Category: Daily

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The scripture for today, April 16, is Hebrews 4:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Anyone who has lived very long has committed some sin they hope no one ever finds out about. Some people have committed many such sins. Sometimes because of that one “big” sin or the constant repetition of a particular “big” sin, people punish themselves by putting words in God’s mouth. They say, “God could never forgive me for that.” Perhaps you can never forgive yourself, but God is greater than you.

Jesus told Peter we must forgive our brothers 70 times 7. If kept literally, that would mean we’d have to forgive the same sin 490 times. It is figurative for forgiving all the time. 1st Corinthians 13, the “love chapter” of the Bible, says, “Love…keeps no record of wrongs.” Let us not only forgive others, but let us help people who cannot forgive themselves.

God is a God of mercy.

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The scripture for today, April 15, is 1st John 4:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”

The New Testament was written by people who walked and talked with Jesus. They saw his miracles, they heard his amazing words. They were eye witnesses.

Several first- and second-century manuscripts still exist that were passed down from some who actually knew the eye witnesses. A few were even written during the late lifetime of the last living apostle, John. The Bible has more existing ancient manuscripts (over 5000) than any historical writing in the world.

Read the New Testament. It was written by inspired men with a passion that would not let them stop talking about this Jesus. He consumed their life when he was on earth, and consumed their spirit after he left.

Through the centuries, men and women have given their lives so that we today may have the writings (New Testament) of those eye witnesses in our own language and read it for ourselves. Many were ridiculed and tortured terribly, and then died a long excruciating death so that the apostles’ testimony could live on.

Do not take for granted the words of Jesus’ eye witnesses. Jesus lived and died for you. Those witnesses, in a sense, also lived and died for you. Read what they testified to. Then, if necessary, live and die for it.

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The scripture for today, April 14, is Esther 4:14b as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Today’s scripture is about a reluctant young lady who won a beauty contest and was chosen to be queen of Persia. Time has passed, and now a command had just gone out to kill all Jews. Queen Esther was a Jewess but had not told anyone at the royal court. She could continue to hide her nationality and let all her people die, or she could intervene with the king. She was the only Jew the king would have listened to. So she took the chance that she, too, would be killed, and spoke on behalf of her people. They were saved.

There are always situations in life in which you are the only one who can accomplish something very needed. Perhaps you are the only adult standing near a strange child who is about to run out into a busy road. Perhaps you are tall and a short person needs to reach something at the store.

Perhaps you know a particular language and others around you need you to explain something to them. Perhaps someone called a wrong number on the telephone and reached you instead.

As we go through life, there are situations in which you are the only one who can handle them. Do you? Do you watch for those situations, or do you walk around in your own little world?

Listen! It’s the silent cries of people only you can help. Do you hear them?

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The scripture for today, April 13, is Philippians 4:13 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 3-HEARTS AFIRE-COVER“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Life is not easy. Plans are scattered, dreams are shattered, and even predictable every-day things sometimes give way to the unknown and unpredictable. Maybe you have made bad decisions, or you weren’t prepared for emergencies, or you are an innocent victim of someone else’s problems.

But there is Someone who knows everything that is happening to you and who will walk beside you down whatever path you find yourself. Further, even if you lose faith in Him, He will not lose faith in you.

When you don’t feel like it, reach out to God. Pray, even if all you can think of talking about is how terrible things are right now. At least you’re talking. And read the Bible, for that is God talking to you. Keep the two-way communication going. Amidst your weeping when you fall, God will give you strength and once again lift you up.

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The scripture for today, April 11, is Exodus 4:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Bible Puzzles for Young And Old-Cover“Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

This is a dynamic verse, for it helps answer questions of, “If God is so good, why did he allow me/my relative to become deaf/blind?”.

God gives each of us an assignment in life. Everyone has something to overcome. The challenge is for us to do it with the smile of faith on our lips.

Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 12:10, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses….For when I am weak, then I am strong!” If God did not believe you or your relative or friend could handle your affliction, he would not allow you to have it. It’s almost as if the more affliction you have, the more faith God is showing in you. And the more we have to rely on God, the more faith we can show in God.

After all, 2nd Corinthians 6:1 says we are workers together with God. This is your assignment. What a privilege!

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The scripture for today, April 10, is Zechariah 4:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Who despises the day of small thinPAUL COVER-KINDLE-gs?”

We tend to admire big things ~ big buildings, big empires, big trees, big causes. Sometimes it is difficult to remember that those things started out small.

Have you been wanting to accomplish something big? All buildings started out with one board or one stone. All empires started out with one person. All big trees started out as one seed. All big causes started out with one dream.

Perhaps your desire in life started out small, but stayed small. That doesn’t mean it will always be small. It may become big years from now, or even in someone else’s lifetime. Don’t despise what you have now.

Or, if you have been putting off trying to do something big for a long time, make today the day of your beginning.

Let no one despise your day of small things.

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The scripture for today, April 9, is 1st John 4:9f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

We human do not have the will to live perfect lives. We give in to sin. We can never get it right. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. In the Old Testament era, God let people kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned, but it had to be done over and over. Then God put a stop to that by sending his Son to us for awhile with a body, so his Son’s body could be killed (paying our wages) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to “live through him” ~ that is, become Christians. How do we become alive through Jesus? Of course we know about believing Jesus was the Son of God and repenting of our sins. Also Romans 6:4 says when we are baptized, we begin to live a new life, we are born again.

But it does not stop there. We must try the best we can to live as Jesus lived, speak as Jesus spoke, love as Jesus loved. We are not saved by good works because we are still sinners, but we do demonstrate our salvation through the love of God by good works (James 2). With Jesus living in us, we are his mouth, his hands, his feet. It is then that we offer our own bodies as daily sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

This is love.

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The scripture for today, April 7, is Proverbs 4:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

The verse just before this says, “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.” And the verse just after today’s says, “Esteem her and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.”

How do we get wisdom? The Bible is full of it. Proverbs was written by Solomon, the wisest man in the world. Just reading and applying Proverbs would give a person wisdom. And the entire Old Testament gives examples of numerous people through the centuries who did or did not do right, and the result of their decisions.

Many religious people neglect the Old Testament. It is not always pleasant reading. But by reading it, we can avoid the mistakes made by many, and perhaps gain courage to imitate the courageous ones who made the right choices.

How about reading the Bible through every year? To read both the Old and New Testament through in a year would take about 20 minutes a day. Some people have read the entire Bible front to back forty or fifty times. Make this a priority in your life. It will give you wisdom.

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The scripture for today, April 6, is 1st Corinthians 4:6 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“…learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”

Periodically through the Bible there appears this same warning for us to not “go beyond what is written.” 2nd Peter 1:20 says prophecy is scripture. Prophecy was needed before the New Testament was written, but no more after that, for now the prophecy of the apostles had been written down.

It is important to find out if what we are being taught is “beyond what is written.” It can be done. How? Simple. Use a concordance. A concordance is the size of a large-city telephone book in fine print and includes every word in the Bible and every scripture that contains each word. Many libraries have one. Or you can order one from your local bookstore. There are some concordances on the internet too. Here is one: http://bibletab.com

You are an intelligent person. Don’t take for granted what others tell you. Check things for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. Decide for yourself whether any of your church leaders have gone “beyond what is written.” You can do it. And you will be liberated by what you learn.

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The scripture for today, April 4, is Psalm 4:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“In your anger do not sin.”

This seems like an impossibility. After all, when people get angry, don’t they lash out at other people? And yell and call them names? And show their temper? Maybe even throw a few things? After all, that’s the only way to get across to the other person that you are really angry.

Not so. If a child, for instance, does what s/he was just told not to do, we became angry. Angry at the dangerous consequence of their action. Angry at not doing something to make that child a better person.

We can choose to lash out at the child wildly so that our emotions mask our words. Or we can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers that child was put in because of that action, or the missed opportunities. We can even punish a child without losing our temper. We can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is.

It is the same way with adults. If we lose our temper and shoot daggers with our eyes and rant and rave, all these things distract people from our words. Aren’t our words of explanation more important than the emotionalism and yelling? If we were hurt, just say so. If they hurt themselves, just say so. 

While we’re at it, not all words help. Name calling does not help. Name calling is done when we choose not to explain how we feel. Name calling locks the other person in and sets them up for future failures between us and them. Losing our temper during anger gets us off the issue and into sin. 

Let us try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that the person who has angered us can truly listen to and learn from. If we have trouble doing this, practice when we’re alone. It will come to us in the right way. It will teach us to remain calm when we’re are angry. When we are angry, we must not sin.