Category: faith

I’d die if I had to do that.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, death, faith, Fear, good works, Holy Spirit, judging, love, persecution, sacrifice, truth, victory, weaknessLeave a comment

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailThe scripture for today, June 17 (6/17), is Matthew 6:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face.”

This is interesting because Jesus did not say “If, you fast,” but rather “When you fast.” It was as though he was teaching us to take for granted that we would fast ~ it would be second-nature to us. In a sense, it is, for when most people go through a sudden tragedy such as loss of a loved one, they often cannot eat.

But what about voluntary fasting? The early church sometimes fasted. Acts 13:2 says a congregation in Antioch, Syria, fasted and worshiped, then chose men to go out as missionaries. Queen Esther fasted before going to the king uninvited with a request he might not like (Esther 4:16). Isaiah 58:3 says people fasted in order to humble themselves.

Some people respond, “I’d die if I had to fast.” Perhaps that’s kind of the idea. We know we would die if we went without food long enough. So perhaps one day of fasting is a way of saying, “God, I would die for you if I had to.” Yes, fasting is a humbling experience and frightening to some people. But perhaps that is the point.

Is something important coming up that you know you will be urgently praying about? Once you skip one meal, you will have conquered your desire to eat. Then, with your brain not having to concentrate on digesting food, it will be able to focus more on that important thing happening in your life. Your prayers will be more focused. You will be more focused with your eyes more clearly on God.

So, take a shower, comb your hair, put on some nice clothes, and look like you have something important to do. Then fast.

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR did everything he could think of to convince people his religion was good.  He recruited help.  At night they would sneak pages of scriptures under rocks, inside people’s houses, nailed to statues of the gods.  They met in secret and worshiped. Then publicly they would march.  And they fasted as Queen Esther had done.  If it worked for Esther, surely it would work for Stephen and his zealous friends. Would it backfire? To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/2XBFXvJ

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Life Beyond Imagination

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn death, emptiness, eternity, faith, Fear, forgiveness, Heaven, Life of Christ, love, praise, prayer, Satan, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

Supper-Front Cover-MediumI praise and adore you, Jehovah God. I fear your power and justice, yet I am so grateful for it. With your protective justice, to take people out of my way who want me to believe Satan’s lies by calling good bad and bad good. Sometimes I believe them because they look so successful, so happy, so perfect. Eventually, I come to my senses and crawl back to you.  I cling to your mercy and compassion. You love me without reservation. It is your heaven you are inviting me to. It is your home you wish to share with me.  You made me, set me free, then invited me back home. I’m coming, Lord. I’m coming.

Forgive my selfishness, especially with my time.  I keep so much of it for myself.  I don’t want to interrupt my routine to reach out to someone else. Open my heart to others.

It is you who opened the gate for me to heaven and you did it from the cross.  I could never open the gate myself.  It is impossible. Oh, mighty Plan. Amazing strategy to defeat Satan as you did in a realm I cannot see. Fighting over us. Satan wanting to give us a living hell, you wanting to give us a glorious life beyond our imagination.  He tries to get people to blame you for all the bad he does. He tries to get people to think you don’t want them to have any fun. He tries to get people to think you hate them. Then he teases people and tells them they can go to heaven without reminding them that, if they didn’t like worshiping you on earth, they won’t like it in heaven. Thank you for making Satan back down.  How the world needs you.  How I need you. I fall at your feet and worship you.

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER:  52 READING WITH PRAYERS.  No longer will those presiding at the Lord’s Supper wonder what to explain, what to pray, how to approach the most meaningful part of Sunday Worship. Everything needed is in this book. ALSO, it can be used by partakers in the congregation for their personal meditation during this time.  To BUY NOW, click a book or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2ZvCTDS

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Satan loses. God wins.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn discouragement, faith, healing, Inspirational, Loss, patience, problems, victoryLeave a comment

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

“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.

This too, will pass. You may not think so, but it will. You may think you will never smile again, never want to go around people again, never sing again. But you will. Just like Job.

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000-COVER-KINDLE-ThumbnailLAZARUS: THE SAMARITAN spent years as an indentured servant in the mines. The owner tortured him every way he could.  All for his bride, he Jewess Devorah.  Years later, he became the mine owner.  How did he do it?  Did his meeting Jesus have anything to do with it?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2AfVBoR

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You are my soul

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, Death of Jesus Christ, eternity, faith, Fear, Heaven, Inspirational, love, patience, power, praise, prayer, Satan, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILI walk in your footsteps, my Lord, grateful to be as close as that to you. When I see you go in another direction, I try to stay with you but sometimes do not notice.  When I get lost, you turn back, look for me, and bring me back to yourself. I walk in the shadow of your wings and you lift me up and let me soar with you.  Oh, glorious moments when my soul flies with yours. Someday…yes, someday…you will fling open the gates of heaven and we will be together forever. Great God, you are my soul.

The cross.  Oh, the cross you suffered on and died on. The cross made of wood. From it your soul cried out to the world, “Come to me. I look weak, but I am attacking Satan for you and will win.”  And so, I crawl to your cross, dare to look up, then touch your bloody feet. The feet that once walked the earth, the feet that once walked on water, the feet that would rise up and walk out of a death cave. How can I thank you? It is so far above my ability. I will spend eternity ever looking for new ways to exalt you.

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Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS BRIDE, ECCLESIA.  This beautiful gift book has papyrus font and a bride watermark on each page.  Each chapter is paraphrased and becomes a love letter; chapter numbers in the book coincide with chapter numbers in the Bible.  Hundreds of footnotes explain the parallel of the bride and church.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/2Ad62JR

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Painting rainbows

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn #friendships, Bible, blessings, eternity, faith, Heaven, Inspirational, praise, prayer, Thanksgiving, worshipLeave a comment

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailMy heart rushes to your heart, Oh God. I cannot bear the thought of being without you. I sigh at the thought of you. Sometimes I weep tears of loneliness. I have many friends and brothers and sisters in the family of God. But they are not the same. How I long to live in your heavenly realm and bask in your glory, the glory of my Maker. Though your light dawns on me every morning, I yearn for the true light of your presence. I worship you once again for, when you are near, it is always dawn.

Ah, my Lord. Every day that I read your Word, I think of your promises, your assurances to always love me. They are ever with me. They make me confident through the day that you will protect and guide my every step. It would be so wonderful to walk with you as Adam and Eve did in the garden. I cling to your words that it will indeed happen someday. There you will give me a crown though I do not know why.  Are there a million other worlds out there for each of us to rule under you?  You declared idleness a sin. Or will you assign artists to paint rainbows and jewelers to form emeralds and musicians to composed great and wondrous songs to your glory?  Whatever it is, I will always praise you. The gratitude in my heart bursts like a sunrise.

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0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailTHE HOLY SPIRIT: 592 VERSES EXAMINED. There are numerous books on the Holy Spirit, but they are based on only a few Bible verses. This study was not done to prove the author’s or anyone else’s pet assessment of the Holy Spirit. The study was made with the desire to forget all pre-conceived notions and opinions, and discover only God’s opinion. To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/376695S

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My eyes are fixed on you

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn #ransom, blessings, Death of Jesus Christ, faith, Inspirational, joy, Life of Christ, love, praise, prayer, sacrifice, Saved from hell, Thanksgiving, worshipLeave a comment

Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-ThumbnailWhen I praise you, God of the universe, my heart is lifted up beyond myself. Though I may be low and powerless, weak and sinful, you always remain high and mighty far above the universe, the work of your hands. You never change. You remain great, regardless of what happens to me or to anyone else. You are always there for me, ready to step into any situation for my benefit. My eyes are ever fixed on you. You are my life.

Thank you, my Lord, for sending your Words to be spoken and lived by flesh and blood. Not only that, but this part of you took my place so I would not end up in hell. You have made the impossible easy. To live again forever became possible because of your sacrifice, then conquering death. And, Lord, it is so quiet and peaceful this morning. A few birds greet the sun and add a lilt to the quiet.  Peace. Quiet. Calming to the soul. So precious. I worship you.

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I pen my thoughts and stories to touch souls. Will you help me tell people about today’s book?          https://bit.ly/3epvDgU

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Pearls Cover-Palms-300dpi-Thumbnail365 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS is the 2nd in the trilogy, TOUCHING GOD.  Each day is a proverb and a passage from either Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, or Song of Solomon.   Set up to go with the daily inspirational thoughts book and the prayer book.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/3epvDgU

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Getting Angry at God

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn #friendships, attitude, ego, faith, judging, patience, problems, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 23 (5/23), is Exodus 5:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail“Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your [God’s] name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

This is Moses talking to God, and Moses is very angry. Is it a good idea to be mad at God? Deuteronomy 34:10 says there was never a prophet like Moses “whom the Lord knew face to face.”

Getting angry [not violent, that’s different] sometimes is part of a healthy relationship, as long as (1) we stick to the facts and not get into a blame game and (2) are willing to stay around long enough to understand the other person’s point of view.

Moses did not call God bad names nor did he desert God. He spoke his mind, then waited to see how God would reply.

It wasn’t that God didn’t want to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt. God was not quite through putting Pharaoh in his place. And he probably did not rescue his people in the manner Moses had in mind. But eventually, ~ after a little patience on Moses’ part ~ it happened: God rescued his people.

Are you angry at God over something? Tell him so. Then stick around and wait for him to express his point of view. It will happen someday. Maybe it won’t be your point of view. Probably it will be better.

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I pen my thoughts and stories to touch souls. Will you help me tell people about today’s book?    https://bit.ly/2ywrqJi

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0-Mefiboset-KINDLE ThumbnailMEFIBOSET: CRIPPLED PRINCE had every right to be angry at God.  He was denied the throne of Israel, and at age 5 he was crippled the rest of his life.  How did he manage to be one of the most positive people in the kingdom? This is novel #4 in the INTREPID MEN OF GOD series.  To BUY NOW, click a picture to paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2ywrqJi
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Christians during plague of 3rd Century AD

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn faith, good works, Heaven, Inspirational, prayer, teaching, victory1 Comment

At the first onset of the disease, they [pagans] pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treating unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease; but do what they might, they found it difficult to escape.

Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead. 

~ Dionysius of Alexandria

There is nothing remarkable in cherishing merely our own people with the due attentions of love, but that one might become perfect, he who should do something more than heathen men or publicans; overcoming evil with good, and practicing a merciful kindness like that of God, he should love his enemies as well…Thus the good was done to all men, not merely to the household of faith. 

By the terrors of mortality and of the times, lukewarm men are heartened, the listless nerved, the sluggish awakened; deserters are compelled to return; heathens brought to believe; the congregation of established believers is called to rest; fresh and numerous champions are banded in heartier strength for the conflict, and having come into warfare in the season of death, will fight without fear of death, when the battle comes. 

~ Cyprian of Carthage

Then, look up!

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn emptiness, eternity, faith, family, Fear, Heaven, Inspirational, knowledge, Life of Christ, power, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 13 (5/13), is 1st John 5:13f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

04-Isaac&Jacob-KindleMedium“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

 Ah, to know you have eternal life.  It’s easy to say. “I’m so happy because I have eternal life.”  But do you really believe it?

I hear Christians everywhere lament their death.  “Whew, I could have died in that car crash” “Oh, no, I just took the wrong medicine, and it will kill me.”  “Hurry, get me to the hospital before I die!”

Yes, life here is precious. But it is only the bud of the flower, the spark of the fire, the whisper of the song. Our life here is like living in a dark cave. 

Why would a truly believing Christian fear walking through that marvelous door where Jesus himself awaits their arrival?

True, part of looking forward to heaven is knowing what it looks like. Revelation gives you a hint, but it is symbolic. Cling to what you know. Rush to the door leading out of the cave in anticipation for the world you were always meant to live in.

Some people say, “But I want to be here to watch my children or grandchildren grow up.’ What then? To watch them graduate and get a job and start having babies? What then? When does it end?

Stop right now.   Take a deep breath. Ask God to forgive your doubts and selfishness and putting things and people before him. Then look up. Look up! He is there waiting for you. His hands are reaching out to you. Those hands that were nailed to the cross for you. His hands that are now full of healing and tenderness and glory just for you.

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I pen my thoughts to inspire souls. Will you help me spread the word?    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077MTB94S/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i55

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04-Isaac&Jacob-KindleThumbnailISAAC & JACOB is storybook #4 in the series, A CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES.  They are the son and grandson of Abraham.  Jacob makes lots of bad mistakes, but God turns into good and mighty.  THINK & DO at the end of each chapter.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover.

 

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He truly does.

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn attitude, discouragement, emptiness, Enemies, faith, family, Fear, healing, Loss, patience, problems, rest, victory, weaknessLeave a comment

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-newThe scripture for today, May 7 (5/7), is 1st Peter 5:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Oh, how hard life can be sometimes. We wonder why God doesn’t stop all the bad things. But, if there was no evil and bad things happening, we would have heaven on earth. Satan is the Prince of this earth.  Jesus said so.

How many times in a week are you anxious about something? Especially now when our world has been turned upside down and inside out with an unseen enemy that taunts the earth. Your job, your home, your children, your neighbors, your government, your health? How many times in a day do your anxieties weigh you down? Are your burdens heavy? Almost too heavy to bear?

Name them to God. Tell him all about them. Go into as much detail as you want. Then put them all on his shoulders. That’s what he wants you to do. He will carry those burdens for you while you try to rest your soul.

Indeed, this is not heaven on earth. But Jesus provides a way for us to escape in our hearts to his world.  Of course, you don’t have to escape; he doesn’t force you. But always he calls out to you, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  Why would he do that? He cares for you. He truly does.

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I pen my thoughts to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?          https://amzn.to/2WyA0z3

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0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-newHEARTS AFIRE takes place when Jesus makes trips around the country healing people to prove who he was, and teaching the multitudes now following him how to rise above the wars and violence around them. This is novel 3 in the series THEY MET JESUS.  At the end of each chapter are life application questions and historical evidences of the events.  To BUY NOW,  click a book cover or paste this……….  https://amzn.to/2WyA0z3

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