One step closer. Or am I?

Golden Cover-KINDLE-thumbnailEach day, Oh Lord, I am one step closer to you. One step, one hour, one heartbeat closer to my eternal home with you. Closer to the gate that swings wide for me. Closer to the golden street of purity and the crystal sea of divinity.  Closer to that home you are preparing for me and to your great white throne. Closer to the Tree of Eternal Life, the River of Life. One step closer to seeing you face to face, to singing my praises to you, to worshiping at your feet. At last I will lay down the cross I have been bearing, and enter sweet rest with my Maker, my Protector, my God.

Ah, thank you, Lord Jesus, for all you gave up to save me from Satan. You entered a human body so you could overcome sin and then overcome death. You performed miracles so no one would doubt who you were.  You fulfilled prophecies about you made centuries earlier so no one would doubt who you were. Most people hated you. You were too good for them and they knew it.  They taunted you, mocked you, spit on you, slapped you, pulled out hairs from your beard, beat you, scourged you, and tortured you to death. You went through it willingly in order to free me ~ and them ~ from Satan’s clutches. People today are still lashing out at you. They are still trying to kill you.  They do not realize you have already conquered the world. They do not realize you reign supreme now and then. Open their eyes, Lord.

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Golden Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail365 GOLDEN BIBLE THOUGHTS: GOD’S HEART TO YOURS is book 1 in the TOUCHING GOD trilogy.  Beautiful gift set with original art on the cover.  Or get a copy for yourself.  Revealing God’s heart and soul and your spirit.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/33obxBJ

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/golden-bible-thoughts-gods-heart-to-yours-touching-god-series/

Praying for Nero

The scripture for today, September 8 (9/9), is Daniel 9:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Medium“O Lord, we and our kings, our princes, and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.”

Have you prayed for your government lately?  I Timothy 2:1 & 2 says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone ~ for kings and all those in authority.”

At the time of this writing, Nero was Caesar. First-century historian Tacitus said this about Nero in his Annals 15:44: “But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called “Christians” by the populace.

“Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.

“Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”

If the Apostle Paul could pray for such a government leader, can you not follow his instructions? Why don’t you stop and pray for your own government right now?

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR is a novelized version of life as it may have been for Stephen who, history tells us, lived in Antioch of Syria, then Cyrene in Libya, then Jerusalem of Judea.  He was a deacon when killed, so had a wife and children, probably young. What could drive a young man to give up his whole life ahead of him?  When he went into the Sanhedrin chambers, he knew they’d never let him live.  What stirred within his young heart?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/books-more-biblical-historical-novels/book-7-stephen-unlikely-martyr/

The Son is also the Father

0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-MediumThe scripture for today, September 6 (9/6), is Isaiah 9:6 , as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

“For to us, a child is born! To us, a son is given! And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called  Wonderful  Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!”

This is one of the most amazing scriptures in the entire Bible, explaining how God is One and self-existent. It is as astounding as John 1:1,14 that says, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

This child predicted to be born unto us was both Father and Son and God. He created Himself. He was self-existent.

He is the image of the invisible God; God materialized, ”For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:15, 19; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4). The men who saw Jesus Christ saw God (John 12:45, 14:9). God’s blood (God’s Word in flesh) was shed on the cross (Acts 20:28).

In America, we sometimes say about a son, “he is the spitting image of his father.”  Jesus said, “If you want to look at the Father, look at me.” God is a Spirit but created us in a material world. So, sometimes God materialized in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, he materialized as Jesus.

This is so amazing. And we have been so blest beyond full comprehension.

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0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-ThumbnailSTAR SONG takes the reader back to Mary’s childhood and what it was like to grow up under mad King Herod. Where is the God-King everyone has been waiting for generation after generation? And what of Joseph?  Two fathers? One son?  Even as a baby he changed the lives of everyone who saw him.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/StarSong

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#Utousachildisborn, #Isaiah53, #fatherson, #princeofpeace, #godking, #bethlehem, #maryjoseph, #starangels, #Christmas, ##KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-1-star-song-adult-childs-versions/

As long as my heart beats

Supper-Front Cover-MediumAs long as there is breath in me, I will praise you. As long as my heart beats, I will praise you. As long as I have a lucid mind, I will praise you. Though I may be beaten to deny you, in my weakness I will praise you. Though I may be imprisoned for not denying you, in my restraint I will praise you. Though they may threaten to kill me, at the moment of my death I will praise you. As long as it is within my being to do so, I will praise you, my Lord and my God.

Thank you for coming to our world as the kind of man you created. With that, you made my salvation possible. Salvation from Sin, Satan and Death and that hopeless prison of hell.  You rescued me. You ransomed me. You bought me back. All to take me home with you to heaven. And everyone else who once turned against you. Thank you for forgiving me and all the others. Thank you for such astounding love that soars through the universe to my heart.

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER: 52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS can be used by those presiding at the Lord’s Table or by partakers in private meditation.  A preface traces keeping the Lord’s Supper back to the original Greek of Acts 20:7.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2Vhacqn

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#LordsSupper, #holycommunion, #holymass, #bloodandbody, #wineandbread, #crucifixion, #resurrection, #satansindeath, #ransom, #savedfromhell, #weeklyworship, ##KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/the-lords-supper-52-readings-with-prayers/

Come to me! I am doing everything I can to help you!

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-medium-newThe scripture for today, August 12 (8/12), is John 8:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ “

Jesus had only about six months left to live. He knew the religious leaders were after his life out of jealousy. Before going to Jerusalem, he told his brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me” (John 7:7). Knowing people were wanting to kill him, he slipped into Jerusalem after everyone else got there (John 7:10, 14). Then suddenly, he appeared in the middle of the Temple complex ~ the size of many football fields. He knew he was safe as long as there was a crowd.

Jesus answered some private questions, and then “he called out, ‘You know me! You know where I am from!’ ” (John 7:28).

Every day of this feast, a priest would ceremonially pour out some water to represent the water that poured out of the rock when the Jews wandered in the wilderness. But on the last day, the priest did not do this, for it represented their ancestors finally arriving in the Promised Land. It was on this last day of the feast that Jesus “stood and said in a loud voice…  ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him!’ ” (John 7:38f)

First thing the next morning at dawn, he returned to the Temple court. Maybe there was a beautiful sunrise. When the sun was up, and the crowds had returned, he shouted something else to everyone, “I am the light of the world!” (John 8:12).

He had compared himself to the water ceremony of the day before, and now he was comparing himself to the new dawn. There he was. God materialized on earth, crying out to humanity. “Come to me! I am doing everything I can to help you! Won’t you come? Please listen to me! Please come! I can save you from hell!”

Such stubborn love.

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0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newFOLK HERO is lyrical novel #4 in the series THEY MET JESUS.  He has performed a few miracles, selected his 12 aides, and now he gets down to the business of some heavy-duty miracles and astounding sermons. People flock to him from Palestine and nearby countries. They cannot get enough of their FOLK HERE.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  http://bit.ly/FolkHero

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#Wateroflife, #breadoflife, #lightofworld, #savedfromhell, #killjesus, #savedfromhell, #Folkhero, #Theymetjesus, #KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-4-folk-hero-adults-childs-versions/

Confined to a body

0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-MediumThe scripture for today, August 9 (8/9), is 2nd Corinthians 8:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Such love!

Jesus gave up streets of gold for streets full of trash. Gave up a heavenly mansion for a barn. Gave up the ability to be everywhere at once, to being confined to a body. Gave up eternal bliss for thirty-three years of pain and struggle. Gave up adoring angels for crowds that hated him. And finally, he gave up sinlessness to take the blame for your sins and allow himself to take the soul and body death penalty for your sins.

What more can be said about God who materialized for you and snatched you out of the  jaws of Sin, Satan, and Death? Unless perhaps we can add, ‘What have you given up for him?’.

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0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-ThumbnailSTAR SONG is biblical lyrical novel #1 in the series, THEY MET JESUS.  Follow the lives of 12 people he changed forever, even as a baby.  I began writing this series when I was 17 years old and finished it when I was 60.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/StarSong

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#Christmas, #maryandjoseph, #Bethlehem, #Egypt, #Herod, #heaven, #sacrifice, #givingup, #KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-1-star-song-adult-childs-versions/

Was Jesus God? Why Evil?

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnailThe scripture for today, August 6 (8/6), is 1st Corinthians 8:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord [Word], Jesus Christ, through whom all things came [by a Word] and through whom we live [by the Word]. But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols.”

Was Jesus God?  When you put your voice I an audio player, that doesn’t mean there are now two of you ~ one in your audio player and one in your body. You are still one.When God put his Words in a burning bush when speaking to Moses, that didn’t make God two ~ one in the bush and one in heaven.  God was still one and chose to put his voice in something on earth. Jesus’ body was where God put his voice for 3-1/2 years in Palestine.

Just as you have a mind/will, a body, and a spirit, God does too.  Some object and say, “Was Jesus praying to himself?” and “Why did he have to obey his Father?.”   Your words do not just take off speaking on its own.  Your mind, your will, tells your lips what to say. Your lips have to obey your mind, your will. 

What about Jesus being God’s Son? You create your words, you beget your words. Your words are your brainchild. But your brainchild is still you.

I have written an entire enlightening book on this called WAS JESUS GOD?  It is fascinating and wonderful. And, yes, Jesus was God.

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Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnailWAS JESUS GOD? (WHY EVIL?) is a study of salvation and all that God went through to save.  Save us to heaven? No, when we are drowning, we are not saved to the shore, we are saved from the water.  So, too, when we are saved, we are saved from hell. The book begins with sin and ends at the gates of heaven in our glorious bodies.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/31nm5hM

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#OneGod, #Trinity, #savedfromhell, #salvation, #forgivenessofsins, #satan, #crucifixion, #godonearth, #whyevil, #gloriousbody, #spiritualmuscles, #heaven, #KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/was-jesus-god/

That Great Gettin’ Up Morning

TOldOldTunes-mediumhe scripture for today, July 31 (7/31), is 1st Corinthians 7:31b as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“For this world in its present form is passing away.”

How easily that which you have slaved for over a period of years can pass away. It can happen as the result of fire, flood, storm, war, economic crisis. Every day something in this world “is passing away.”

Life plods on and on. It seems so slow and so long ~ Year after year, month after month, minute after minute.  If you live to be 90 (not uncommon these days), that means nearly 33,000 times you get up in the morning, 100,000 times you eat a meal, some 25,000 times you may leave your house and go to work to earn a living. On and on.  

You were put here on earth for a reason:  To prepare yourself for the other world.  That is your real home. That world will never end ~ for good or bad. It will never pass away. It’s hard to stay focused on the other world when there are so many things that need to be done to survive in this world.

The other world seems so far away. But you will be there before you know it.

What are you working for day after day? Are you making time to prepare for “That Great Gettin’-Up Morning” when you say goodbye to this world forever?   What are your plans for today? How about this week?  How often do you worship?  

Here is a link to hear singing of “That Great Gettin’-Up Morning”  http://bit.ly/2Mxfqf1

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OldOldTunes-ThumbnailTHE OLD OLD STORY SET TO OLD OLD TUNES has 40 songs about the Old Testament and 40 songs about the New Testament. They are all set to old folk tunes and are loads of fun to sing. Great for teachers and grandparents when the grandkids come for a visit.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/BibleSongBook

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#Endofworld, #otherworld, #trudging, #dayafterday, #yearafteryear, #isthisall, #hustleandbustle, #onthego, #hurryhurry, #things, #accomulatingstuff, #inthatgreatgettinupmorning, #oldoldstory, #oldoldtunes, #folksongs, #KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/links-to-some-of-my-fun-bible-stuff/the-old-old-story-set-to-old-old-tunes/

Thank you for coming

0-BK 6-PromiseKeeper-Cover-thumbnail-new-kindleI praise you, Jehovah, for you are Truth. Without truth, I would exist in confusion. I would not know what to do and what to stay away from. I would not know which was left and which was right, which was up and which was down.  I would be left wondering and wandering through life. And you always keep your promises. You do no hold back from making them. They give me courage to keep going in this world that Satan wants to take over. They give me courage to stand strong.  Satan may win some skirmishes with me along the way, but you forgive them as though they never happened. Satan loses. And in the end, you will win the war and I will be there with you. Great day of overcoming.

Oh, Jesus, thank you for coming!  You kept your promise! Your Father’s Will brought you back to life. You kept your promise. Your Spirit explains it all in your Bible. You kept your promise. Now, I have the hope of heaven. No, not the hope; I have the promise of heaven. Oh, glorious day of being in the joy of your presence every day throughout eternity. Eternity is beyond my comprehension, but I know it will be so. I know it!

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0-BK 6-PromiseKeeper-Cover-thumbnail-new-kindlePROMISE KEEPER is novel #6 in the 8-novel series, THEY MET JESUS.  Relive Jesus’ last days as his twelve try to warn him not to go too close to Jerusalem where there’s a warrant out for is arrest, and an awaiting death sentence.  Life-application questions and ancient historians and scriptures at the end of each chapter.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/2ntvYaJ     

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#promises, #promisekeeper, #truth, #confusion,#eternity, #Satan, #war, #resurrection, #heaven,#crucifixion, #katherynmadoxhaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-6-promise-keeper-adults-childs-versions/

It just is not automatic

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailThe scripture for today, July 23 (7/23), is 1st Corinthians 7:23 in the New Testament of the Bible.

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”

Who were you bought from? A ghastly trinity:  Satan, Sin and Death. God told Adam and Eve the day they sinned their souls 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 at a great price ~ the blood of Jesus Christ. On Sundays ~ the day he came back to life and overcame that terrible soul and body death for you ~ where are you? What are you doing? Who do you worship?

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH is biblical lyrical novel #7 in the series THEY MET JESUS. The book begins with his beatings and ends with his apostles hiding in a house in Jerusalem, their thoughts caught in a web of confusion and no way to get out.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………https://bit.ly/2UcggRE

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#GardenofEden, #FirstSin, #forgiveness, #AdamandEve, #snakeSatan, #princeofdarkness, #crucifixion, #boughtwithblood, #ransom, #KatherynMaddoxHaddad, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #praise, #worship, #prayer

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-7-shadow-of-death-adults-childs-versions/