Category: Daily

Scripture for Thursday, February 16 (2/16)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, Daily, faith, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 16, is 2nd Thessalonians 2:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Oldoldstory-COVER-KINDLE“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

How amazing! God, the Creator of the universe, and Jesus his only begotten Son, actually know who we are. If he didn’t, he couldn’t love us. Love is not in the abstract. It is specific. And it is specifically for you.

Not only that, but we are given eternal encouragement. Our friends may only encourage us when we are doing something that would help them. Our family members may encourage us as long as we do something they would do. But God’s encouragement never ceases. It is always there. There when we feel alone, when we feel forsaken, when we feel helpless, when we feel hopeless.

And yes, God gives us good hope. Sometimes things in our life may be going so badly that we have trouble having faith in God. But we can still hope. The candle of your faith may be flickering, but your hope can still be a flaming hope, a large hope, a good hope.

#encouragement, #hope,# hearts, #strength, #discouragement, #eternity, #love, #faith 

Scripture for Wednesday, February 15 (2/15)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, faith, good works, Inspirational, judging, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 15 is 2nd Timothy 2:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Eventually, we will all present ourselves to God. We can do it as an honored worker ~ someone who does good works and spreads the gospel and is not ashamed to do them.

We can also present ourselves to God as one who reads the Word of Truth (the Bible) with an open and honest heart. Pilate who crucified Jesus once asked, “What is truth?”. Today people still ask that question. But we don’t have to guess. God gave us the answers. It is all written down.

If you have a Bible with a concordance or index in the back, you can look up certain key words and find out for yourself what the Word of Truth says about any subject. It is not for others to tell us, but for God himself to tell us. This way we get it first hand, and that’s a lot easier. It’s easy to “correctly handle the word of truth,” with just you and God.

#Truth, #Bible, #WordOfGod, #Concordance, #ChainReference, #WordOfTruth

Scripture for Monday, February 13 (2/13)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, faith, healing, Inspirational, judging, prayer, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for February 13 is Philippians 2:13 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

Here is another related verse: “The Lord opened her heart to respond” (Acts 16:14). God the Father moved people’s hearts throughout the Bible ~ Old Testament and New Testament. But he never moved hearts to do what they were not already inclined to do. He does not go against someone’s will, for he gave everyone free will.

If you are struggling to know the will of your religious leaders and friends, you struggle alone. If you are sincerely struggling to know God’s will and do it, the Father will help you.  If you are struggling to act according to the purpose of your religious leaders and friends, you struggle alone. If you are sincerely struggling to act according to God’s good purpose, the Father will help you. If you have a sincerely open heart, God can move you closer to himself so that he can work in you and through you on earth.

He will always tell you what to do through his Word ~ the Bible. You do not have to guess. It covers every possible situation you could ever face and shows you his good purposes. God the Father will work in you if you let him.

#FreeWill, #OpenHeart, #Heart, #Problems, #Decisions, #Struggles, #Direction, #WordOfGod, #Bible, #Purpose, #WillOfGod, #ReligiousLeaders, #Help

Scripture for Sunday, February 12 (2/12)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, blessings, Daily, death, forgiveness, healing, Heaven, Inspirational, Satan, Saved from hell, Scripture, Thanksgiving, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 12, is 2nd Timothy 2:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.”

God loves us but never forces us to love him. He has given us a beautiful world to live in full of excitement and challenges and comforts. He has given us family and friends. He has given us his Son to take our punishment for our sins so we can live with him in his home ~ heaven. He is constantly calling to us, “I love you!”

But being the Gentleman that he is, he never forces himself on us. Instead, he lets us lead the way so to speak. If we don’t want to listen to God’s words, God doesn’t want to listen to our words. If we don’t want to spend extra time on God, God doesn’t want to spend extra time on us. If we don’t want anything to do with God in this life, he will not want anything to do with us in the next life.

He never forces us. But oh, how he weeps when we walk away from him.

#God, #love, #avoiding, #calling, #hearing,#heeding, #inviting, #garden, #sacrifice, #heaven, #hell

Scripture for Saturday, February 11 (1/11)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, faith, good works, Inspirational, Thanksgiving, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 11, is Ecclesiastes 2:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

worship-the-first-century-way-cover-kindle“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun.”

King Solomon wrote this. He tried everything to bring deep happiness and satisfaction. He tried writing proverbs and songs. He tried every pleasure there was. He tried working hard with his hands. He tried investing his money and becoming the richest man in the world. Nothing worked. He still couldn’t achieve the deep happiness he longed for.

There was a book published a few years ago entitled, How to Want What You Have. It seems that, for most of us, the deep contented happiness we all crave is always just around the corner. If we could just be selected for that promotion, if we could just get married, if we could just get a pay raise, if we could just be on the winning team, if we could just have children, if we could just get that house or car.

Always if. The problem is that, once we attain what we believe will bring us happiness, we just want the next promotion, the next pay raise, a different marriage partner, the next house, no children, the next car. What was Solomon’s conclusion? You’ll find it in the final few verses of Ecclesiastes:

True happiness comes from a love relationship with God.

#happiness, #pleasure, #stuff, #power, #wealth, #prestige, #fame, #riches, #marriage, #cars, #salary, Ecclesiastes, #Solomon, #wisdom

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, February 8 (1/8)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, faith, Heaven, Inspirational, judging, Satan, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 8, is Genesis 2:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-michel-cover-kindle-medium“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.”

Just think: Mankind’s nursery was a garden. How God wanted to spoil us, his children. And dote on us. Then Satan came along and lied to us, saying God was our enemy.

Many people even today believe that. It is not true. God does not hate you. Do not listen to Satan. Turn around and try once more listening to God who loves you beyond comprehension. And wants to spoil you. In heaven.

#garden, #GardenOfEden, #mankind, #spoiled, #Satan, #love, #lies, #God, #paradise, #heaven

Scripture for Tuesday, February 7 (2/7)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, Daily, faith, forgiveness, healing, Inspirational, SatanLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 7, is Proverbs 2:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Medium“He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.”

Do you feel like a loser sometimes? Once someone gets into that mindset, it is hard to break out. One dream after another has been shattered. One goal after another has been impossible. One effort after another has been a failure.

The world can be a cruel place in which to live. It is ruled by Satan.

But look up! Victory is still possible! There is an old song called “Victory in Jesus.” We may be losers to our friends, but victors to Jesus.

Just remember, we cannot have victory in Jesus unless we have something to be victorious over.

Life is hard. But each day that problems face us and we refuse to give in, that’s victory. Each day that we search God’s Word for answers in the right places, that’s victory.

Each day that we refuse to give up on Jesus despite opposition to him by those around us, that’s victory.

#Losing, #Loser, #Defeat, #BrokenDreams, #Problems, #Troubles, #Victory, #Shield, #VictoryInJesus

Scripture for Friday, February 3 (2/3)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, Daily, good works, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, judging, Satan, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

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

00-cover-kindle-medium-new“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.

#Selfishness, #Vanity, #Ego, #Conceit, #Humility, #Servant, #Ambition

Scripture for Thursday, February 2 (2/2)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, faith, Inspirational, judging, Scripture, truthLeave 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/Wise Men] 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 [Herod], 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.

#Bible, #Trust, #Gullible, #Naive, #Examination, #WiseMen, #BethlehemStar, #Christmas, #Herod, #Orient, #Magi