Tuesday 7/23 ~ How much do you even care?

The scripture for today, July 23 (7/23), is 1st Corinthians 7:23 in the New Testament of the Bible.

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”

Who were you bought from? Satan. God told Adam and Eve the day they sinned their soul would die. Satan is the source of death. When we sin, he holds us hostage.  I Timothy 2:6 says Jesus paid the ransom to free us from Satan.  “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

God loved you so much, he put his words in a human body (John 1:1,14). Why? Hebrews 2:14 says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.”

Then God told the world through his Bible that, if you will believe this really happened and follow his will for you, he will consider you perfect through the blood of Jesus and eligible to enter his perfect home ~ heaven.

But it is not automatic. Romans 6 speaks a lot of who we are slaves to and how to break those chains and come under the umbrella of what Jesus did for mankind.

You were bought back from Satan at a great price ~ the blood of Jesus. On Sundays ~ the day he came back to life and overcame that terrible soul and body death for you ~ where are you? Who do you spend your time and attention with? Do you even care?


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Sunday 7/21 ~ Teaching the teachers

Our scripture for today, July 21 (7/21), is Matthew 7:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

NF-WorshipChanges-WorshipFirst“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “

There are hundreds of denominations/sects out there all contradicting each other. It’s impossible for them all to be right. They cannot all be on different roads going to the same place. They cannot all be pleasing God if we decide opposing things please him.

You can never rely on what someone else says just because they look and act holy and say all the right holy words and phrases and pray such holy-sounding prayers. You must never rely on your religious leaders to tell you what to believe. Shall you take their opinion or God’s opinion?

Romans 10:1 in the Bible mentions some people who had a lot of zeal for God, but were lost because it was not according to the proper knowledge.

Well, how do you get God’s opinion? Read the Bible for yourself! Use a concordance (lists every word in the Bible and every scripture with that word ~ Bible Hub has one on the internet) and look up your chosen subject.  Then, having found the truth, why not go back to your religious leaders in love and try to teach your teachers? Some just might listen to you.

 

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Saturday 7/20 ~ Invading Heaven

The scripture for today, July 20 (7/20), is Ecclesiastes 7:20 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”

Many people believe if they don’t murder or steal, and if they help people poorer than themselves, and aren’t mean to their family, God will have no choice but to let them into heaven. But it only takes one sin to be a sinner.

God ~ who is Perfect Goodness ~ cannot dwell with sin. But mankind has never figured out a way to be perfectly good.

God said in the Garden of Eden that the moment we sin, our soul dies. Satan holds us for ransom. I Peter 1:18-19 says, “…knowing that you were not ransomed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Jesus became that perfectly good person (Hebrews 4:15) ~ that perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29). Then he paid the terrible ransom to free you and me from Satan. But, it does no good if you do not believe he did this. You cannot despise Jesus and say he is too demanding.

Your part is the easy part. All he asks is that you love him, thank him, worship him, follow his examples and all his commands (there aren’t many). Then Satan can no longer hold you hostage. God the Father will consider you perfect too. Then you will be accepted into heaven.

 

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Friday 7/19 ~ How often do you want God to forgive you?

The scripture for today, July 19 (7/19), is found in Romans 7:19 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do ~ this I keep on doing.”

Doesn’t this pretty much describe you and me in some area of our life?  It may be eating too much, breaking the law by going over the speed limit, laughing at dirty jokes, habitual lying, stealing “little things” at work, cheating on tests, jealousy, impatience, temper ~ any number of things.

Sins of habit and attitude are hard to break. So you go to God over and over asking him to forgive that which, deep down, you know you’re going to do again.

Perhaps this emphasizes the importance of you forgiving others who habitually do wrong to you. You do not know their deep inner struggles any more than they know your struggles.

Jesus said, “IF you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14).

Satan wants you to quit trying to do better. And he wants you to quit forgiving other people. Don’t give in to Satan.  Give in to God. God’s way leads you to ultimate forgiveness of your sins ~ ultimate and complete.

 

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR was insulted by other people; he forgave them. He was harassed by other people; he forgave them. Mocked by other people; he forgave them. Bawled out by other people; he forgave them.  Killed by other people; he forgave them. How did this former coward change?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2M0sjxX

 

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Monday 7/15 ~ Challenging and liberating

The scripture for today, July 15 (7/15), is Matthew 7:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Jesus said this. Maybe sometimes the “false prophet” is within yourself. You have a pet theory you want very much for God to agree with you on. So you read through the Scriptures trying to prove your point correct. Of course, taking a verse here and a verse there, you can “prove” anything you want.

So how do you find out if you are being your own “false prophet”? If you see a verse that contradicts your pet theory, look for other scriptures similar to this one. Use a concordance ~ a book that lists alphabetically every word in the Bible and every verse it appears in. There is one on the internet here:  https://biblehub.com/concordance/

Or, if you believe in a different holy book of a different world religion, you can read it, then honestly search for built-in proofs it is truly from a mind that knows things humans do not such as prophecies of the future that came true.

Or perhaps your pet belief is based on deep emotional longings or excitements or desires that want to show themselves in outward ways  “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 14).  So God in flesh was Jesus, therefore God was and is word, logic. Therefore, try to find explanations of your deep emotional expressions in the Bible.  If you do not find them, perhaps your emotional expressions came from a tradition instead of God.

Yes, there are ways to determine if you’ve been listening to a “false prophet”. Yes, it is humiliating to believe you just might have been wrong, and then actually admit you were wrong. But it is also liberating. Many people have already gone through this challenge and can testify that changing from their viewpoint to God’s viewpoint is not only liberating, but ultimately brings peace.

 

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Thursday 7/4 ~ This is that Jesus

The scripture for today, July 4 (7/4) is Romans 7:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 5-FloodGates-Cover-Thumbnail-New“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”

This is not talking about just any law. It is talking about the law, a specific law ~ the Law of Moses.

Have you ever tried wading through Leviticus, the third book of the Bible? It’s full of all those laws in the Law of Moses (over 600 of them). Thank God Jesus nailed them to the cross and we are no longer bound by killing animals, stoning people for adultery, tithing, having priests, burning incense, going to the temple three times a year, only traveling 1/3 of a mile on Saturday, paying for traveling mercies, and on and on.

How did “we” in today’s scripture die to the law? He said in the previous chapter (6:4) “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” and in Colossians 2:14 where Christ “having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” and in Hebrews 9:13, 10:1 “By calling this covenant ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear….The law was only a shadow of the good things that are coming.”

God now freely gives you and me His gifts through Jesus Christ.  This is the Jesus who overcame Death, overcame Satan, overcame our having to be perfect when his body came back to life. This is the Jesus who sacrificed everything to bring you to him.

 

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Wednesday 7/3 ~ Gear up and take that leap

The scripture for today, July 3 (7/3), is Acts 7:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-” ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ “

This is part of a speech by Christian Stephen soon after the church began. He was reminding the Jewish leaders how God told their ancestor Abraham to leave his religion, home and family, and move to where God had something special for him ~ to begin the Jewish nation and a new religion.

But when Stephen got to the part where now God wanted his audience to leave the Jewish religion and move on to a still better one ~ the Christian religion ~ they were outraged. They were not like Abraham; they did not want to change. So, not liking the message, they killed the messenger. These religious leaders stoned Stephen to death.

Have you learned “new” things in the Bible that your religion is against? It is hard to change. You could lose your friends and family like Abraham did; you could even lose your home as Abraham did. It takes a great big “leap of faith” to follow that “new” truth you have discovered in the Bible. But when God does the recommending, you can know he has something special in mind for you. So, gear up and take that leap!

 

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE did everything possible to not change from Judaism to Christianity. He hauled people to prison and even killed them if they refused to stop talking about changing. It was only when he changed sides that he saw what he had been missing out on. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/328ta59

 

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Tuesday 7/2 ~ God’s Opinion?

The scripture for today, July 2 (7/2), is Proverbs 7:2ff as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your kinsman.”

It is popular today for people to reject Christianity because they don’t like rules. That is not logical. Everything in life has rules ~ getting tired and having to sleep is a rule to keep your energy up.  Eating is a rule to keep you alive.  Not running out into the street with cars coming is a rule to save your life.  True Christianity has the same kind of logical rules. They may annoy you, but God is trying to save your soul.

Still, it seems, everywhere we turn, we are given differing religious rules and way too many. They cannot all be true, yet people who give them seems to be so good. They all pray and do good deeds, and never kill, cheat or steal.

How can they all be right when they contradict each other? Preachers and creeds and elders and dogmas. No wonder people are turned off by all the man-made rules.  When it comes down to it, only God’s opinion counts.

So how do we get God’s opinion? We look up everything in the Bible using the keyword we are concerned about. We look it up for ourselves and decide for ourselves. We do not let other people decide for us.

Well, how do we find all those verses? By using a concordance which is like a large dictionary listing all the words in the Bible and what verses carry those words. It is the size of a large-city telephone book. You can also get it on the internet free here:  http://bibletab.com/

So today look up something about Christianity you have always been curious about. It will open up a whole new world for you. Then you’ll have wisdom, understanding, and God’s opinion.

 

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Friday 6/28 ~ It’s okay to smile again

The scripture for today, June 28 (6/28), is Luke 6:28f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 

There was a book published several years ago entitled, Hurt People Hurt People. Have you been hurt? Perhaps by an insult, a neglect, an illness, losing your job?  Have you turned bitter? Do you lash out at everyone, or a group of people or a particular someone?

One method of lashing out is when someone tries to console someone who has lost a loved one in death by saying, “I know how you feel.” Then the hurt person lashes out at the other person and says, “You DON’T know how I feel!  How dare you pretend that you do!”

That is a hurt person trying to hurt someone else. It’s as though they are bragging, “My hurt is so amazingly great, any effort on your part to understand is puny and not worthy of the greatness of my hurt.”

How do you react to your pain? Do you run people off?

Stop letting that old hurt punish you. Stop putting your life on hold and living in the moment over and over for eternity. Stop being the victim and the aggressor both. You’re killing yourself ~ your mind, your spirit, your soul.

It is okay to smile again. Try it in private. Then in public. It is okay to let it go and hand it over to God. It is okay, when you feel cursed, to not curse back. It is a blessing to bless.

 

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Sunday 6/23 – He treats you the way you treat him

The scripture for today, June 23 (6/23), is 2nd Chronicles 6:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00- Worship Changes KC COVER-thumbnail“Then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.”

Did you notice here that God brings down on our head what we do to others? It includes how we treat him too. If we don’t have time for God, God doesn’t have time for us. If we put God last, he puts us last. If we refuse to forgive others, he refuses to forgive us. This is the boomerang effect. Here are several scriptures that reflect God doing to people what they do.

“The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. The Lord is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.” (Psalm 9:15-16)

“In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.” (Psalm 10:2).

“The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts.” (Psalm 37:14-15)

“Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.” (Psalm 140:9)

“He mocks proud mockers.” (Proverbs 3:34)

“Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?” (Proverbs 6:27)

“If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.” (Proverbs 26:27)

“Woe to you, O destroyer, you have not been destroyed! Woe to you, O traitor, you have not been betrayed. When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.” (Isaiah 33:1)

“According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes.” (Isaiah 59:18)

“I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.” (Ezekiel 7:8)

“As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.” (Obadiah 1:15)

In the meantime, we’re to leave punishment to God. And, if you are falsely accused of anything, God will declare you innocent. His is the important judgment.

 

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