Friday 8/16 ~ Solace, Comfort, Reassurance

The scripture for today, August 16 (8/16), is Romans 8:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAIL“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

This is so similar to the scripture of a few days ago on how to know if the Spirit is living in you.  You can use the same approach to determine how the Spirit teaches you that you are God’s child.

Once again, John 14:17 says the Comforter Jesus sent us was the Spirit of Truth. And Jesus said in John 17:17, God’s Word is Truth. So it is through God’s Word that you are taught how to become God’s child. You do not have to guess!

This is what is so wonderful about Christianity. The Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Shamanist and many other religions leave the followers to guess because their “god” has given them no instructions. Ninety-nine percent of them believe they are not children of God.

They also believe there are not saved because they can’t be perfect, so have to be reincarnated thousands of times to try to be perfect. The Muslim religion says followers are slaves, and they won’t know until the Day of Judgment if their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. If they did more good than bad, they get to go to paradise where they have gold couches and wide-eyed virgin servants but God is not there.

In all other world religions, followers never know if they are children of God and saved. As hard as you try, you cannot be perfect.  But Jesus came and was perfect for you.  All the good works in the world will not get a sinner into God’s home ~ heaven~ because we are still sinners. Jesus collected the wages for your sin, thus making Satan’s threats of hell ineffective.  If you believe this and follow what he says in the Bible, you can become God’s child and live with Him forever after you go through the happy door of death.

 Praise God! He has given you The Map, the Way ~ the Holy Bible, God’s Word in written form. Such solace. Such comfort. Such reassurance.

 

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN begins in the Garden of Eden and leads the reader on the long journey to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and on into heaven itself.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  amzn.to/TheRoadToHeaven

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Saturday 8/3 ~ Utter Amazement

The scripture for today, August 3 (8/3), is 1st Corinthians 8:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail“But the man who loves God is known by God.”

How can God know us all individually? Just how does God do it? There are multiplied millions of us. All praying with our own set of problems, usually thousands of us at once. All singing our various hymns. All trying to do right in the name of God.

  • Where can I go from your Spirit?
  • Where can I flee from your presence?
  • If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
  • if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
  • If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
  • if I settle on the far side of the sea…
  • Psalm 139:7-9

This Creator of the entire universe, the Maker of stars and sunflowers and little puppies and unfathomable oceans, knows each person who loves him. Not “knows about”, but KNOWS!

With all that is going on in the world, yea even in the universe, he still knows which ones of us love him, and he takes the time to fix things in our lives, hold our hands, bless us with just what we need.  All tens of thousands of us at once. How does he do that?

How large he is. How small we are.

          Utter amazement!

                    And so we worship him.

 

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail365 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS is book #2 in the TOUCHING GOD series.  Each day it gives you one of Solomon’s proverbs and a passage from one of the other “wisdom” books of the Bible ~ Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.  A beautiful gift book.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2KeXUec

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Friday 8/2 ~ He still reaches across the centuries

The scripture for today, August 2 (8/2), is Matthew 8:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAIL“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.’ “

People in Jesus’ day who had leprosy had to live outside of town in what we would call a leper colony. They were incurable. And if someone without leprosy started getting close to them, they were required to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” 

But here was a man who apparently sneaked into town where he didn’t belong, went up and down streets where he didn’t belong looking for Jesus, pushed his way through a crowd where he didn’t belong.

Once he found Jesus, he didn’t ask him if he could heal him; he asked if he would. After all, he was “unclean”. Remarkably, Jesus said yes.

Then Jesus did another remarkable thing: He touched the man. He touched the leprosy. Not only was he willing to be seen with an unclean man, and have a conversation with an unclean man, he was willing to touch the unclean man.

Jesus still does this today. When you come to him with a diseased heart wondering if you are good enough, Jesus reaches out across the centuries and touches you. And his voice echoes across those centuries ~ “I am willing.”

No matter how much sin mars your life, Jesus still today wants to touch your incurable heart and say, “Be clean.”

 

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN begins with the problem of sin and evil and works its way step by step from the Garden of Eden to Golgatha and on to heaven. Thought-provoking and reassuring.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2KdVOuT

 

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Monday 7/29 ~ When you so easily loved Him

The scripture for today, July 29 (7/29), is Ecclesiastes 7:29 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Applied Christianity“This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”

You begin your life upright ~ sinless. But as you grow out of innocent childhood, you begin to want recognition, money, and to make your surroundings beautiful.

True, God does not want to deprive you if you can obtain these things. But Solomon (who wrote this), was the richest man in the world with all his worldwide fame, wealth, and beauty. He still felt empty.

Today, you can even read the Bible and go to worship and still feel empty. You can even worship with a group that uplifts you so much, you feel very close to God. But, when you go home, you feel that emptiness again. Why?

You need to add good works to your faith (James 2) ~ helping others in private and having private Bible studies with others with the same enthusiasm with which you pursue recognition, money, and beauty ~ yes, and worship.

And, sometimes to fill your emptiness, you need to just return to your early childhood when you saw life through innocent eyes. Through simple eyes. Through eyes that so easily believed in God, and you so easily loved him.

 

Applied Christianity

APPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS.  Suggestions and how-tos for every age, every physical limitation, every size congregation, every size town.  A must for every church library.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2ZiY1uf

 

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Friday, 7/5 ~ Your ardent concern

The scripture for today, July 5 (7/5), is 2nd Corinthians 7:5ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

0-Titus-Cover-Lg Thumb“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn ~ conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever.”

Oh how much we need each other.

Sometimes in life, we go into our own Macedonia where we have no rest and are full of fear. Our Macedonia may be religious or political or medical; or it may be at work, out on the street, or at home.

At such times we need a Titus to help us, to encourage us. Our Titus may be a relative, a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger.

Have you been a Titus to anyone lately? Look around. Be a Titus to someone today. You are so very needed.

 

0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbTITUS: THE ARISTOCRAT grows up privileged, his father is the city magistrate and Titus becomes an arbitrator and lawyer.  He can make the most bitter of enemies think they love each other. So, when Paul meets and converts him, Paul sends him to churches with problems where he uses his expertise to soothe them.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/32bExti

 

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Sunday 6/30 ~ The heavenly temple

The scripture for today, June 30 (6/30), is 1st Kings 6:30 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.”

About 40 years ago it was figured that Solomon put $3 trillion worth of gold in the temple to line the ceiling, walls, and floor. And that figure would probably be around $12 trillion today. Talk about streets of gold in heaven!

There are some people today asking for money to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Even if they accomplished it, what would it do for Christians? The book of Hebrews in the New Testament explains to the Hebrew (Jewish) Christians that they no longer need or want the temple. Why? Hebrews 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant (Testament) ‘new’ he has made the first one [Old Testament] obsolete.”

Let’s look at the temple in a spiritual sense through the eyes of a Christian ~ and of Jesus himself in Hebrews 9:1. “Now the FIRST  COVENANT  [TESTAMENT] had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 7 Only the High Priest entered the inner room [Most Holy Place]…and never without blood.…. 11When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle [temple] that is not man-made. 12. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood [He being the Lamb of God ~ John 1], having obtained eternal redemption. 24. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered HEAVEN  ITSELF. For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a NEW  COVENANT  [TESTAMENT].’

Why in the world would anyone want an imitation temple and holy of holies made with hands back in Jerusalem again, along with all the animal sacrifices on the altar, and priests who would have to be of the Tribe of Levi, and tithing and all the other over 600 laws of Moses? 

Thank God, we live in a more spiritual age ~ the age of Christ and the temple of heaven itself.

 

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-ThumbnailYOU CAN BE A HERO ALONE is stories of Bible people who had to stand alone and became our heroes.  There are isolated Christians everywhere today ~ in countries where Christianity is illegal, in prisons, in universities, in extended-care homes, shut-ins, etc.  They do not need a temple or church building to worship in. All they need is the knowledge that they are not alone and they are our heroes today.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/324ArTw

 

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Sunday 6/9 ~ Satan loses. You win.

The scripture for today, June 9 (6/9), is Job 6:9-8 found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail“Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!”

Job was suffering terribly. The Bible says he had sores all over his body. There were other symptoms listed elsewhere in Job that indicate he had a form of leprosy. Now he just wanted to die.

When you get into a life problem that seems hopeless, do you just give up and say, “God, I can’t go on like this. Just take my life right now. It’s too hard. I can’t do it anymore”?

God knows what you are going through. God knows that Satan is attacking you. When things are desperately low, your job is just to hang on. It often takes God time to shift around a lot of other people’s lives in order to alleviate your pain.

Remember, God hurts just as much when you suffer as when he watched his own Son suffer on the cross. His Son’s suffering accomplished something wonderful for others. So too, someday your suffering will somehow in some way accomplish something good. And ultimately, just by surviving, Satan loses and God wins.

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-ThumbnailTOUCHING GOD SERIES II ~  365 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS. When you do not know where to turn next, turn to God’s pearls of wisdom and rest. Just $6.00 for paperback. to BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2I6AYws

 

 

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Friday 5/10 ~ You’re not home yet

The scripture for today, May 10 (5/10), is 1st Peter 5:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Rhoda Book Cover KINDLE-thumbnail“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong and firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever.”

This earth is not meant to be your paradise, to be your eternal home. This earth is just the foyer. God stands at the door to heaven and calls you.

Are you too busy watching over things here to look over at his door? Are you too caught up with temporary things of this world to stop and listen for God?

Is there too much noise in your life? The noise of problems with job, home, family, government, neighbors, health? The noise of getting a better job, home, family, government, neighbor, health? Remember, you are only in the foyer.

Life is not always easy. Do you have the stamina to not be sidetracked? Do you have the fortitude to keep walking toward God’s door?

God can make you strong and firm and steadfast if you will stop the noise and listen for him. God can make you strong and firm and steadfast if you keep your eyes on his door.

You’re not home yet.

Image result for "Buy the book" button redRHODA is part of my BIBLE KIDS series. Rhoda is lovable but silly and sometimes gets carried away with what she is doing.  So, when Peter knocks on the gate, she runs to tell everyone and leaves him out in the street huddling in the shadows hoping no soldiers spot him.  At the end of each chapter is “Think and Do” for the child to apply it to their daily life.  To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2PWNEbC

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Saturday 4/13 ~ Someday you will smile and rise again

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

000-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“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 unforeseeable. Maybe you have made bad decisions, or you weren’t prepared for emergencies, or you are an innocent victim of someone else’s problems.

There is Someone who knows everything that is happening to you and who will walk beside you down whatever path you find yourself. And, as amazing as it sounds, 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 someday once again you will rise and smile again.

Image result for "Buy the book" button redLAZARUS: THE SAMARITAN becomes a slave in a copper mine who eventually owns his own lucrative mine, raises a family and loses everything. The surprise ending will knock your socks off. Has something to do with a pearl. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2G9A3cj

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Monday 3/24 ~Flaming Hope with a Flickering Candle

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

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

That’s all?  Just hope?  I don’t have to have a deep, deep faith for God to be good to me? All I have to do is hope he exists? Hope he loves everyone. Hope he loves me?

Were you raised by atheists or have you attended a university where professors criticize theists (believers in God)? Have you been told deity is just the essence of the universe with no personality? Are you confused by it all?  You can still hope there is only the One God who does exist, has personality, knows your name and loves you.

Have you had a major tragedy in your life and can’t understand how a good God could allow that bad thing to happen (heaven on earth)? Do you 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?

Amidst such confusion, is it hard for you to sort it all out and have faith in the One God of the Bible? What is faith anyway? It is the evidence of what you hope for.  If you cannot go so far as to say you have a deep faith in the One God, you can still hope! Keep that hope alive. Let the Lord be good to you.

Image result for "Buy the book" button redDREAM MAKER: For thousands of years, people had been dreaming for God to keep his promise to come to earth and rule personally.  The angel said Jesus’ name was to be Emmanuel ~ “God With Us”.  In Book 2 of the THEY MET JESUS series, Jesus goes public and one by one began recruiting his 12.  TO BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2FpLD2U

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