Scripture for Monday, November 7 (11/7)

The scripture for today, November 8, is Proverbs 11:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“The righteous man is rescued from trouble, and it comes on the wicked instead.”

We know that God does not always rescue us from trouble here on this temporary earth. He certainly didn’t rescue Jesus all the time.

Sometimes God has an assignment for us to be in the midst of trouble so we can demonstrate the contrast ~ God’s ways and Satan’s ways.

But eventually in eternity, if we have followed God’s ways, he will indeed rescue us from trouble. He will indeed welcome us into his home ~ heaven.

#troubles, #problems, #rescue

Scripture for Thursday, November 3 (11/3)

The scripture for today, November 3, is Luke 11:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

FunWithBibleNumbers-Cover-Kindle“Give us each day our daily bread.”

This is part of the ideal prayer that Jesus taught his followers to say. We claim to agree with it. But do we completely?

Do we feel like it is our hard-earned money that bought that bread? Do we claim it is our ability to cook that created that bread?

Do we claim it was the hard work of the farmers and their equipment that brought us the grain from whence the bread is made? Or the mills that ground it into flour? Or the stores that brought the flour to the consumers?

Ultimately we must look past all of this to that which is beyond our control. It is God who makes the sun shine down upon the seed. It is God who makes the rain come down to water it. It is God who places life in the buried wheat germ for it to reproduce with a flourish.

Many activities of man bring us our daily bread. But ultimately it is God the Creator who makes it all possible. He not only makes it possible for good people, he brings bread also to the bad. He loves everyone so.

#DailyBread, #Blessings, #Earnings, #Food

Scripture for Wednesday, November 2 (11/2)

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

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

The word “ disgrace” comes from Hebrew qalon meaning confusion. It is also translated dishonor and reproach.

Pride is so hard to control. With the church or clubs or other organizations, we think our ideas, our points of view, our ways of doing things are the right ideas views and ways. We accuse others of not cooperating if it is our ideas, views, and ways they don’t go along with. It is so hard to give up our ideas views and ways for the sake of peace.

Even in doing daily business, our pride shows up. We become impatient with clerks in stores who do not help us, with other drivers on the road who are too slow for us, with people delivering things to our homes who do not deliver them right to our door, with kids throwing rocks at things that belong to us, people who try to cut in line ahead of us, fellow workers who take credit for our work, and on and on.

It is hard to sit by and let others be praised when we do better work than they do, or we work harder than they do, or they get the promotion we deserve.

How do we control our pride? Perhaps by comparing ourselves, not with others around us, but with Jesus. In the same circumstance, what did he do?

#pride, #arrogance, #selfishness, #ideas, #WhatWouldJesusDo

Scripture for Monday, October 31 (10/31)

The scripture for today, October 31, is 1st Corinthians 10:31 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

How is your everyday life while around other people? What kind of employment do you have? Secretary, engineer, manual labor, going to school, teaching school, keeping your home, watching your children?

Some jobs are exciting, some are boring. Some require decisions, some require none. Some can involve a little bit of misrepresenting the truth. Some may be under a boss who is mean. Some may be among fellow employees who shirk their duties and try to get by with doing as little as possible. Some may be among people who steal from the company.

Always remember that, wherever you are, that is God’s assignment for you in this universal battle between Good and Bad. You must do whatever you do in your daily life as good and honestly as possible.

Will others notice? You bet they will! Will they resent you? Maybe. Will they blame God for the way you act? Deep down the resenters probably will. But at least it will make them think about God.

Then some day when they have a problem they are desperate to work through but cannot, who will they turn to? You. And God.

Be courageous. Stand firm. Do the right thing. And ultimately God will be glorified.

#honesty, #resentment, #cheaters, #bosses, #employers, #employees, #GoodVsBad

Scripture for Friday, October 28 (10/28)

The scripture for today, October 28, is Matthew 10:28f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Medium“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”

This scripture indicates that sometimes God’s allows us to “fall to the ground” ~ our bodies suffer, or we are killed. How can that be? After all, God is so loving. Surely a good God would not allow any harm to come to someone if he truly loves them.

But we all have our assignment from God in this war between Good and Evil. Just as Job in the Old Testament lost his entire family and entire wealth and then his health, he refused to blame God. He even said, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” (Job 2:10).

Satan causes bad to happen to us. Why? In order to get us to blame God for it. Our assignment is to refuse to deny God. That way, Satan loses one more battle, and God wins one more.

There is an old Christian song called “Victory in Jesus.” How can we have victory in Jesus if we do not have something to be victorious over? Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors. How can we be conquerors if we have nothing to conquer?

Let us say with James (1:2) that we consider it pure joy whenever we face trials. Hard to say? Of course, it is. But it could turn your life around.

#troubles, #problems, #disasters, #Satan

Scripture for Thursday, October 27 (10/27)

The scripture for today, October 27, is Mark 10:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, this is impossible, but not with God: All things are possible with God.’ “

Can we be perfect? God let mankind try for many centuries to be perfect.

To one group of people he gave over 600 laws and said, “If you keep these, you will be perfect.” But, as hard as the Jews tried, no one could keep the Law of Moses perfectly.

To the rest of the world, he basically said, “Try to figure out for yourselves how to be perfect.” So they tried all kinds of religions, but with all of them, they could not be perfect.

Finally, mankind was ready for Jesus. He came to earth and lived that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. He became the perfect Lamb of God, and became our sacrifice for our sins, for Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” He paid the wage for us.

So now, according to Romans 6:3-4, just as Jesus died on the cross, we too can die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then, just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we too can be buried in a watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus was raised up out of his tomb the Savior, we rise up out of our watery tomb the saved.

Then God considers us perfect too. God cannot associate with sinners in his heaven. He can only have perfect people in his heavenly home. Impossible for us to live there with him some day? Yes. But, God sent Jesus to fix that problem.

With God, nothing is impossible.

#Perfection, #LawOfMoses, #CivilLaws, #Ethics, #Morality

Scripture for Tuesday, October 25 (10/25)

The scripture for today, October 25, is Hebrews 10:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ~ and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Some people declare, “I can walk through nature ~ the temple of God ~ and feel God is closer there than in a church building.” Well, do they really do it? How often? The purpose of the church meeting is not so much to encourage ourselves as to encourage others along with worshiping God.

Look at the context. Verse 23 says “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” and verse 24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How do we do these things? A lot of it is done during our congregation’s worship and encouragement service.

And what comes after our verse for today? Verse 26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Meeting together with other congregational members is one of the major things that keeps us from falling.

Should we meet once a week? This scripture says to meet “all the more as you see the Day [of Judgment] approaching. Many say, “But that’s too inconvenient.”

It was inconvenient for Jesus to leave a perfect heaven for an imperfect earth. It was inconvenient for him to leave the company of angels for the company of sinners. It was inconvenient for him to do this for 33 long years. Inconvenient taking the blame for our sins, and then taking our punishment. Inconvenient experiencing agonizing spiritual death when God left him on the cross, and then that agonizing physical death.

Do we really know inconvenience?

#sacrifice, #worship, #inconvenience

Scripture for Sunday, October 23 (10/23)

The scripture for today, October 23, is Jeremiah 10:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”

Just how are we supposed to know what steps God has directed us to take? Do we have to guess, rely on a feeling, depend on the movement of our heart, a vision?

Actually, we have a guide, a road map.

Jesus said in John 14:16-17 that after he left, the Father would send another Counselor ~ the Spirit of Truth. In John 16:13 Jesus said The Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth.” In John 17:17, Jesus said, “Your Word is truth.”

Yes, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, guides us through the Word of God, the Bible.

We don’t have to guess! We don’t have to wonder! We don’t have to get discouraged! God has given us his Word to direct our steps. All we have to do is open his Word and read the map.

#Guide, #HolySpirit, #SpiritOfTruth, #Bible, #RoadMap, #Direction

Scripture for Friday, October 21 (10/21)

The scripture for today, October 21, is Proverbs 10:21 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium“The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.”

What do you talk about during the day? Do you use proper judgment? Do you nourish others by what you say to them?

Are you a complainer or complimenter? Are you rude or patient? Do you glare or smile? Do you criticize the wrong a person does, or praise the right that person does? Do you sing of your love of God on Sunday and use swear words the rest of the week?

Today, go out of your way to nourish everyone you talk to. Start a new habit. They will see God in you.

#Complain, #Swear, Criticize, #Curse, #Praise, #Sing, #Patient #Speech, #Talk

Scripture for Tuesday, October 18 (10/18)

The scripture for today, October 18, is 2nd Corinthians 10:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”

Do you look at your life and decide some of your bad habits are not so bad, considering what some other people you know are doing? Do you look at your life and decide your lukewarmness in good works and spreading the gospel is not so bad, considering what most others around you are doing?

Jesus said you will receive only one reward, and we must choose it: (1) Being commended by each other, or (2) being commended by God. You can’t have both (Matthew 6:5; 18).

And that brings up how you judge other people. You may decide certain Christians you know are not pulling their load in your congregation, not doing their part. That may be a wrong judgment. They may be doing good works you will never know about. “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:18a).

#SelfJustifying, #Judging, #BadHabits, #GoodWorks