Category: Inspirational

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The scripture for today is 2nd Corinthians 9:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 4-FOLK HERO-COVER“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

There are many religious leaders who insist that Christians tithe. But that was part of the Law of Moses, and Jesus nailed that written law to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

Actually, the Jews were required to give more than a tenth. (1) Deuteronomy 26:12 said the Jews had to give an extra tithe every three years for their welfare program. So, if someone tithed $900 a year, s/he would have to tithe an average of $300 more per year for the welfare program, equaling $1,200 year. If the yearly income was $9000, this would take it up to 13.3% a year. (2) Also, according to Leviticus 27, they had to pay for their vows, which in many cases were really special prayer requests. (3) They also had to buy animals for sacrifices for intentional sins, unintentional sins and sins requiring restitution. (4) If they wanted to thank God for anything, they had to buy grain for a sacrifice (Leviticus 1-5). If they didn’t have to buy the animals or grain, they had to take them out of their own supply, thus depleting their own “pay check.” (5) And every time one of their flocks or herds had a first-born, they had to sacrifice it ~ another depleting of the “pay check.”

So the good Jew under the Law of Moses did not just tithe. He ended up giving about one third of his income. Galatians 5:3 says that, if we keep one part of the Law, we have to keep all of it. There were over 600 burdensome commandments in the Law of Moses!

In today’s scripture, Christians are being released from this burden. Instead, they are being told to decide in their own heart. Christians are released from serving and giving through obligation, and set free to serve and give through love.

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

000-BOOK 1-STAR SONG-PRINT COVER-Small“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!”

Notice the Godhead is represented in this one child.

Wonderful Counselor: John 14:16f says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever ~ the Spirit of Truth” ~ God the Spirit.

Everlasting Father: This is God the Father. Many scriptures substantiate this.

Prince of Peace: Matthew 2:6 says, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers [KJV says princes) of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler….”

In summary, Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity (KJV says Godhead) lives in bodily form.”

They are like a coin. The top looks one way, the bottom looks different, and the edge looks still different. The coin has three looks, but is one. If you try to take away one of the three, you take away the entire coin. Why? Because it is three in one.

This is so amazing. And we have been so blest.

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The scripture for today, September 5, is Nehemiah 9:5a as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“And the Levites ~ Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherabiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah ~ said ‘Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.’ “

Here are eight men who probably none of us has ever heard of. We know nothing about them before this event, and nothing about them after this event. But they are forever memorialized in the Bible because, on this one day, within this one hour, in this one moment in time they “stood on the steps of the temple…and called with a loud voice” (Nehemiah 9:4) for the people to “stand up and praise the Lord”.

Can we do that? Can we stand and shout to people around us, “Stand up and praise the Lord your God”? Yes, we can. We can write letters to the editor, we can encourage other students of the Bible, we can start Bible studies in our homes or even the internet for adults or children, we can take scripture tray favors to a hospital or nursing home.

In what way can you tell people around you “Stand up and praise the Lord your God”? Write down some ideas. Then act on one of them.

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

0-BOOK EIGHT-COME FLY WITH ME-Cover“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 that God should feel obligated to take them to heaven. After all, they were fairly good, and better than some. God couldn’t possibly in all good conscience turn them away.

Yet, their entire life they resent God. Mostly they don’t like his 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.

Ultimately, heaven is God’s home, not ours. 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 we 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 us perfect by proxy.

But God never forces anyone to agree with him or spend time with him here on earth so they can live with him in his heaven.

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The scripture for today, September 2, is Job 9:2 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Cover-Kindle-small“Though one wishes to dispute with Him [God], he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.”

There are so-called sophisticated intellectuals in the world who want to come up with all the answers about God. Many even make God in their image instead of we being made in God’s image. They try to reduce God to complete human understanding.

That cannot be! If we could understand everything about God, He would not be God! Let us rejoice that there are things about God we do not understand. Let us rejoice that there are events in our life that we do not understand ~ the good, the bad, the ugly. Let us rejoice that such a God loves us in our finiteness.

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The scripture for August 31 is John 8:31f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, then the truth will set you free.’ “

Myriads of people call themselves believers in or disciples of Christ. What is Jesus’ definition of a believer or disciple? He explained, IF we hold to his TEACHINGS, then we are his disciples.

It’s not automatic? So being born into a Christian family doesn’t automatically make us a Christian? Being born in a Christian nation doesn’t automatically make us a Christian? Owning a Bible doesn’t automatically make us a Christian? Believing Jesus is the Son of God doesn’t automatically make us a Christian? (Demons believe that and aren’t Christians.)

“But, Jesus,” we might say, “I really feel like I’m a Christian.” And Jesus replies, “Hold to my teachings, then you are really my disciple.”

So if we learn Jesus’ teachings, then hold to them, THEN the truth will set us FREE.

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The scripture for today, August 29, is Matthew 8:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print” ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’ “

If you are not familiar with this passage, these are the words of a demon. If you have ever studied demons in the Bible, you will find that they never tried to spook or scare people. They never made dishes rattle or lamps fall over.

All they did was cause physical problems during the lifetime of Jesus and his apostles. There is no evidence of demons doing this in the Old Testament before Jesus, nor after his apostles died, either in the Bible or in the writings of the apostolic fathers. It is as though the demons were loosed for a season so Jesus could show his power over them also ~ Ephesians 1:20-21.

Notice, demons never said bad things. If they talked at all, it was out of fear and honesty. James 2:19 says all demons believe in Jesus. In the book of Matthew they knew who Jesus was. They called him the Son of God.

Jesus told them to be quiet. Why? He didn’t want evil beings telling people who he was; he wanted goodness to tell people who he was.

The movies have warped our understanding of demons. Let us search the scriptures to find out their true nature. Then we no longer have to guess. We can know.

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The scripture for today, August 27, is Mark 8:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’ “

Cover-Kindle-small

Do we ask our family, our neighbors, our friends how they feel about God? We don’t know unless we ask. A lot of people are just waiting for someone to ask. Otherwise, they don’t know how or when to bring it up.

Whenever I meet someone who has gone through a tragedy, I ask them “How’s your faith.” Now this person may not have darkened the door of a church building for 20 years, but s/he always knows what I mean. Since I am sympathizing with them at the time, they are always honest and reply, “Not very good.”

Then I tell them, “You know, Satan causes bad to happen to people, not Jesus.” They always stare at me a moment, and then breathe a sigh of relief. They hadn’t wanted to blame God for their tragedy, but they had a need to blame someone. They’d forgotten Satan exists, and were grateful they could now put the blame where it belonged..

We must continually be on the watch for people who need help in understanding their relationship with God. Be brave. Go ahead and ask. You’ll be surprised at how many want to talk about it.

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The scripture for today, August 26, is Romans 8:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

The Holy Spirit in the New Testament is always linked with communication between God and Man. Even the miracles, made possible by the Holy Spirit, were a guarantee that the words and teachings accompanying the miracles were from God. This was needed before the New Testament was written. But the Holy Spirit does more than this.

God speaks to us in his Word, the Bible. Then we speak to him in return in prayer. But sometimes all we can do is bow our head in silence and know that God understands ~ His Spirit communes with our spirit. How blessed we are.

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The scripture for today, August 25, is John 8:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Campbell-Cover-KIMBLE” ‘Who are you?’ they asked. ‘Just what I have been claiming all long,’ Jesus replied.”

Jesus and his apostles tell us certain things in the Bible, we read them over and over, and we still don’t see the point. Perhaps we have been blinded by well-meaning religious leaders or family or friends who tell us over and over, “It doesn’t mean what it says.”

Let us read the teachings of Jesus and his apostles with open eyes and open hearts. When we read something, let us accept it. Our souls are at stake. These are the words of the God of the universe. Do we prefer that God fit our mold, or we fit God’s mold?