The Glimmering Door

The scripture for today, December 31 (12/31), is Luke 12:31 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-New“But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

The kingdom is already here (Luke 9:27; Colossians 1:13), but heaven is not. That is the final destination of the kingdom. Do you actively seek God’s kingdom? Or do you drift and think God should feel obligated to take you into his heaven? Do you feel like you’re “not so bad,” so God would be bad to not take you into his heaven?

Heaven is God’s home, not yours. God has a door into his home, just like you have a door into your home. God is not required to open his door to just anyone, just like you are not required to open your door to just anyone.  You cannot just show up at the door and smile and assume he will let you in, any more than people who knock on our door and smile can assume you will let them in.

You let people into your home who you have gotten to know and whose motives you trust. Have you given God a chance to get to know you and trust your motives? Are your daily motives to enter heaven, God’s home? Do you even like God?

This life you live on earth is not your permanent life or residence. This is the testing place to see how you handle problems and to see how much your spiritual muscles will grow. God has plans for Christians in heaven we do not know about. What we do know is that he is not a God of idleness. Do you live like the earth is all there is? Do you fear hell?  Do you prefer heaven, where people will worship all the time? Does that sound boring to you?

You are about to enter a brand-new year. Today, decide to start over fresh and set your new goal: To step through the glimmering door, enter God’s home his way and live with him.  Forever.

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewCOME FLY WITH ME is novel 8 in the THEY MET JESUS series.  It begins with despondency after the untimely death of Jesus and ends with exhilaration as apostle John, no old, sees Jesus once again and tours heaven.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/FLY-WITH-ME

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The God of Second Chances

00-PAUL COVER-Medium-God, you love every one of your children and we love you in return. But sometimes someone wanders away. You need to leave the rest of us behind to find the lost one and that is fine with me. I will be okay while you’re gone. Oh, me? You mean me? You want me to go for you, and find your missing child? Ah, let me think a moment. Are you sure?  Ummm…  Yes, yes! If you will fill my spirit with your kind of love, then I must go. I will not be able to resist the search. Help me find the lost soul in time. Give me courage to go where ever I must go. And, Lord, help that lost one keep praising you until I arrive.  Me too. I will keep praising you.

Ah, my Lord, I grow so impatient sometimes, waiting for my time to join you ~ impatient over days and months and years. How you must laugh because you work in decades and centuries and millenniums.  Thank you for time.  All things change and all things will eventually pass away.  With time, the consequences of my sins eventually pass away. You give me an opportunity to try again. You are the God of second chances. I will forever bend my knee to you in the shimmering gratitude that permeates my soul.

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00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE.  He had to change sides to obey God.  He’s been wrong.  He had to admit it. It took sudden blindness and a voice out of heaven to stop him and make him turn around.  He spent the rest of his life doing the same for others. Constantly stopping people, making them think of what they are doing with their lives, then turning them around to march in victory toward the gates of heaven.  Was it convenient?  They beat him, starved him, imprisoned him, lashed him, stoned him ~ but nothing stopped him.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/UnstoppablePaul

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Enduring Honor

Applied ChristianityThe scripture for today, December 26 (12/26), is John 12:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

Ah, Lord Jesus. We claim we understand how humble you were, then build great cathedrals which we claim are to your glory but which are really to our glory. We organize great musical performances which we claim are to your glory, but which are really to our glory.

Just where was Jesus when he was on earth saying this?  In a posh hotel in Jerusalem? Did he have great musicians performing in the background? Did he stand on a podium and declare this to multitudes? Who are you fooling when you declare you are his servant.

Who or what are you really a servant to? Power in a workplace, club, congregation, neighborhood? Prestige in a community, an occupation, an organization? Self-indulgence of money, music, entertainment?

While you are pursuing things in life, is Jesus there with you? Are you doing what he would be busy doing?  Are you where he was when he said this?

Dare to be a servant to the power of Jesus’ love, prestige in the eyes of God, self-indulgence in the joy of worshiping Him. In this only is there true and enduring honor.

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY:  A Handbook of 500 Good Works.  Many good works included in this book than can be done during a pandemic.  In fact, they are most special in such times.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………https://bit.ly/APPLIEDCHRISTIANITY

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My soul is overwhelmed

The scripture for today, December 22 (12/22), is 1st Samuel 12:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Medium-“For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.”

Among all the pretend gods that people have worshiped, there has never been one who made people because he wanted someone to love and wanted them to be his children. Islam, for example, teaches Allah made man to have someone to worship him. Allah has 99 names, but none of them is Love. It is the same with other purported gods. Buddhism and Hinduism have gods with no personalities at all; they are just the essence of the universe. So sad.

Oh, how much mankind misses by not opening up to the one and only God.  He wants you to be his child! He wants to lavish you with his love.

God made you because God is Love.  Love must have someone to love. That’s you, dear friend. That’s you!

Amazing love of God. It pleases him to make you his own. It pleases him! You the lowly. You the weak. You the inconsistent. You the sinner.

Let your soul be elevated by the God of Love. Let your heart be warmed. Let your spirit be touched with eternity. Then lift up your voice and shout, “My soul is overwhelmed!”

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00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE.  He imprisoned, tortured, and killed Christians. He hated Christians and he hated Jesus.  Then it happened.  He switched sides and spent the rest of his life trying to make it up to Jesus for treating his people as he had  Walk with Paul for 45 years as he endures the imprisonments and tortures he used to dish out on others.  Listen as he is beaten yet again and cries lout amidst the burning pain, “Jesus!  This is for you!” To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/UnstoppablePaul

 

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The touch of your heart to mine

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride-mediumMy heavenly Father, my life, thus far, as made turns in directions I had not planned or even dreamed of. Sometimes I ended up in places I did not want to be. That is where you had led me and had wanted me to be.   I do not know what the future will bring. But wherever you lead me, I will follow you, however unknown and frightening it may be to me. If you lead me to joblessness, to famine, to wars, to prison, I will follow where ever you go. Someday while I follow you up unknown paths, you will pause, turn, smile, and say, “We’re here.  Welcome home.”

Lord, I was sick last week.  I was lying there thinking about how miserable I was. I rolled in it. Wallowed in it. Savored in it. Then a new thought occurred to me. If I thought about how blessed I am, it would take my mind off my misery. It worked, Lord! it really worked! I even got up, fetched a piece of paper, and began listing my blessings. Pretty soon I was smiling. You were smiling too. Now I was able to fall asleep. When I awoke, I felt healed.  The touch of your heart to mine had healed me.

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Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS BRIDE, ECCLESIA is a retelling of the Song of Solomon in more modern vocabulary.  Each chapter is a love letter. It ends with “I am coming soon.”  Over 500 footnotes show the parallel of Jesus love for his church.  A beautiful wedding gift or class book.  Great for Ladies Days. Or put one chapter a week in your bulletin.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:    https://bit.ly/LoveLettersOfJesus  

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And return my crown to him

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-NewAll continents of the earth praise you, God of Glory. Every tongue on earth praises you, Lord of Splendor. Mountains, valleys, swamps and deserts praise you, the great I AM.  The moon, the sun, and stars on high praise you, Divine Maker. All thrones, both great and small, praise you, King of the Cosmos. My mind, soul and body praise you now and forever, most Holy one.

Father, I slandered someone in my public prayer. I asked you to guide someone through a problem no one else knew that person had. I revealed too much and hurt their good name. I am so sorry.  Help me become a better friend to that person and keep my mouth shut.

You saved me from Satan’s clutches, Lord God. Not only that, but you made me your personal priest to offer you the sacrifices of my words and deeds every day. Then you gave me a crown and made me a king among mankind to represent you to the world. Someday I shall walk through your gate into your home, approach your throne, bow at your feet, and give that crown back to you, satisfied to just be in your presence at last.

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewTHEY MET JESUS:  COME FLY WITH ME is the last novel about 100 people who met and struggled with Jesus.  Jesus prepares his twelve to “go it alone” without him in his last few visits with them.  Then, their last walk ~ their walk past the olive garden of despondency and on to the olive peak of glorious majesty.  They watch the man who seemed so human become glorious and rise to heaven.  Now on their own, they defy the Sanhedrin just as their master had.  Sixty-five years later and the only apostle left, Jesus reappears to John, now old, and escorts him to heaven where he sees the other eleven already on their thrones.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/FLY-WITH-ME

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/

Most exhilarating

This morning I woke up to a new day, one more day closer to being with you.  During the morning I shall go to 365 Dat by Date-Front-Thumbnailthe market for food for my family, and I will be a few more hours closer to being with you. All afternoon I will volunteer at a school, and I will be half a day closer to being with you. Tonight, I shall lie down. And perhaps, just perhaps, when I close my eyes in the darkness, it will be my turn to open them to the brightness of your glory. Home at last. Home at last.

Books.  Thank you for books, Lord. At first people wrote them on clay, then reed soaked and flattened out, then animal skins rolled up, then pulp from trees and bound on one side. Finally, they were on screens electrically written. No matter in what form books have come to us, they have always informed and fascinated and brought exciting new knowledge to anticipating minds. Books open up the world. Most exhilarating of all is your Book that opens up your world. Along the way, it reveals our Maker ~ your heart, your knowledge, your emotions, what makes you weep in sadness and laugh in happiness. Thank you for your Book.

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365 Dat by Date-Front-Thumbnail365 LIFE-CHANGING SCRIPTURES DAY BY DATE.  Start the day with advice from your Maker.  He loves you, you know.  Read all about it.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/365DayByDate

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Shhh. Listen. God is calling you.

The scripture for today, January 11 (1/11), is 2nd Peter 1:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Medium“And you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

How often do you forget that earth is not your home? As an old gospel song says, “We’re just traveling through.” Do you really believe that?

If someone told you tomorrow you were going to die, would you go into a panic? Would you beg God to let you live another ten or twenty years? Would you feel this was the beginning of the end?

To a true Christian, your dying is the end of the beginning. You have a whole “life” ahead of you in heaven. A never-ending life. Do you live like you believe it? Will you die looking forward to it?

Are you even a Christian yet? What is your life like? Do you even know what is in the Bible, God’s messages to you? Does the thought of heaven sound boring to you?  Do you even like God?

Stop and listen to the empty place in your heart (Ecclesiastes. 3:11).  Do you hear it?  Shhh.  Listen…  God is calling you.

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR tells the story of a cowardly 17-year-old who would give his life as a sacrifice for others eleven years later.  What happened in between to this young man who tried everything to get idol worshipers around him to pay attention to God, but who always failed?  What happened to this young deacon who finally found the way by following Jesus with wife, children and everything to live for?  Why did he enter the Sanhedrin’s chambers, knowing what he had to say would be his death sentence?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/StephenUnlikelyMartyr

 

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

 

I wonder what you have in store for me in heaven

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-MediumWhy would I want to glorify a cross? It’s a hideous instrument of torture by suffocation, taking days to die, and reserved only for hardened criminals?  Because a part of you, Lord God, willingly died on it in my place. Why would I want to glorify the electric chair or a noose or the executioner’s needle? It’s for the most hardened criminals? If a part of you, my Lord, had died on it in my place, I would glorify any of them. I would carry a miniature gold or silver electric chair or noose or needle on a chain around my neck if that is how you died in my place.  I would glory in the electric chair, the noose, the needle. Why? Because it would symbolize what you did to save me from hell and allow me into the safety of your heavenly home.  All because you took my punishment for me, paid the ransom, and set me free. How I worship you.

Thank you, Lord, for modern forms of communication. I remember only hand-written or typed letters, the smudged newspaper, radios with a lot of static in them, messy mimeograph machines, and telephones that had to be plugged in at home. Everything was so slow and even slower if a message went to the other side of the world. Methods were slow then, but I thought they were fast. I did not comprehend fast, so I appreciated what I had. Now I have instant everything ~ telephones I can carry around with me and the internet. I can communicate all over the world instantly. Thank you. It helps me a  bit to understand how you can hear everyone all over the world at once. But only a little bit. This whole communication thing is mind boggling, Lord. I wonder what you have in store for me in heaven.

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH is novel 7 in THEY MET JESUS and is about Jesus’ illegal trial, his suffering on the cross, his death and burial, and the hopelessness felt by his followers.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/ShadowOfDeath-7

 

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The meaning of your life

– The scripture for today, December 8 (12/8), is Ecclesiastes 12:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

” ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the teacher. ‘Everything is meaningless!’ “

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-NewAbout forty years ago, some Christians in England did a sidewalk survey in the downtown of a major city. One of their inquiries was: “What question about your life do you ask the most?.”  The answer almost always was, “Why am I here? What is life all about?.”

The entire book of Ecclesiastes is about all the things that the richest and most powerful man in the world did in order to have an enjoyable and fulfilling life: He built palaces and grand temples, he cultivated great gardens, he imported tons of gold and precious stones and fabrics from around the globe, he had numerous wives and mistresses, he built the largest army and navy in the world, he studied every possible subject. At the end, he said it was all meaningless.

The meaning of your life is that you were born to die and walk through a gate. This life is temporary. It is your proving ground. This life is the foyer of the life you will have eternally ~ a life in heaven or hell. You were not put here just to have fun, but rather to live in the very presence of your Maker and take many people as possible with you to the home of God, your Maker, the Lover of your soul. That is the meaning of life.

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewCOME FLY WITH ME is the last book in the 8-novel series, THEY MET JESUS. It begins with the resurrection of Jesus, his final ascension to heaven, the apostles going against the Sanhedrin, then leaving Jerusalem and scattering. The last chapter is of John the fisherman, now the political prisoner, seeing the master of his youth again, and a tour of heaven.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/FLY-WITH-ME

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/