Category: Inspirational
Free ~ Lazarus: The Samaritan
For a chance to win a free print or kindle copy of my book, Lazarus the Samaritan, go to this website and leave a comment. Deadline is tonight at midnight.
Scripture for Thursday, January 26 (1/26)
The scripture for today, January 26, is 1st Samuel 1:26f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“And she said to him, ‘As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.’ “
Hannah was telling the priest that God had answered her prayer. How often do you tell someone God has answered your prayer? Or do you wander aimlessly from prayer request to prayer request, and let the answer drift away from you unnoticed? Or worse, do you ask others to pray for something, but after once or twice you stop praying yourself?
Begin today to keep a list of your prayer requests. Write down the date you first began to pray for each. If your requests are all about yourself, begin including your neighbors, your co-workers, people you attend church with, your relatives, people in the newspaper.
Then begin a second list of your answers and the dates. You will be amazed how fast your Prayers Answered list grows. Do not let the answers drift away from you unnoticed.
Notice them.
Claim them.
Tell others.
And spend the rest of your life thanking God over and over and over….
#Thanksgiving, #Appreciation, #PrayerList, #Prayer
Scripture for Wednesday, January 25 (1/25)
The scripture for today, January 25, is James 1:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it ~ he will be blessed in what he does.”
A lot of people do not understand that there was the Law of Moses with over 600 commands in the Old Testament, and the Law of Jesus with very few commands in the New Testament. Colossians 2:14 says Jesus nailed the old Law to the cross. Jesus’ new law is one of freedom from all the requirements of the old law.
Do we really believe this? Some people dip back into the Old Law of Moses to bring back those old forms of worship (musical instruments, separate priesthood, etc.), or to bind people to regulations that are no longer binding (tithing, burning candles, etc.). That has all been nailed to the cross. But how are we supposed to know unless we read the Old Testament ~ not just the stories, but also the commands? Like the commands to stone for adultery, etc.
Then we can understand.
Let us truly let loose of the Old Law of Moses and cling to the “perfect Law that gives freedom” in Christ.
Then let us bow to Him in gratitude for doing this for us, and say “Thank you.”
#LawOfMoses, #Tithing, #Priests, #Music, #LawOfGrace, #NewTestament, #OldTestament
Scripture for Tuesday, January 24 (1/24)
The scripture for today, January 24, is Jude 1:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy ~ “
God is perfect, and so cannot dwell with faults and imperfection. We have faults. Romans 3:23 says everyone sins. And Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. But God always has wanted us to live with him. What a dilemma!
God solved our problem at great expense. He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth who lived the faultless life for us. Then God offered His perfect Son, His only Son, Jesus, to die in our place.
After that, God told the world that He would consider us “without fault” vicariously through Jesus. He’s already paid the penalty for our sins. All we have to do is believe He did and follow his instructions to keep us out of hell.
How amazing ~ God’s love for us!
#Crucifixion, #Sin, #Punishment, #Wages, #Forgiveness, #Heaven, #Hell, #Satan, #Jesus
Scripture for Monday, January 23 (1/23)
The scripture for today, January 23, is Romans 1:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“….and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Do you ever wish you could see God, touch God, look God in the eye? Everyone has. And we may wonder why we can’t.
If this were the case, then God wouldn’t be God. He wouldn’t be omnipresent (present everywhere). He would only be able to listen to one prayer at a time, and the rest of the world’s prayers would go unheard.
Let us be grateful our God is so great that He cannot be limited. He is so great He cannot be pictured. He is so great that He fills heaven. He is so great that He fills our hearts and our souls.
#Omnipresent, #Omniscient, #GodIsEverywhere, #Prayer
Scripture for Sunday, January 22 (1/22)
The scripture for today, January 22, is Ephesians 1:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
What makes this so interesting is that the church is the body of Christ. And what else is the church? Matthew 16:17-18 says the church is the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 5:25 & 32 says the church is his bride. Revelation 21:2, 9-10 says the church bride is the new Holy City Jerusalem. Colossians 1:18 says Jesus is the head of his body ~ the only head ~ on earth and in heaven.
And what does Jesus think of the church? Ephesians 5:25-27 says he loved the church so much that he gave himself up for her, to make her radiant ~ no stains, no wrinkles, no blemishes.
Why would anyone not want to be part of this?
Such love.
Such eternal love.
#ChurchOfChrist, #BodyOfChrist, #HeadOfTheChurch, #KingdomOfGod, #ChurchOfGod, #BrideOfChrist, #KingdomOfHeaven, #NewJerusalem
Scripture for Saturday, January 21 (1/21)
The scripture for today, January 21, is Job 1:21 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“ ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ “
Job had every reason to turn against God. In one day his entire wealth was stolen from him, nearly all his servants were killed by an invading army, and all his children died in a storm. Why hadn’t God protected him if he loved him so much?
We often forget that Satan exists also. Just remember, whatever Satan does, God can undo.
On a physical level, Satan is the accuser (Revelation 12:10), but God is the forgiver. Satan can cause us to get sick, but God can heal. Satan can cause us to die, but God can bring us back to life. Satan can make us miserable in this world, but God can take us to a better world.
Shall we leave God to fight Satan alone? We were made in his image. And how do we fight Satan? Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
On a spiritual level, sometimes we are not only separated from material things but sometimes we are forced to be separated from other Christians. What can be the result? God’s kingdom arises in yet another place. James wrote to the Jewish Christians “scattered among the nations” (James 1:1). Peter wrote to “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered.…” (I Peter 1:1).
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” There’s more….
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
Neither angels nor demons,
Neither the present nor the future,
Nor any powers,
Neither height nor depth,
Nor anything else in all creation
Will be able to separate us from the
Love of God
That is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:37-39)
How can we be “more than conquerors” unless we have something to conquer? How can we have “victory in Jesus” unless we have something to be victorious over?
Each of us has periodic assignments from God. What bad thing has happened in your life lately? That is your assignment.
Or, must Jesus bear the cross alone?
#Troubles, #Trials, #Problems, #Loss, #Death, #Tragedy, #Lament, #Conquer, #Assignment, #Satan, #God, #Overcome, #Love, #Desertion
Scripture for Friday, January 20 (1/20)
The scripture for today, January 20, is 2nd Peter 1:20f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Isn’t this interesting? It’s a definition of prophecy. Prophecy is Scripture. It isn’t just telling the future. It’s telling the mind of God. Sometimes in the Old Testament God warned his people that if they did so-and-so, this would happen, but if they did such-and-such, that would happen.
But ultimately all prophecy was telling people how much God loved them and wanted them, in the long run, to be happy. The Old Testament has much of that in it, and all the New Testament does. It is your Creator’s Words.
You are so blessed that you do not have to guess what is on God’s mind. Many other religions have to guess ~ Hinduism, Buddhism, and so on. But you have God’s very own words in black and white to read over and over whenever you like ~ prophecy which is Scripture.
Read it. Absorb it. Love it. It was written by the Lover of your Soul.
#Bible, #Scripture, #Prophecy, #WordsOfGod, #HolySpirit, #MindOfGod, #Truth
Scripture for Thursday, January 9 (1/9)
The scripture for today, January 19, is James 1:19a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
There was a book published a few years ago entitled, Hurt People Hurt People. Have you ever wanted to say something like, “How dare you think you know how bad I feel!” or “How dare you think you understand the ordeal I went through!” or “How dare you treat me like that!”? Those are accusing words. And what do they accomplish?
We may feel justified in explaining how bad we were treated by someone. But, in reality, it makes the hurt keep going and going and going…. Perhaps this is a cycle you’ve been in for a long time with someone. Who is going to stop the cycle?
Satan is the accuser (Revelation 12:10). God is the forgiver. Even Jesus forgave his killers. When we have been hurt, let us be ready to listen to the other person’s hurt instead of accuse. And in the process, “bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
#Sympathy, #Anger, #Accusing, #Listening, #Hurt, #Forgiveness, #Humility
