Scripture for Friday, March 3 (3/3)

campbell-cover-kindle-lg-mediumThe scripture for today, March 3, is Genesis 3:3 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

” ‘But God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.’ “

This is a conversation Eve is having with Satan in the Garden of Eden. She was a little put out by God that he would withhold even one item from her. So, she misrepresented God. What God actually said was….

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Eve had added to what God had said: “You must not touch it.”

Do we do that? When we get put out by someone, do we embellish a little and add a few little things to an event in order to make the other person look worse than s/he really is? Are we in the habit of making ourselves a victim so we can get other people’s sympathy and maybe get other people to act on our behalf?

1st Corinthians 13:5 says love does not keep a record of wrongs. If you have a feud going with someone, try breaking the cycle 1st Corinthians 13:7 says love protects, always trusts, always hopes. Bring hope back. Then keep hope alive.

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#Arguments, #Disagreements, #Forgiveness, #Healing, #Judging, #Lies, #Truth, #Hope, #Love, #Protection, #Trust

Scripture for Thursday, March 2 (3/2)

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

0-BOOK 4-FOLK HERO-COVER“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 practice. 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 cares 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 them enough?

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#Love, #Heart, #Speak, #Letter, #Lost, #Heaven, #Hell, #Hypocrite, #Enough

Scripture for Wednesday, March 1 (3/1)

The scripture for today, March 1, is 1st Thessalonians 3:1,5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens….For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”

In Thessalonica, there had been a riot, and the man who had given Paul and his helpers a place to live was hauled into court. Paul just couldn’t put his host through that so “when we could stand it no longer” he left the city and went off by himself so he wouldn’t jeopardize anyone else.

Still the great Apostle Paul ~ who went everywhere preaching non-stop for decades; who stood up under beatings, stonings, hunger, and ship wrecks; who explained to church leaders how to lead their congregation; whose letters were prophecy and became scripture ~ the powerful Apostle Paul still felt very tenderly toward his fellow Christians. He worried about how they were getting along spiritually. And when he “could stand it no longer” he wrote back to Thessalonica to find out how they were doing.

Tender love is a powerful love. A strong love. A love that will never, ever let go. Do you feel this way about the spiritual well-being of other people?

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#love, #worry, #concern, #power, #prayer, #Christians, #persecution, #selflessness, #humility, #spirituality, #others, #temptation

 

Scripture for Tuesday, February 28 (2/28)

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

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“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. But 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. Because we 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. Remember, no matter how many thousands upon thousands follow a religious leader, that leader will be judged by God just like everyone else.

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 preconceived religious notions, and read with an open mind what God himself has to say to us.

 It is possible to know for sure.

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#knowledge, #truth, #Bible, #Scriptures, #myths, #facts, #lies, #fabrications, #idols, #church, #Christianity, #evangelists

 

Scripture for Monday, February 27 (2/27)

The scripture for today, February 27, is Jeremiah 2:27 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Medium“ ‘Why do you bring charges against me? You have all rebelled against me,’ declares the Lord.”

People sometimes blame God for bad things happening in their life that are no fault of their own. They don’t really want to blame God because they want to think God loves them. But there is no one else to blame. No one else to blame? Oh, yes, there is. There is Satan. We tend to forget Satan is out there too. It is Satan who causes bad to happen, not God.

Is that what you’ve done lately ~ blame God for bad happening, then rebel against him? Or do you know someone who is going through many problems not of their doing or choosing? Are they blaming God and rebelling against him? Help them. Remind them of Satan.

People want to blame someone. They will be relieved to be reminded that Satan exists. Now they can put the blame where it belongs.

Let us not blame God for the bad. Instead, let us thank Him for the good.

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#problems, #troubles, #tragedies, #blame, #accuse, #charge, #love, #Satan, #curses, #blessings

Scripture for Sunday, February 26 (2/26)

The scripture for today, February 26, is Ecclesiastes 2:26 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium“To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness, but to the sinner, he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

Are we happy regardless of how much wealth we do or do not have? Do we require things in order to be happy?

Solomon, who wrote the above scripture, was the wealthiest man in the world, but he found it to be meaningless, a chasing after the wind. In another place in Ecclesiastes (5:10) he said that a man loving money never has enough.

 Indeed, centuries later, the apostle Paul, who did not own a home or much of anything else, explained his happiness: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:11b-12).

If we can do this, then we do indeed have wisdom ~ God’s wisdom.

#wisdom, #knowledge, #happiness, #money, #stuff, #wealth, #peace, #contentment, #hunger, #want, #plenty

Scripture for Saturday, February 25 (2/25)

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-The scripture for today, February 25, is Revelation 2:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Only hold on to what you have until I come.”

Several years ago my 91-year-old mother left this life. Some say that at the moment of death, one’s life flashes before their eyes. In the case of my mother, at the moment of her death, her life flashed before my eyes. I suddenly imagined her as a baby in her mother’s (my grandmother’s) lap. Then she was a toddler playing in their yard. Then I saw her in school, then as a young bride to my father, then at home with her husband and children gathered around her. Then I saw her as launching a career after we were grown, then retiring, then eventually going into the nursing home.

And when that brief moment of envisioning her whole life was gone, I said, “You made it, Mother! You made it! You never faltered. Through all those years of ups and downs, you never wavered in your faith in Jesus Christ. You stuck it out. And now you’re home!”

May we all live our life in such a way that, despite our ups and downs, we never wander from Jesus. We stick with him through every storm, every flood, every blast of tragedy, every tumbling of dreams. Let us hold on to what we have until the day we leave this temporary life and enter our true eternal life.

#Endurance, #End, #HoldOn, #WholeLife, #Life, #Dedication, #Wavering, #Falling, #Reward, #Heaven, #Hell

Scripture for Friday, February 24 (24)

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-CoverThe scripture for today, February 24, is 1st Peter 2:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Many people do not understand what Jesus dying on the cross has to do with us going to heaven. Here it is. God is perfect, so cannot dwell with imperfection. God is complete love and goodness, so cannot dwell with hatred and bad.

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. So, all through the Old Testament era, whenever we sinned, God allowed us to kill/sacrifice a perfect animal in our place. This, however, was a temporary fix.

Eventually, God sent his own Son to come to earth and live in a human body and be tempted in every way that we are (see Hebrews 4:15). Jesus resisted all temptations and lived his entire life sinless. He was perfect. Then as the perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29), Jesus was the final sacrifice. He died in our place. He took the punishment for our sins. On the cross, he temporarily died spiritually (forsaken by God) and physically (blood was shed).

Then God basically told the world, “I will consider you perfect too; all you have to do is believe in and follow my Son.” It is explained further in Romans 6:3-4. Just as Jesus died bearing our sins, we die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we are buried in the watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus rose up out of his tomb the Savior, we rise up out of our watery tomb the saved ~ born again to a new life.

Indeed, by Jesus’ wounds we can be healed. We fall at his feet and say, “I am a sinner and so unworthy. Thank you.”

#Crucifixion, #Death, #WagesOfSin, #Sin, #Satan, #SavedFromHell, #Punishment, #Wounds, #Healing #Hell

Scripture for Thursday, February 23 (2/23)

The scripture for today, February 23, is 1st John 2:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Bible Puzzles for Young And Old-Cover“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

Have you ever wondered how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit can be three but one? They are kind of like a coin.

The top of the coin looks one way and helps us identify it. The bottom of the coin looks another way and provides something for the coin to sit on. The edge of the coin looks yet another way and holds the two sides together. But, if you take away any one part of the coin, you take away the entire coin. Three, yet one.

Another way to look at it is that both the Son and the Spirit have been called the Word of God. John 1:1-14 says Jesus was the Word, and was God come to us in flesh. Then Jesus in John 14:17 said that he was going to send ANOTHER comforter, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 Jesus said God’s Word is Truth. So, Jesus was the Word we could watch, and the Spirit is the Word we can read.

Yet another way to look at God being three yet one is like H2O ~ Water, Snow, Ice. Three manifestations of the same thing.

How wonderful!

#HolySpirit, #GodTheFather, #GodTheWord, #GodTheSpirit, #Worship, #Scripture, #Bible, #Truth

Scripture for Wednesday, February 22 (2/22)

campbell-cover-kindle-lg-mediumThe scripture for today, February 22, is Ephesians 2:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Another place in the New Testament, 2nd Corinthians 6:16, says we are the temple of God. A lot of things in worship under the Law of Moses were a literal version of what Christians someday would enjoy in a spiritual and deeper sense.

We have no need for the temple in Jerusalem, for now God dwells in Christians. We have no need for the altar of sacrifice at that temple because Jesus was our final sacrifice (Hebrews 10:4-12). We have no need for the cymbals, harps and lyres played in worship because Christians play on the strings of their hearts (Ephesians 5:19). We have no need for the priestly system in the Law of Moses because all Christians are priests (1st Peter 2:5). And how do we serve as priests? Romans 12:1 explains it: “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”

What a concept! God does not dwell in temples or church buildings!

He dwells in Christians.

      He lives and moves through Christians.

          What a privilege.

              What a responsibility.

#worship, #TempleOfGod, #TempleOfSpirit, #music, #ceremony, #candles, #incense, #LivingSacrifices, #priests, #temple, #LawOfMoses, #LawOfJesus, #LawOfGrace