feel great one day and sad the next and frustrated after that, then great again. It can be confusing to rely on how we feel as to whether or not God’s Spirit lives in us.

Jesus said in John 14:17 that he was going to send us the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 Jesus said God’s Word is Truth.

Now that makes more sense! We can know by reading the Bible ~ God’s Word ~ and following it. God thought of everything. His word is clear, and that is how we know we have obeyed him and he lives in us.

How grateful we are for his Bible. No guessing.

#HolySpirit, #Spirit, #Soul, #emotions, #feelings, #SpiritOfTruth, #WordOfTruth, #Scriptures, #Bible, #WordOfGod

 

Scripture for Thursday, March 23 (3/23)

The scripture for today, March 23, is Colossians 3:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Luke-Slave&Physician KINDLE Cover“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Perhaps you are in a job that is unfair ~ you are given too much work, you are underpaid, you are not given enough work, you are given too must responsibility, you aren’t given any responsibility, you have been passed over for promotion by someone less qualified than you.

Think not that you are working for the person who supervises you. S/he is only human. You are working for God. You are representing God. If you are being treated unfairly and smile anyway, others will wonder why. Keep smiling and keep working. Others will keep noticing.

Eventually, someone will ask you, “How can you keep going?”. Then you can tell them how you have God’s approval, and that makes you feel like number one. Therefore, nothing anyone can say or do to you can ever make you feel otherwise.

So, keep on keeping on. The world notices.

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#employment, #employer, #boss, #business, #employee, #job, #position, #used, #unfair, #underpaid, #promotion, #responsibilities, #work

Scripture for Wednesday, March 22 (3/22)

The scripture for today, March 22, is Lamentations 3:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.medium-new“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.”

The name of this Old Testament book comes from the word “lament” or mourn. Jerusalem has just been destroyed and everyone except the poorest has been taken away to be slaves in another country ~ Babylon (today’s Iraq). Jeremiah, the prophet and author of Lamentations, is allowed to stay with the poor powerless ones left behind.

Jeremiah had spent years warning people of the coming destruction of their country due to their sinful life and taking advantage of each other. He endured taunts, reprimands, imprisonments and threats to his life. Now it has happened. All hope is gone. Nothing left but ashes.

It is at this point that Jeremiah utters bravely, “We are not consumed.”

Are there things going on your life that seem to be consuming you? Look up. God is still there. He still loves you.

When we have the love of God, we have the courage to take the next step and the next and the next. We have the courage to keep walking and to hold our head high. Nothing and nobody can ever take away the love God has for us. With his love, we can never be consumed.

#problems, #troubles, #hope, #destruction, #failure, #courage, #love, #Godslove, #overwhelmed, #overcome, #discouragement, #persecution

Scripture for Monday, March 20 (3/20)

The scripture for today, March 20, is Revelation 3:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium”Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

A couple days ago, we read how the love of Christ is everywhere.

But he will not force himself on you. He calls to you and knocks on the door of your heart and mind and will. If you have too much noise going on in your life ~ coming and going to work, coming and going to clubs, coming and going to education and training and hobbies ~ you cannot hear him. If the radio and television and phone and movies are blaring all the time with no silence, you cannot hear him.

Stop what you are doing right now. If there is any background noise, turn it off. Sit in silence a moment. Read a scripture about the life of Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) if you have a Bible, and let him knock on the door of your heart. In such silence, you will be able to hear him.

He’s calling you! Do you hear?

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#calling, #DoorOfHeart, #listening, #hearing, #Bible, #Scripture, #noise, #radio, #TV, #cellphone, #quiet, #silence, #read, #Jesus

Scripture for Sunday, March 19 (3/19)

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE MediumThe scripture for today, March 19, is Habakkuk 3:19 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

”The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”

The little book of Habakkuk was written during a period when the leaders were oppressing the poor. Habakkuk complains to God, “Why do you tolerate wrong?”. God answers that he’s getting ready to put an end to it. Not satisfied, Habakkuk pretty much asks the same question again. God tells him to put in writing a prophecy of what God plans to do to the oppressors.

Wow! God’s really going to do that? Habakkuk’s faith is renewed. His faith is strong again. So, strong he feels as though he is “on the heights.”

Everyone grows impatient when leaders are doing wrong. But we must understand that we see just part of the problem and that God is waiting until the right time to put an end to it ~ a time when people are so desperate with helplessness that even unbelievers can’t help but know God intervened.

So, when times come in your own life that everything seems to be going wrong, read the little book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament and know that God is still in control.  He has not forgotten you. He has special plans for you.

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#providence, #prophecy, #oppression, #dictators, #relief, #change, #intercession, #punishment, #faith, #renewal, regeneration, #regrouping, #relief, #Habakkuk, #control, #plans, desperation, #helplessness

Scripture for Saturday, March 18 (3/18)

The scripture for today, March 18, is Ephesians 3:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Medium-“…[you] may have power, together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.’

We can never escape! It’s everywhere—the love of Christ! No matter where we go, it follows us. His love is behind us and ahead of us. It is above us and below us.  His love will never,

         never,
                             never

                                      let us go!

 

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#love, #power, #omnipresence, #blessings, #healing, #encouragement, #HolySpirit, #thanksgiving, #NoEscape, #worship