And They Wept

04-Isaac&Jacob-KindleMediumThe scripture for today, August 10 (8/10), is Nehemiah 8:10b as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

After exile over 70 years for forsaking God, the Jews were led by Ezra and Nehemiah back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and rebuild the wall. On a special day, Ezra read the Law of Moses to all the people.

And they wept.

They were so embarrassed and so sorry they had betrayed God. The above scripture quotation is from that occasion.

But many people find it too humiliating to admit to others they were wrong. Others find it easy to repent, but never regroup and pull themselves up so they can try again. Still, others say, “What I’ve done is so bad, God could never forgive me.”

God can perform miracles. That means he can forgive the greatest sinner. So grieve. Ask for forgiveness. Then start over fresh ~ innocent in the eyes of God.

Remember, when you feel weak, the joy of the Lord is always your strength. And it is magnificent.

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04-Isaac&Jacob-KindleThumbnailISAAC & JACOB is storybook #4 in A CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES.  You would think a little lie wouldn’t hurt.  Or even a big lie.  But Jacob’s lie cost him everything. It disrupted his entire family.  His twin brother tried to kill him.  He was gone from home for 20 years and during that time he lost his mother.  Talk about a dysfunctional family. But God healed them.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/2LacnWf

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-bible-heroes-book-4-isaac-jacob/?frame-nonce=1e7c6b1760

Goodness in every country on earth

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnailThe way you designed the trees is so much like the growth of my soul.  We start out life as a little ball, so tiny and full of wonder.  Then as toddlers, that tiny ball develops into a bud with just a touch of color peeking through. Finally, we open up in full bloom and our faith in you is so innocent and pure. Then we reach our teens and doubts creep in. One by one the sweet-smelling blossoms lose their colorful leaves. But, in young adulthood after we come out of our dares and doubts, we form into something else. The flower has turned into a miniature green fruit, a promise of things to come. In full adulthood the fruit becomes yellow or red or whatever it is supposed to be and adorns the branch it has grown from. In middle age we are plucked and become nourishment to others. Finally, in old age, the tiny seeds that fall from the fruit are buried once again, some day to start all over again as a little green ball, tiny and full of hope. May my life blossom the way you intended and, after I am gone, may the seeds I leave behind develop into a brand-new generation to carry on your work and your glory.

Thank you that I live in a free country to do whatever kind of work I desire to do, to live where I want, and worship you freely. And, thank you, for the other countries of the world. They may not have the freedoms I have, but many of them have opportunities not available here. And they live in areas full of so much ancient history, much of it having been lived out in your Bible. How exciting for them. There is something good in every country. I thank you for helping me not become arrogant and think my country is better than anyone else’s country. Thank you for opening my eyes.

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Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail365 SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S is the third book in the TOUCHING GOD trilogy.  Prayers of praise, repentance, and thanksgiving are provided to help get you started with a few reminders.  Prayers of request are left for you to apply to your own life.  This series is a great gift for weddings, showers, graduations, baptisms, restored Cristians, birthdays, Christmas.  Beautiful original cover art and ancient papyrus font on the inside.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………https://bit.ly/3ia96a0

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/365-silver-winged-prayers-your-spirit-to-gods/

I am nothing and you have loved me

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-MEDIUMRighteous God in heaven, so far and yet so near. You made the rules so I wouldn’t hurt myself. No matter how hard I wanted you to change them, you refused to change. You are forever the same. My rock. My foundation, My wall of salvation. My sword of truth. My rainbow of love.  You have clothed me with your perfection because I can never attain it. You have clothed me with your purity; this I can never accomplish either. You have clothed me with your majesty to rule with you somewhere in your realm some day; I could never have the wisdom or patience you do.  You have given the earth to me and all that is in it to rule with you. You have granted me a canopy of stars over my head and a rainbow of delight to encircle my heart. I love you, my God.

I lift up my thanks to you for offering yourself on the altar of the world. I could not give enough sacrifices for my sins in a lifetime. I was completely incapable of setting myself free from Satan. So, you, the Law Giver and Enforcer set up a loop-hole for me. You offered yourself as a sacrifice to appease Sin, Satan, and death to free my soul from their hold. How can I thank you? I fall at your feet in deep gratitude . For I am nothing and you have loved me.

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Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN takes a second look at the blythe way we end our prayers, “Oh, and forgive us ours sin.”  Forgiveness isn’t that sample.  It never was.  What was going on with the “principalities and powers in heavenly places” as well as on earth where we didn’t know the way?  The book ends with a glimpse into heaven.  Hundreds of scriptures. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2DsX5gy

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/the-road-to-heaven/

Deep into the mind of God

The scripture for today, July 26 (7/26), is John 7:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0000-BK 1-StarSong-CHILD'SCartoonCover-Medium“Here, he [Jesus] is speaking publicly [in the temple], and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

These people standing around the temple lied to each other.  They refused to believe in Jesus because they chose to disregard a scripture that all Jews knew about. They said no one would know where the Christ (the Messiah) would come from. But they did know. It was in their own scriptures ~ Micah 5:2

“But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come for me, the one who will be ruler over Israel.”

Are you sometimes like those people standing around in the temple? Do you sometimes make up your mind about something religious, and even if the Bible says something different, you refuse to acknowledge it? Does your ego sometimes get in the way? Or are you afraid of pressure from your friends?

As you read the Word of God, open wide your heart and mind. Walk the beautiful path that God has created for you ~ a path that leads you deep into the mind of your God.

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01-StarSong-CHILD'SCartoonCover-SmallSTAR SONG is book one in the storybook A CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST.  “Think and Do” at the end of every chapter giving the child something to do to apply what they just read to their life.  Great for the early reader with hyphens between syllables of long words.  Great for grandparents and homeschoolers.  Great for birthdays and Christmas to give all 8 books in the set.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3hK3K5b

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-life-of-christ-book-1-star-song/

But they acted so holy

Our scripture for today, July 21 (7/21), is Matthew 7:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “

Evil doers?  Church people evildoers?  There are hundreds of denominations and sects out there all contradicting each other. It’s impossible for them all to be right. They cannot all be on different roads going to the same place. They cannot all be pleasing God if we decide opposing things please him.

You can never rely on what someone else says just because they look and act holy and say all the right holy words and phrases and pray such holy-sounding prayers. You must never rely on your religious leaders to tell you what to believe. Shall you take their opinion or God’s opinion?

Romans 10:1 in the Bible mentions some people who had a lot of zeal for God, but were lost because it was not according to the proper knowledge.

Well, how do you get God’s opinion? Read the Bible for yourself! Use a concordance (lists every word in the Bible and every scripture with that word ~ Bible Hub has one on the internet) and look up your chosen subject.  Then, having found the truth, why not go back to your religious leaders in love and try to teach your teachers? Some just might listen to you.

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00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-ThumbnailWORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY is a collection of scriptures (1st-century Christians), statements of famous theologians going back centuries, and statements of 2nd-century Christians about the way God wants to be worshiped, not the way we want to “worship” him. The reader is taken gently step by step toward understanding and acceptance.  It ends with a history of the churches of Christ mostly in Europe from the third to the 18th century.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-worship-the-first-century-way/

Too much to fathom

I praise you, Jehovah, Creator of everything I observe and more.  You are too large to see all of you. You are too small to perceive your intricacies, too much to fathom, too wise to comprehend. You are my monarch, my sovereign, my emperor, my king.  You reign over my heart, my mind, my spirit, my soul.  And one day I will see you face to face. What will it be like? Actually seeing he who made the universe with over two trillion galaxies filled with one hundred thousand million stars.  And you know them all by name.   Better, you know me by name. 

There are people in the world who are unholy unbelievers in you. The only time they accept your existence is to blame you for bad things happening.  I do not always know what to say to them. I cannot get past their bitterness toward you and their degradation of me for being so naïve to believe in you. Lord, forgive me for not reading more of their writings so I can tell better what is motivating them and what will open their heart. 

Thank you for the rain we had to nourish my thirsty garden. How do you make such fantastic things out of tiny seeds? Beets with one seed, carrots with another seed, radishes with another, corn, wheat, beans, tomatoes ~ all from tiny seeds.  I put them under ground, they die, then they come back to life in delightful assorted sizes, shapes, colors, and tastes. Oh, how you must enjoy creating and giving life. Such pleasure you must receive from watching my little garden grow. I do too, Lord. I do too. 

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Clouds in blue sky

CHRISTIANITY OR ISLAM: THE CONTRAST can be given to a Muslim without offending them.  One third of the book quotes from the Quran and then from the New Testament on the same subjects. The second third explains misunderstandings Muslims have of Christianity. The third third is statements of 100 Muslims I have taught who believe Jesus is the Son of God and not just a prophet.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….   https://bit.ly/3ivhamD

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I never thought I’d say this

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailIt is  Sunday, the morning nearly 2000 years ago that you rose up out of your grave to live again forever. Oh, glorious day! Oh, mighty day! Day unforgettable! How amazing. Your work was done. The hardest part was at the end. But you did it.You paid that terrible ransom  ~ the death of God. But it is Satan who lost, not you because you freed us from him. It was Death who lost, not you because you came back to life. It was Sin who lost, not you because you lived and died without ever sinning.  It is impossible to kill Life.  Why doesn’t Satan give up? He knows he has lost but will not admit it.  So, I march on with you, fighting selfishness so that pure love will be all that is left. With you is all might, all glory, all majesty. I worship you.

I thank you, God, for your balanced sense of justice and mercy. You do not punish because you like doing it. You punish to help me realize the seriousness of my thoughts and deeds. You punish to avenge the hurt I caused good people trying to do right. You punish to make me stronger. But you do not punish forever. You punish, then wait for me to return to you. You punish to stop me in my tracks, take a hard look at myself, and make changes. Your punishment is like walking on sand; as soon as I take another step, the previous step has already begun refilling. Punishment is just momentary until I stop, turn, and move over onto the solid rock of faith in you.  There, I see myself as I am and hurry to walk in your footsteps that are embedded deep so I can always find you. I never thought I’d say this, but thank you for punishing me when I need it. How you love. How you love.

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH is biblical historical novel #7 in the series THEY MET JESUS.  He was in charge. He was always in church.  To condemn him, the high priest had to say the words, “Son of God.” At his trial and when being beaten, he was in charge. Even on the cross he was in charge. He looked helpless, but he was orchestrating the whole thing.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2UcggRE

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An Amazing Step-Father

0-Joseph-Cover-ThumbnailThe more I look to you, my God, the dimmer this world becomes. The more I strain to be with you, the hazier with world and all its busyness seems. As I travel toward you, earth fades and heaven grows more in focus.  Life here becomes less important and all that heaven holds grows in magnitude. Each step I take draws me closer to you. Each path I take is smoother. Each breath is sweeter. And my view of home becomes clearer day by day.

I love you, God. And I fear you.  You have the power to save and to turn away.  After all, heaven is your home. You are not obligated to share it with anyone who wants in because they consider themselves “not so bad”. And, well, they prayed, but only when they wanted something.  And were bored worshipping you so would be in heaven. Such “not so bad” people would be so bored in heaven, they would turn it into another earth.  Thank you for keeping heaven a place of peace, excitement and wonder and never ever be bored.

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0-Joseph-Cover-ThumbnailJOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER is novel 5 in the INTREPID MEN OF GOD SERIES.  Imagine being told by God to guard His Son in a violent world until he is grown. How does Joseph choose a city in strange Egypt to hide 2-year-old Jesus from Herod’s spies? Does he dare take 4-year-old Jesus to the temple where now-dead Herod’s son slaughters thousands? To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/30FFlbC

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An odd way to beat poverty

The scripture for today, June 10 (6/10), is Proverbs 6:10f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Applied Christianity“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ~ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

Oh! This scripture really comes to the point, doesn’t it? Perhaps during difficult economic times for some people, this can be a gentle reminder. If you can’t work for money, you can work for free. There is always work to do as a volunteer either in an organization or just by yourself. All it takes is for you to look around.

Well, if you’re already in the clutches of poverty, what will volunteering do to help the situation? People will notice you. They will notice your work ethic and your cheerfulness and your thoughtfulness.  They will know you are out of work and just might tell people looking for someone to hire. And in the process, you are helping others. That in itself can make you feel rich ~ even if you’re not.

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS gives ideas for every age group, every town size, every congregation size in a step by-step manner.  Some congregations have even used it as a class book.  Great for teen classes and home-schoolers too.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  bit.ly/APPLIEDCHRISTIANITY

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Besides, why should I?

The scripture for today, June 2 (6/2), is Galatians 6:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Applied Christianity“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In case you’re thinking people should take care of their own problems, you are right. But the term “burdens” here refers to overloads.

The main reason this is hard to do is that taking on someone else’s overloaded burdens upsets our daily routine and our peace of mind which we have worked so hard to achieve and maintain. It is inconvenient.

Just remember, it is always inconvenient for those people to have an overload of burdens. They don’t want them. Many times they didn’t ask for them. But, even if they did ask for them with foolish acts, can we not roll up our sleeves and help them out a little while (not forever)?

We do not have to take on all their problems. But we can give them relief of some of the basic problems so they can concentrate on the more serious ones.  If they need a babysitter, find one for them. If they don’t have decent clothes to go to work, take them to Goodwill.  If they’re behind financially, buy them a tank of gas. Wash their dishes for them so they can have a clean kitchen at least until the next day. If they’re behind on their laundry, take the dirty clothes and linens home with you to wash and dry yourself. If they haven’t written their parents for a year, sit with them while they write that letter. Take parts of their overburden from them.

What if Jesus had said, “Hey, it’s not my problem! Those people on earth mess up their lives all the time. Why should I leave the comforts of heaven to live among sinners and misery?” But he didn’t say that. Thank God he didn’t say that.

Inconvenient for him to take our overloaded burdens to his cross? Yes. Did he want to do it? No. But he did what was necessary to rescue us. Do you really and truly want to be like Him?

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS. Letter writing, benevolence, works for and by the handicapped, newcomers, military personnel, university students, works for Bible school class children to do, crafts, keeping your home, workplace by employee and employer, church office, worldwide missionary work, works for seniors, assisted-living homes, nursing homes, loss of loved ones, telephoning, prayer warriors, prayer partners, home Bible studies, heavenly reward. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2TQBGDF

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