Category: faith

Friday 4/6 ~ It is liberating! Your heart will soar

On By In Bible, faith, judging, knowledge, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 6 (4/6), is 1st Corinthians 4:6 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00- Worship Changes KC COVER-thumbnail“…learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”

Periodically through the Bible, there appears this same warning for us to not “go beyond what is written.” 2nd Peter 1:20 says prophecy is scripture. Prophecy was needed before the New Testament was written, but no more after that, for now, the prophecy of the apostles had been written down and were being passed around.

It is important to find out if what we are being taught is “beyond what is written.” It can be done. How? Simple. Use a concordance. A concordance is the size of a large-city telephone book in fine print and includes every keyword in the Bible and every scripture that contains each word. Many libraries have one. Or you can order one from your local bookstore. There are some concordances on the internet too. Here is one:  http://bibletab.com

You are an intelligent person. Don’t take for granted what others tell you. Check things for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. Decide for yourself whether any of your leaders have gone “beyond what is written.” You’re smart. You can do it:  Find out for sure.

It is liberating. Your heart will soar and your soul will embrace God in a whole new way.

 

Thursday 4/5 ~ It cannot control your heart, your spirit, your soul

On By In Daily, faith, governments, Heaven, persecution, power, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 5 (4/5), is Micah 4:5 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-LUKE-KINDLE Cover-Thumbnail“All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.”

Nations rise and fall. Nations come and go. Nations are founded upon terror and aggression, or peace and democracy. Some nations follow religions which declare that peasants are peasants as punishment for previous lives, so must remain peasants. Some nations follow religions chosen by their national governments and which must be followed upon pain of death. Some nations deny religion completely and destroy anyone who believes anyway.

What kind of nation do you live in? As strong as your nation is, it cannot control your heart, your spirit, your soul. As strong as your nation seems to be, as much power as your government uses to control its citizens, it will not and cannot last forever.

Always remember, there is a forever nation ~ the nation of God, the kingdom of God. No matter what nation you live in, you can have “dual citizenship”. And by being a citizen of God’s forever kingdom, you will walk in it forever and ever and…

Thursday 3/29 ~ Ordinary you? Never!

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The scripture for today, March 29, is Luke 3:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

02-Noah-KindleThumbnail“…the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi….”

Who in the world were these five men: Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, and Levi? Some were named after famous Jews, but no one in this list was famous himself. In fact, nothing else is said in the Bible about any of these men. They’re just a single name in a single but long list.

Who were they that they earned even one brief mention in the Bible?

They were ancestors of Joseph, the human “father” of Jesus. What else? They were born and survived long enough to have sons. Not important at the time? No, but eventually it was.

We read obituaries and sometimes wonder about our own. Our whole life reduced to born, married, had a job, had children, died. That’s it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just another one of billions in the world having come and gone.

Hold on! Maybe not!

Maybe your life, as ordinary as it seems now, will someday serve a greater purpose through a descendant or someone you become friends with. In a later generation ~ maybe ten or twenty generations from now ~ someone may do something extremely important for souls of the world. And it was made possible because of your “unordinary life” way back in the early twenty-first century when you survived one day at a time.

Sunday 3/25 ~ Keep that hope alive

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

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-Thumbnail.jpg“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 me 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.

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Buylink to ebook and discount paper:  http://bit.ly/Michel-WiseMan

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#atheism, #hope, #NewAge, #Pantheism, #faith

 

Saturday 3/24 ~ No guessing

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The scripture for today March 24(3/24), is 1st John 3:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailThose who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Some people think we can tell that we are obeying God and he is therefore in us by how we feel, by our emotions. But emotions are fickle. We can feel great one day and sad the next and frustrated after that, then great again. It can be confusing to rely on how we feel as to whether or not God’s Spirit lives in us.

Jesus said in John 14:17 that he was going to send us the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 Jesus said God’s Word is Truth.

Now that makes more sense! Even in the days before the New Testament was assembled into one book, Christians were given the gift of prophecy by the Spirit of Truth, and sometimes they wrote it and circulated it.

In the meantime, the Apostles went everywhere teaching, and they wrote letters that were circulated (even those we don’t know about today). Those letters that were preserved were copied and circulated everywhere.

Finally, these letters were assembled into what we call the New Testament. So today we can still know by reading the Bible ~ God’s Word ~ and following it. God thought of everything. His word is clear, and that is how we know we have obeyed him and he lives in us.

How grateful we are today for his Bible. No guessing.

 

 

Monday 3/12 ~ Prepare to be delighted

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The scripture for today, March 12 (3/12), is Ezekiel 3:12 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

365LifeChangingScriptures-Front-Thumbnail“The Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound ~ May the glory of the Lord be praised in his dwelling place!”

This is quite interesting because, despite some who preach being “slain in the Spirit,” the Spirit does not make people fall down. The Spirit lifts people up. The Spirit did this to Ezekiel on several occasions; always, if he was sitting or lying down, the Spirit lifted him up onto his feet.

There are so many things we think we know about the Bible, but when we begin to investigate, it just isn’t there.

>What about Joseph dying after Jesus turned 12? When Jesus was rejected after preaching in Nazareth a year before his crucifixion, they mentioned Joseph in the present tense.

>Or the Holy Land always having been desert? The Bible tells of nine forests plus those on mountains.

>Or the prodigal’s brother?  As the oldest son, he was going to inherit the entire estate, but his insane greed wanted his brother’s party too.

>Or David being just a boy when he killed Goliath?  He had already killed a lion and bear before that, and big Saul’s armor fit him.

>What about “Doubting Thomas”?  The other apostles refused to believe before they saw Jesus alive again. More, when Jesus wanted to go to Jerusalem, his apostles said no, but Thomas said, “Let us go to Jerusalem so we may die with him.”

>Or everyone going inside the temple to worship?  Only priests were allowed inside the building. Commoners worshiped in the courtyard.

>Or Bethlehem being a little town? It was a fortified walled city.

What excitement to read the Bible for yourself and discover its treasures for yourself. Open it. Read it. Be delighted.

Monday 3/5 ~ God took care of the hard part

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The scripture for today, March 5 (3/5), is Titus 3:5 in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

God is perfectly good and cannot dwell with imperfection. How, then, could we ever live with him in his heaven?  After all, as hard as we tried, we could not be perfect. Mankind was held hostage by Satan.

God loved us so much that he solved our dilemma. He sent his Son to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. Then, his perfect “Lamb of God” took our punishment for our sins by paying the ransom to get us out of the clutches of Satan.

Romans 3:23 says the earnings of sin is death ~ physical death (separation from this world) and spiritual death (separation from God). Jesus took it all for us. And that included being completely separated from God. At the worst of it, Jesus cried out to God, “Why have your FORSAKEN me?” That’s when Jesus died spiritually for a while. It was we who deserved to be forsaken by God.

Sin and its power now destroyed, God said if we go “through the washing of rebirth” we will be renewed by the Holy Spirit.  

But how? God did not leave us guessing, for in Acts 22:16 he said through Peter, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins” and in Romans 6:4 he said through Paul, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism in order that…we too may live a new life [rebirth].”  Then we could start over pure and washed.

God took care of the hard part. He gave us the easy part. And so we worship him.

Friday 3/2 ~ Do you love anyone more than yourself?

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The scripture for today, March 2, is 2nd Corinthians 3:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-new“You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.”

As important as it is to read the Bible for yourself and determine for yourself what you will follow, it is equally important to put those things into your heart at the ready for practical life application on a moment’s notice. But isn’t knowledge of truth enough?  Just giving our heart to Jesus as Lord isn’t enough?

James 2:19 says that even demons believe, but they are still demons and still bound for hell. It takes more than faith. There are things to do.

Are you a letter from God to people around you? Or do you have a double standard, acting one way around worshipers and another way around non-worshipers? People read our hearts by our words and actions. What do people read in your heart?

Do you absolutely and completely believe people will go to hell without Jesus? Do you absolutely and completely believe people have to rise above demons who believe but who are still going to hell? Do you absolutely and completely believe you could be the only one in your family’s and friends’ lives who care enough for their soul that you will actually say something ~ put your heart letter into words?

Do you love them more than yourself? Do you love anyone more than yourself? Do you love them enough?

Wednesday 2/28 ~ Is it possible to know for sure?

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The scripture for today, February 28 (2/28), is Jeremiah 2:28 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Clouds in blue sky“Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.”

Today we think the whole thing is ridiculous. How could people believe in a multitude of gods? Further, how could people make statues of them as though anyone knew what the gods looked like? On top of that, many of them looked like dumb animals.

Apparently, it was the popular thing to do. In fact, a person discovering yet another god would be highly esteemed. And it seemed logical that the more gods one believed in, the more holy a person was. Or the bigger the statue of a god in one’s home, the more dedicated a person was.

We today call them myths ~ things that were made up out of people’s imaginations. Yet they thrived in their time. Why? Because of “mass hypnosis” in a sense. Humans are social beings and we don’t like being ostracized. We want to be accepted.

Do we do the same thing today? There are evangelists on television who draw crowds of hundreds and thousands. They seem so right and so holy. Yet they contradict each other. So it cannot be a measure of rightness and holiness that a lot of people believe something.

The measure must be the Bible. Many religious leaders in antiquity and up to today have duped peopled because they look and act so holy. Remember, no matter how many thousands upon thousands follow a religious leader, that leader will be judged by God just like everyone else.

There are a lot of religious contradictions out there.  We cannot say “all religions are right in their own way”. Is it ever possible to sort through all the contradictions and come up with what is the truth? Is it possible to know for sure?

Let us read the Bible for ourselves. Let us study the Bible for ourselves. Let us not search the scriptures for something to prove our opinion right, or a certain leader right, or our family right, or a particular religious idea right. Let us try to erase all our pre-conceived religious notions, and read with an open mind what God himself has to say to us. It is possible to know for sure.

 

Wednesday 2/21 ~ Sometimes bright, sometimes dark

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The scripture for today, February 21 (2/21), is Daniel 2:21 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“He [God] changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”

It seems there is always some amount of restlessness within each nation regarding who is ruling. Some people like the ruler, some do not. Or people may start out liking the ruler, but later dislike him. Some rulers are okay, a few are considered outstanding, and a few others are outright evil.

But God sets up the rulers of nations and deposes them. Many places among the prophets of the Old Testament, God explains that he may raise up a cruel leader just because he is strong enough to get rid of other cruel people. After that, God deposes the cruel leader.

In the midst of all this, innocent people are always hurt. That is why it is important for us not to complain, but to bear up under a hard government with patience and courage. It is in hardship that the true heart of a Christian is revealed. And it is in hardship that many people turn to God who might never have done so.

God knows what he is doing, even if we do not understand ~ at least, on this side of eternity. Remember Romans 8:28 ~ “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord.” Do not run away from your country during the bad times. What will happen to your country if all the Christians leave?

Life is a mosaic of many colors ~ sometimes bright and sometimes dark ~ but in the end, it can be beautiful.