Category: Inspirational

Friday 9/27 ~ God is your friend

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 27 (9/27), is Nehemiah 9:27 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail“So you handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed, they cried out to you. From heaven, you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.”

What was going on here?  The Jews had started worshipping false gods, putting some of their altars in the temple of God, and even offering their children as sacrifices to the fire god. God let their enemies take them captive until they stopped their horrible practices and started praying only to the one true God. Then he rescued them those enemies.

Do you know anyone who could care less about God? The only exception is when they feel oppressed by something or someone in their life? More than likely, they blame God.  Satan has convinced them he does not exist, so the only one left to blame is God. 

Wait!  Don’t be so hard on such people. That can be a good thing. Perhaps they hadn’t given God a second thought since their last calamity. But now they’re thinking about him. They may be angry at God, but at least they’re thinking about him. Now is your chance to approach a broken, desperate, but softened spirit.

Let us thank God for times of oppression. Sometimes that is what it takes for God to get their attention. Then perhaps God can show them he wants to be their friend.

 

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE ThumbnailMEFIBOSET: CRIPPLED PRINCE lived life with everything against him:  His grandfather and father were killed. He was denied his throne. He was homeless and raised by a stranger. He became crippled for life.  But the Bible says he married and had children and grandchildren.  Despite all this, the crippled prince learned to smile.  To BUY this inspiring book, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2FKe0dA

#oppression, #persecution, #punishment, #sin, #repentance, #forgiveness, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth, #faith

Wednesday 9/25 ~ How’s your race going?

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, good works, Inspirational, persecution, prayer, temptation, things1 Comment

The scripture for today, September 25 (9/25), is 1st Corinthians 9:25f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Strip of Inspirational“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly….”

Every few years there are world-wide Olympic Games with many races. The racers must eat properly, rest sufficiently, and exercise daily.

The Bible has been called the Bread of Life. As a Christian, you need to eat your spiritual meal every day to stay fit. You cannot keep up your strength without food.  Do you eat at least one spiritual meal a day? How delicious is reading His Words? Ah, you cannot wait until your next meal!

Your time of rest is prayer. You enter a room in your heart alone and talk to God every day. You do not spend all your time asking for things. You can hardly hold back your gratitudes and your praises. Ah, sweet time of rest in God. You need your rest. You cannot keep up your strength without it.

I Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” You exercise your godliness by being out in the world and being a good example in the face of temptation to react to the world around you in the wrong way. Yes, spiritual exercise means purposely getting out there and facing obstacles to yourself or others. You exercise your spiritual muscles by pushing back and you do it daily.

The race, of course, is your Christian life. You run every day. How is your race going?

 

Strip of InspirationalTOUCHING GOD TRILOGY provides a daily meditation (GOLDEN BIBLE THOUGHTS: GOD’S HEART TO YOURS), food to face the day (PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS) and prayers of praise, confession, and thanksgiving for each day (SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S). A beautiful gift set with original cover art and delightful script.  To BUY NOW, click the book covers to paste this:  https://amzn.to/2lJwMud  (Click individual books to get paper price.)

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Tuesday 9/24 ~Mull over it. Absorb it. Be amazed

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn death, Death of Jesus Christ, eternity, forgiveness, Heaven, Inspirational, Saved from hell, truth, victory1 Comment

The scripture for today, September 24 (9/24), is Luke 9:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnail“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

Romans 6 explains this phenomenon best. We are to put our old self to death ~ to crucify that part of us that sins and doesn’t care, that part of us that puts ourselves first (verse 7) ~ in imitation of Jesus dying. Once we decide to put that part of ourselves to death, we are buried, just like Jesus was buried (verse 3 & 4a).

And then, just as he was raised from the dead as the savior, we rise from the dead as the saved. Why? “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (verse 5). Having been “brought from death to life” (verse 13) through baptism, we have been born again!

This is a spiritual death, of course. There is another spiritual death called the second death in Revelation 21:8. If we go through the first spiritual death at baptism, we will not have to go through the second spiritual death in hell. We will have lost our life of sin and in the process saved our souls.

It’s all there. Study it. Mull over it. Absorb it. Be amazed.

 

0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnailREVELATION: A LOVE LETTER FROM GOD takes readers through the glorious symbolism, especially the meaning of numbers to the Jews. For example, 10 means all-inclusiveness.  Therefore 10x10x10 =1000 means all-inclusiveness with no exceptions forever. What amazing promises God makes us in this, his last book.  Read it and be lifted up.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2lphdYu

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Monday 9/23 ~ Playing it safe

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 23 (9/23), is Luke 9:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-new“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’ “

There is another verse similar to this: II Timothy 3:12 ~ “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Have you been playing it safe? Have you been associating only with other Christians and thereby sheltering yourself from persecution? Have you been withholding the gospel from people who might be persecuted if they believe, even if they will be saved by following it?

I know a Christian convert in Afghanistan who keeps telling his Muslim friends about Jesus. His life has been threatened three times now over a period of six years. He says, “I will not stop until they kill me.”  I know a Christian convert in Iraq whose wife’s relatives beat up because he became a Christian. I know a Christian convert in another part of Iraq whose mother-in-law locked her in a room and beat her every day, trying to get her to return to Islam. I know a Christian convert in Gaza who was fired from his job as a professor because he left Islam.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). To do that, you must seek out the lost and try to save them, even when they do not think they are lost. It will end in persecution sometimes ~ you, them, or both. That’s a fact.

Dare to not play it safe all the time. Jesus didn’t.

 

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newTHEY MET JESUS:  FOLK HERO.  Even though Jesus was killed by religious leaders, he was a folk hero to the common person. They followed him around, never able to get enough of his miracles and his new teachings. They hungered and thirsted after him. Even the temple guards said, “Never has anyone spoken like him.”  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2kw5hnc

 

#savingsouls, #lostsouls, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth

Thursday 9/19 ~ And God will make it great

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn emptiness, humility, Inspirational, judging, patience, power, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 19 (9/19), is Acts 9:19f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food he regained his strength.”

This is the story of Saul, as he was known to the Jews and to us as Paul, who became an apostle. Notice the order he did this: He was hungry, but that wasn’t important. He had to do what was important first. He was baptized.

Why was Paul baptized? In Acts 22:16 Paul recalls that day when he was told, “Get up: be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

Further, notice who baptized him. Was he part of the clergy, someone with an ordained title in the church? Acts 9:10 says, “In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him…Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.” What title did Ananias have? None. He was just another disciple. Disciple simply meaning follower.

Little did this otherwise unknown disciple realize that day, that the person he baptized would end up writing much of the New Testament.

Do you feel ordinary like you are an “unknown disciple” to followers of Jesus around you? Find something to do, and God will make it great.

 

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE is about a man born in obscurity and born again in obscurity with the help of a man known only by his name and belief.  At the end of his life, he dies while in the obscurity of a dark prison and the axe of Nero. What happens between that turns the world upside down.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/30iM9rH

 

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Amazing 2-minute video

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn InspirationalLeave a comment

The voice in this video is that of Dr. Clifton Ganus, past president of Harding University, my alma mater, who passed away at age 97 a few days ago.  I’m not even a sports person (don’t hit me!), but this is one of the most amazing 2-minute videos about life in general ~ everyone’s life ~ I have ever seen. Share it, my friends. Share it!

Friday 9/13 – Rise up! Experience the Victory!

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn #ransom, discouragement, healing, Inspirational, power, problems, victory4 Comments

The scripture for today, September 13 (9/13), is Psalm 9:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises…and there rejoice in your salvation.”

Life is a mixture of highs and lows. You sometimes experience difficult things ~ some minor, some major. Do you let them define your entire life? Do you cling to them, never getting over them, never letting them go, and reliving them over and over in your mind?

 You cannot be “more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37) unless you have something to conquer. You cannot have “victory in Jesus” unless you have something to be victorious over.

God said he can make “all things work together for good” to those who love him (Romans 8:28). He did not say bad decisions will end up with the best result. He said even the worst situation he will turn in to some kind of good for you.

Today, with the courage of God in your heart, the love of God in your soul, and the might of God in your very being, rise up! Rejoice! Thank God for your problems.  It is only when you have problems that you can experience victories.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailIn SHADOW OF DEATH, you live through the last night and day of Jesus life and death. Why did he do it? He went through a hideous death to pay the ransom to set us free from Satan who kidnapped our souls the day Adam and Eve sinned. It freed all good people (everyone sins) in the past and still does today. Of course, after giving Satan what he wanted as the ransom ~ the death of God ~ Jesus tricked him and came back to life. The ransom had been paid and now Jesus had overcome death for us.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2I7VgFk

#discouragement, #disasters, #tragedies, #conqueror, #victory, #inspiration, #devotional, #worship, #vespers, #meditation,. #godliness, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #love, #truth  https://amzn.to/2I7VgFk

Thursday 9/12 ~ Out of disaster came beauty

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, faith, healing, Inspirational, patience, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 12 (9/12), is found in Genesis 9:12f in the Old Testament of the Bible:

02-Noah-KindleThumbnail“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

 On the technical side, how can it be that there was never a rainbow before Noah’s time? Genesis 2:5b-6 explains, “The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.”

Up until the time of Noah, people lived to be several hundred years old. Christian scientists have said that, before the flood, the earth had a constant cloud covering with a thick ozone layer that created the greenhouse effect of vapors and protected man from the aging process. It was much like Venus.

So rainbows were not possible when the sun could never break through the ever-present clouds. It was because of a terrible worldwide cataclysm that the beauty of the rainbow was made possible.

On the faith side of this story, we see a man who had such faith in God that, although he probably had never seen rain, believed it would happen. Such amazing faith! Later, through the pain of losing his stubborn father and probably other extended family in the flood, he was blessed with the lives of his direct family members. Then God gave him one more reward ~ the rainbow ~ that he could not only enjoy in his generation but for generations even today.

Out of disaster came beauty.

 

02-Noah-KindleThumbnailA CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES: NOAH is one of 10 storybooks in the series.  “Think and Do” at the end of each chapter. Understandable from age 3-12.  Great for early readers with hyphens between syllables of long words. Great for children’s Bible classes, home-schoolers, birthdays, Christmas.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2I5vAJx

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Tuesday 9/10 ~ Friends of the Great I AM

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Heaven, Inspirational, judging, knowledge, Scripture, truth, victory1 Comment

The scripture for today, September 10 (9/10), is Psalm 9:10 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

The Lord has a name?  Let’s check this out.

What does “Lord” mean in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament? It is Yahweh. Translated into the Greek of the New Testament it is Adonai.

In Exodus 3:15b God told Moses what his name was: ” ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers…This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’ “

And what does Yahweh mean? Exodus 3:14 explained, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites; ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “

God is the great I AM.

What is our relationship with I AM? Today’s verse does not say the Great I Am will keep you from all harm. What it says is that he will go with you into that harm and stay with you the whole way, giving you strength and courage.

And so, in peace or war, in comfort or pain, in well-being or devastation, he will be right there with you. He will never forsake you. Therefore, never forsake him.  Keep on worshipping ~ the Lord our God, the Great I AM.

 

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-ThumbnailWORSHIP THE 1ST CENTURY WAY is part of the series, WANDERING SOUL, ENTITLED HEART AND THE SIDE-TRACKED CHURCH.   It was written for our denominational friends who believe the way they worship is the way the apostles worshipped.  Each chapter is about a different portion of our worship.  HALF PRICE.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2Olv53e 

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Monday 9/9 ~ Glory in the “new”

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Inspirational, joy, judging, Scripture, teaching, truth1 Comment

The scripture for today, September 9 (9/9), is Zechariah 9:9 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Matthew's Life of Christ-Cover-thumbnail“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Most people think Jesus riding on a donkey made him humble. Not at all. Donkeys and mules were rides of kings.

Judges 5:9-10 says, “My heart is with Israel’s princes….you who ride on white donkeys.” Supreme Judge Jair led Israel 22 years and had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys (Judges 10:3-4). Supreme Judge Abdon, who ruled Israel 8 years, had 70 sons and grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys (Judges 12:14).

II Samuel 18:9 says Absalom, King David’s son, rode on a mule. In I Kings 1:33,38,44, David ordained that his son, Solomon, ride on his own mule through the street as one proof that he chose Solomon to be the next king.

The people of Jerusalem knew Jesus was not only riding the ride of kings when he entered their capital city, but he was also, at last, fulfilling the centuries-old prophecy they all knew so well (today’s scripture).

This is the humility that Jesus did exhibit: He rode on the colt of a donkey.

Do you blindly follow whatever our religious leaders tell you? Do you know the scriptures as well as you think you do?

Glory in learning new things about your King of Glory.

 

Matthew's Life of Christ-Cover-thumbnailMATTHEW’S LIFE OF CHRIST is one of a series of EASY BIBLE WORKBOOKS, most of which are surveys.  Easy because a question is asked, the verse is listed where the answer is, and you just fill in the blank. Great for home Bible studies, homeschoolers, shut-ins, prison ministries, teen and adult classes.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/2ZZjDex

 

 

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