Sunday 9/22 ~ What do you do on Sunday mornings?

The scripture for today, September 22 (9/22) is Luke 9:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“And he [Jesus] said, ‘The Son of Man[kind] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Jesus did not look forward to his death. Hebrews 5:7 says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death….” Loud cries!

Yet, in today’s scripture, shortly after he announced to his apostles that he would be killed in Jerusalem, over in verse 51 it says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Jesus had to use every bit of self-determination he could muster up to face that terrible death he had to suffer for us. What kept him to his goal? He knew only he could save us from hell by taking the death wages from Satan (Romans 6:23). Then his work would be done ~ all would be finished ~ and he could return to heaven.

Is it difficult for you to get up on Sunday morning to go to church? Is it difficult for you to read the Bible every day? Is it difficult for you to invite a friend to church with you? Do you love Jesus as resolutely as he loves you? Are you as determined to go to heaven and avoid hell as he was for you? Do you love your soul as much as Jesus does?

 

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Saturday 9/21 ~ God’s blood

The scripture for today, September 21 (9/21), is Hebrews 9:21f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnail“In the same way, he [Moses] sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

Long ago in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve, the day they sinned they would die.  And it happened. The day they sinned their souls died. Death means separation. In a physical sense, we are separated from people living on earth. In a spiritual sense, we are separated from God in heaven. God is life, and cannot dwell with death. It is not in his nature. Neither can he dwell with sin. That, too, is not in his nature.

Death is Satan’s nature, so the souls of mankind began to dwell with Satan. He lured us into his trap and we gave in to his temptations. He held us ransom.  It was a blood ransom. God was able to temporarily appease Satan by commanding people to spill the blood of animals.  But animal blood was not enough for Satan. He demanded God’s blood. 

God loves us so very, very much, he sent his Words to earth, taking on flesh and blood (John 1:1,14). Then he bought us from Satan with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

What a God we have! What incomprehensible love! Let us fall at his feet in the awe of silence and worship.

 

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnailWAS JESUS GOD? (WHY EVIL?) takes simple steps from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane to show Jesus was God’s Word materialized.  then it moves beyond all that to talk about the glories of our next life ~ our permanent life ~ and heaven. The entire book is centered around John 1:1, 14: “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God…And the Word took on flesh and dwealt among us.” To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/2V9FfUB

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Friday 9/20 ~ Which God? Which Savior?

The scripture for today, September 20 (9/20), is Luke 9:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

” ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ “

04-King Joash-ThumbnailCoverJesus is still asking that question today. Who do you say Jesus is? Some people in the world say Jesus was the savior of the Christians, the same person as Moses to the Jews, and Mohammed to the Moslems, and Buddha to the Buddhists. In the name of being fair to everyone, they claim these are all saviors of different religions going by different names but of the same God.

Let us not be caught in the web of the New Age Movement that claims all saviors are the same savior and all gods are the same God.

This is an impossibility. These religions contradict each other. Read their holy books and you will discover this. So, which one is right?

The Bible is the only religious book in the world that can be proven to be divine with fulfilled prophecies of entire kingdoms. It says regarding our Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Here is a website with hundreds of proofs ~ https://casagrandechurchofchrist.com

Investigate. Read. Compare. Then stand up for Jesus, THE Savior! Stand up and be counted!

 

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Tuesday 9/17 ~ Come back! Come back to me!

The scripture for today, September 17 (9/17), is Nehemiah 9:17 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAIL“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore, you did not desert them.”

Such love! Do you rebel against God (who is only trying to save you) over and over because you don’t want anyone telling you what to do? Or because he’s too much bother? Or because you don’t have time for him? Or maybe you just outright hate God? Stop. Turn around. He is only trying to help you.   

God has faith in you when you do not have faith in him. God forgives you over and over. First Peter 3:9 says “The Lord…is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

God could turn you into a robot and force you to love and obey him. But that wouldn’t be real love. God is Love, and he cannot go against his own nature.

And so God follows you around and pleads over and over, “Come back! You’re in danger. Come back. Follow me to safety!”

How he hurts when you do not; how he smiles when you do.

 

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS ECCLESIA:  Isn’t the name “Ecclesia” beautiful? It is Greek for the church.  You are beautiful to Jesus.  But, as happens in the Song of Solomon, sometimes she cannot find the lover of her soul, so he runs after her and brings her back to him.  This book is a paraphrase of S of S; each chapter is a love letter.  Beautiful and inspiration. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2V1Bqkg

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Monday 9/16 ~ I cannot hold it in

The scripture for today, September 16 (9/16), is 1st Corinthians 9:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

The Apostle Paul said this. An Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, said almost the same thing in 20:9: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in! Indeed, I cannot!”

Are you so full of the Word of God that you have to share it? Do you work it into your daily conversations? Do you write to people about it? Do you call people about it? Do you journal about it?

I knew a lady once who took several church bulletins home with her every Sunday. Then during the week, if she heard a conversation at a bus stop, she’d interrupt them and say, “I couldn’t help but hear what you were saying. Perhaps God in your life would help.” Then she’d hand them a bulletin. She’d do the same thing at fast-food places or in the waiting room of a doctor. She could not hold it in. She had to share, even if it was with strangers.

There is a man in Afghanistan who is a partially secret Christian. When he thinks he can trust someone, he tells them the gospel. He knows he could be arrested and imprisoned or killed, but I cannot hold it in. He has run for his life three times in the last eight years. He tells me, “I will not stop until they kill me.”

What about you? Is the Word of God overflowing in you so much you cannot keep it in? Tell someone today that God loves them. Watch them smile with a gleam in their eye that says, “I’d like to know more”.

 

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Sunday 9/15 ~ Can you spare a few more minutes?

The scripture for today, September 15 (9/15), is 2nd Corinthians 9:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Can you imagine dying in the place of someone else?  We occasionally hear stories from the battlefield of a man falling on a grenade so he is the only one killed, thus saving his buddies.

But closer to home, if you saw a child in the path of a car, would you run out and throw the child out of the way knowing there will be no time for you to escape death?

What if you were hiking or sailing with a friend and got lost? Would you split the food and water evenly, or would you give it all to your weaker friend? What would you do if you were lost with someone who hated everyone? Would you give them all the food and water knowing you would die and the hateful person live on?

What if you were with a friend and were arrested for a crime the friend did? Would you take the blame and the punishment of twenty years in prison so your friend could go free?  What if that person was a habitual criminal, you happened to cross paths at the wrong time, and you were both arrested for his heinous crime? Would you take the blame and his punishment (execution) for him?

Now try to imagine making your child die in the place of your enemy ~ your sinless, innocent child.

It is indescribable.

It is unimaginable.

It is unthinkable.

But God did exactly that.

How can we thank Him for his indescribable gift of Jesus redeeming us from Satan? We fall silently at His feet and worship.

Today is Sunday, the day the apostles and those they taught kept the Lord’s Supper remembering Jesus’ body that was tortured and died in our place and his blood that was drained from his body in our place. When you worship today, will you have time to remember his death with all the singing and praying and speechifying going on? Will you squeeze out the reason for Sunday, the day he came back to life and the day he returned home to heaven? Can you take a little more time?

This is the day he ransomed you from Satan and hell! So, I ask again, do you have time?

 

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Tuesday 9/10 ~ Friends of the Great I AM

The scripture for today, September 10 (9/10), is Psalm 9:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

The Lord has a name?  Let’s check this out.

What does “Lord” mean in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament? It is Yahweh. Translated into the Greek of the New Testament it is Adonai.

In Exodus 3:15b God told Moses what his name was: ” ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers…This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’ “

And what does Yahweh mean? Exodus 3:14 explained, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites; ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “

God is the great I AM.

What is our relationship with I AM? Today’s verse does not say the Great I Am will keep you from all harm. What it says is that he will go with you into that harm and stay with you the whole way, giving you strength and courage.

And so, in peace or war, in comfort or pain, in well-being or devastation, he will be right there with you. He will never forsake you. Therefore, never forsake him.  Keep on worshipping ~ the Lord our God, the Great I AM.

 

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9/6/19 ~ The son is the father and is God who created himself

 The scripture for today, September 6 (9/6), is Isaiah 9:6 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnail“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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Wednesday 9/4 ~ Shhh. Listen. Do you hear?

The scripture for today, September 4 (9/4), is Daniel 9:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands….’ “

A lot of people in the world think God should feel obligated to take them to his heaven. After all, they are fairly good, and better than some. God couldn’t possibly in all good conscience turn them away.

Yet, their entire life they resent God. They don’t like his few commands; they don’t want anyone telling them what to do or not do. Or they claim to love God, but create their own commands that just aren’t in the Bible, making themselves God. What confusion!

Ultimately, heaven is God’s home, not yours. He is not obligated to invite anyone into His home. Besides, only perfection can live with God who is perfect. It only takes one sin to make us an imperfect sinner.

So how do you become perfect? That’s where God’s awesomeness is demonstrated. By following Jesus who was perfect and never sinned, and obeying Jesus’ few commands, God considers you perfect by proxy.

But it’s like a boomerang. God treats you the way you treat him. If you don’t take time for God, he doesn’t take time for you. If you don’t like to spend time praising him, he doesn’t spend time praising you. Actually, if you don’t really like anything about God, you would be miserable in heaven.

God never forces himself on anyone. He loves you even when you do not love Him.  So, he keeps on calling, “Come back!  Come back to me!  I can keep you safe.”  Shhh. Listen.  Do you hear Him?

 

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Sunday 9/1 ~ My constant companion

The scripture for today, September 1 (9/1), is Psalm 9:1 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.”

I knew a lady many years ago who talked to God all day as though he was sitting or standing beside her, whether she was cleaning floors, washing dishes, going shopping, or had just received a telephone call. She talked to God about everything she was doing. God was her constant companion.

Your throne, oh God, rises above and far beyond everything I know or can comprehend.  Glory greater than the brightest star radiates from you.  The dome of the universe is your mantel of holiness. Rays more dazzling than the sun shoot out, penetrating the darkness surrounding my soul and bringing me into everlasting day. A path of mercy you make for me lighted up with love. I tread that path day by day knowing it leads to you. With all my filthiness, you allow me near. How I worship you.

Thank you, God, for a good summer. We had somewhat of a drought, but my plants were strong and most survived. How I love walking through my garden and pulling up a radish to nibble on, a strawberry to devour, a handful of peas to feast on. I did nothing to make them grow except keep the weeds away. You are the one who took my tiny seeds and turned them into delicious food for my table. That’s when I feel a little like a creator with you. Thank you, my Lord, for all this.

 

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