Category: faith

Monday 7/2 ~ Wisdom: You are my sister.

On By In Bible, Daily, faith, knowledge, ScriptureLeave a comment

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

365LifeChangingScriptures-Front-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, eating to stay alive is a rule, not running your car into someone else’s car is a rule.  True Christianity has the same kind of logical rules.

But 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 lie, 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.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/Daily-Scriptures

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#rules, #commands, #laws, #scriptures, #creeds, #dogmas, #OrganizedReligion, #concordance, #LawsOfNature, #wisdom, #understanding

Monday 6/25 ~ You may not understand but God does

On By In attitude, discouragement, eternity, faith, knowledge, sacrificeLeave a comment

The scripture for today. June 25 (6/25) is Matthew 6:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

Do you sometimes wonder how God can allow people to starve with such a promise as this?  Try to remember the Big Picture.

Remember the Jews being in slavery in Egypt for 400 years? They must have prayed thousands of times to be freed, but most died still in slavery, believing their prayers never had been answered. God had a greater plan for them ~ a plan to give them time to multiply from the original 70 people who went to Egypt to the over 3 million who left Egypt.

So, too, God has a Master Plan for each person and each nation. It is your assignment to hang on and keep believing in Him and that which you do not understand. That means you may have to sacrifice something important to you for a future generation. It may even mean sacrificing your life for a future generation.

You may not understand, but God always does.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

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#starving, #hungry, #slavery, #troubles, #tragedies, #sacrifice, #prayers, #answers, #Egypt

 

Friday 6/15 ~ What if “God’s time” for you never comes?

On By In discouragement, faith, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 15 (6/15), is 1st Timothy 6:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“…which God will bring about in his own time ~ God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords!”

But it’s hard to know just when God’s time is. You may think it is when a certain opportunity arises, but something happens and it doesn’t turn out. So later another opportunity arises, but something happens there too and it still doesn’t turn out.

This verse can carry you from hope to hope from discouragement to discouragement. That is because you cannot see what God sees.

Your life is like a line drawn across a piece of paper, and you have to stay on that line. That line is all you see.  But God looks down and can see the entire line all at once, and he can also see everything going on around you. Those other events may not be good for you to become involved in.  There may never be a time when events around you will be good for you.

Rather than give up on God and decide he doesn’t really love you like he claims, amidst your tears of disappointment, stretch your spirit and praise him anyway. Acknowledge him. Then rest until his own time, whether it be soon or in eternity.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK & discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

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#hope, #disappointment, #timing, #discouragement, #time, #timing, #plans, #opportunities, #breaks

Monday 6/11 ~ Let your heart yearn with them

On By In discouragement, emptiness, faith, healing, LossLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 11 (6/11), is Job 6:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects that I should be patient?”

Many people use the expression, “patience of Job.” But he had on-and-off patience, for he was very sick. By descriptions he gave of himself ~ sores, rancid breath, low voice, partial blindness, skin turned hard and black, bloating, nightmares, extreme pain, unrecognized by his closest friends, some believe he had a grotesque form of elephantitis leprosy.

What did he need from his friends? He surely didn’t get it, for they spent their time trying to prove that he had sinned and God was right to be punishing him. His reply? “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?” (Job 16:2f).

So how do we comfort someone who feels utterly hopeless? We certainly don’t put the blame on them, nor do we tell them it’s “all in your head’ or to “snap out of it”. We can share times when we felt hopeless. We can weep with them. We can hold their hand. We can sit with them in silence. We can pray aloud for them. (Some people have never heard their name mentioned in a prayer.)

And we need to let them talk. Sometimes they will say things they don’t mean in the long run, but at that brief moment, they do. Or sometimes they need to talk through things they are unsure about. They may even say contradictory things.

At one time Job said, “Surely, O God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household…God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me” (16:7f). But another time he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth…I myself will see him with my own eyes ~ I and not another. How my heart yearns within me” (19:25f).

Do you have a very sick friend?  Let your heart yearn with them.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and Discount PAPER: http://bit.ly/Hearts-Afire

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#illness, #dad, #sickness, #loss, #discouragement, #hope, #denial, #depression, #healing, #hospital, #funeral, #prison, #faith, #emptiness, #Job, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures

Tuesday 5/29 ~ Are you being persecuted?

On By In death, Enemies, eternity, faith, Heaven, persecution, Saved from hell, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 29 (5/29), is Acts 5:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-LgThumbnail“Peter and the other apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’ “

There are many countries in the world today where a person is beaten, imprisoned and/or killed for believing in Jesus Christ or owning a Bible. They must stay in the background and try to remain relatively unnoticed in order to survive. But their faith continues unabated, even amidst their fears. The church has survived persecution for 2000 years.

Even if they’re not killed, they are by-passed for promotion at work or fired, they are harassed when out shopping, they are threatened in public transportation, they are turned down for a good education, and they must tolerate derision just walking down the street or waiting at a bus stop. But their faith continues unabated, even amidst their fears.

Such events are usually covered up by their governments and news media, and the good people of those countries never know it is happening. There are various newsletters on the internet about the persecuted that you can sign up for. One is at

http://www.persecution.org that sends news as soon as it happens. Let us daily hold up these brave souls in our prayers ~ those who obey God rather than men.

In eternity, God will deal with the persecutors.  In eternity, it will be to God the persecuted will turn to, not men.

 

~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

Sunday 5/27 ~ Is it possible to find ultimate truth?

On By In Bible, discouragement, faith, judging, knowledge, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 27 (5/27), is Job 5:27 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 5-FloodGates-Cover-Thumbnail-New“We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

How many times have we gone to worship or listened on TV to a minister/priest/rabbi/imam and believed everything he said because the speaker looked so holy and convincing? Isn’t that confusing when so many different holy-looking religious leaders teach different things and conflict with each other?

What is the answer to this dilemma? Examine the Bible for yourself! You’re smart! You can do it!

The best way is to get a concordance. It lists every word in the Bible alphabetically, and every scripture that contains that word. If you want to know God’s opinion instead of man’s, use your concordance and look up every passage your chosen topic appears in. You can buy one (it is the size of an unabridged dictionary but not expensive) or use one on the internet.

Then examine everything God ~ not man ~ has to say about anything. Then there are no doubts. You have examined the facts. Now you know the truth.  Now you are ready to apply it to yourself. The truth will set you free.

~~BUYLINK to EBOOK & discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/2E7kFdm

Friday 5/11 ~ So, ask.

On By In blessings, faith, power, prayerLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 11 (5/11), is 1st Peter 5:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

04-FOLK HERO-Child'sCartoon-Thumbnail“To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”

God has the power to do more for you than you ever dreamed. He can take you in new directions in your life; arrange for you to meet wonderful people; provide the ability to overcome not-so-good things in your life.

All you have to do is ask. Perhaps more than once. Perhaps many times. But he wants you to ask. Why?

Parents sometimes tell their children “no” the first time they ask for something. Maybe it’s because the child needs to find out for him/herself how badly s/he wants it. It’s in the asking that they find out. So God waits for the request. Sometimes the request never comes. And so the blessing never comes.

Remember, God has the power. It is the same power he used to create this amazing universe. He may have something special in mind for you. So ask.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 5/2 ~ People are asking, “Who is the Higher Power?”.

On By In Bible, eternity, faith, judging, ScriptureLeave a comment

The scripture for today, May 2 (5/2), is Micah 5:2 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

365 Dat by Date-Front-ThumbnailIn today’s world completely connected and interconnected universally, people are asking “Who is the Higher Power?”.  Some say the Muslim Allah is, some say the Hindu Brahman is, some say the Buddhist Nirvana, some say the Jehovah of Christianity is. This is called the “New Age Movement”.

Buddhism (though most people do not realize where it came from) has infiltrated the young American culture by declaring there is no such thing as truth.  One thing is true to one person, an opposite thing is truth to another person, so believe what you want. 

None of the writings of these religions have been proven true. The Bible is the only religious book in the world with built-in proofs that it is of divine origin. Prophecies of many events in the life of Christ and entire empires flow throughout the Old Testament. No human could have known these hundreds of known facts hundreds of years before they happened. And, if these prophecies were truth, then the rest of the Bible is truth.

Today’s amazing scripture prophecies where the “ruler…from ancient times” will be born. It gives the exact city Jesus (who had been in heaven before his human birth) would be born in but was written seven centuries before his birth.

The Word of God in flesh wasn’t just a prophet, he wasn’t just a good man, he wasn’t a fraud. Thank God, He thought of everything to help us believe Jesus was, indeed, the Son of God! 

Thursday 4/19 ~ Are you on the right road?

On By In Daily, faith, humility, judgingLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 19 (4/19), is 1st Corinthians 4:19a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

OldOldTunes-Thumbnail“But I will come to you very soon if the Lord is willing.”

God knows each step you take through life. He knows all the roads you take in each phase of your life, and what is awaiting you along the way and at the other end. The road you are on today may lead you to where you do not want to go. But not being able to see the future, you do not always know that.

The writer of the above scripture was telling his friends he was coming to see them soon “if the Lord is willing.” Sometimes a decision seems so right. But there may be danger on the way. Or there may be a different road to take leading you to somewhere even better.

Thank God he does not say yes to all of our prayers. Try to remember, when you ask God for things, to add “Your will be done”. His will is for you to have the best life possible.

Wednesday 4/18 ~ What if we could all see and touch God?

On By In faith, Inspirational, love, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 18 (4/18), is 2nd Corinthians 4:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

In a sense, what is unseen is the true reality. We cannot see love, but we see its influence, and it is stronger than anything in the world that we can see. We cannot see God, but we can see his influence, and he is more real than anything in the world that we can see.

Sometimes we all say we wish we could see God and touch God. But if that were the case, he wouldn’t be God, for he couldn’t be everywhere at once. He would only be able to hear the prayer of one person at a time, and only able to answer the prayer of one person at a time. By being unseen by human eyes, God can be everywhere.

It’s a hidden blessing!  Every one of us among the billions of people on earth can feel we are God’s special ones. Every one of us can feel his presence, his soul, his love.